The Boston Red Sox have to shift their focus now that superstar outfielder Juan Soto has reportedly signed a historic deal with the New York Mets.
Players like slugger Teoscar Hernández and pitchers Max Fried and Corbin Burnes have been rumored to be a few of the Red Sox’s targets. Audacy’s Rob Bradford believes getting a starting pitcher for the top of the rotation should be the Red Sox’s No. 1 priority, but it doesn’t necessarily need to be Fried or Burnes.
“But now what you have is that you have to compete with some of these other teams, including the Blue Jays, by the way, who lost out on Soto, who are in the same desperation that you are to get a Max Fried or Corbin Burnes,” Bradford said on WEEI’s Adam Jones and Rich Keefe on Monday. “… If I’m a team, and I have Zach Gallen for Arizona, I absolutely say, ‘Hey, this isn’t going to cost as much as (Garrett) Crochet. So, Boston Red Sox, you need a starter. Here.’ You go trade for him. I think that there might be a starter out there that they have that we aren’t talking about that they might trade for instead of maybe getting uncomfortable for one of these other guys.”
Gallen had a 14-6 record with a 3.65 ERA across 28 starts with the Diamondbacks in 2024. He surrendered just 13 home runs in 148 innings of work with 156 strikeouts.
Even though Bradford believes the Red Sox need a top of the rotation pitcher, he admitted Alex Bregman wasn’t on his radar before today.
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“I did not account for Alex Bregman in the way that maybe I should have accounted for,” Bradford said. “How much they prioritize because right-handed hitter, obviously open to a move to second base, a championship pedigree. … The type of guy that they need in that clubhouse from a position player standpoint. It checks off a lot of boxes.”
Alex Cora obviously believes Brgman would be a good fit in Boston. The Red Sox manager raved about Bregman when he spoke with reporters at the winter meetings on Monday.
