Insider floats idea that Red Sox could add two pitchers in offseason

If the Red Sox were to sign Fried, he’d up a good chunk of that remaining space before the CBT. The Athletic‘s Tim Britton projects Fried to sign a six-year, $180 million contract in free agency. If Fried signs a contract with a $30 million average annual value, he’d take up nearly half of the Red Sox’ remaining space before the CBT.

Fried isn’t the only star free-agent pitcher on the market this offseason, either. Corbin Burnes and Blake Snell, who have each been linked to the Red Sox, are expected to receive nine-figure contracts this offseason as well. Burnes is projected to receive a seven-year, $245 million deal ($35 million average annual value) by Britton while Snell’s contract is projected to be worth $110 million over four years ($27.5 million).

On top of having an ample amount of cap room open before reaching the first luxury tax threshold, the Red Sox are also armed with one of the best farm systems in baseball. Their prospect pipeline was ranked third in baseball by Bleacher Report recently while they have four prospects who have been ranked in the top 40 overall by multiple outlets (Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, Kristian Campbell, Kyle Teel).

The depth of the Red Sox’ pipeline will likely create a bit of a logjam at the Major League level in the coming years. They also have impressive young, controllable talent already in their outfield in Wilyer Abreu and Jarren Duran. Abreu has actually been speculated as a possible centerpiece for a trade involving Crochet.

If the Red Sox were to add Fried and Crochet, they’d instantly fix arguably their biggest problem over the last few seasons. Fried has been one of the best pitchers in baseball since the turn of the decade, being named an All-Star twice to go along with two top-five Cy Young finishes. He went 11-10 with a 3.25 ERA over 174 1/3 innings pitched last season.

As for Crochet, the 25-year-old was one of the best pitchers in the American League in his first full season as a starter. He went 6-12 with a 3.58 ERA. He only pitched 146 innings over 32 starts, but if the Red Sox were to add him and Fried, they’d have a more stable rotation from top to bottom than they’ve had as of late.

Of course, the Red Sox are also going after the biggest fish in free agency this offseason as well. Boston met with Juan Soto earlier in November as singing him would likely require a commitment of at least $600 million. Signing Soto and one of the top free-agent pitchers would likely bring the Red Sox over the luxury tax threshold.

Kennedy told Silverman that the Red Sox would be willing to sign a player to a mega deal “if that’s what it takes.” Passan believes that the Red Sox might be pushing to spend this offseason because their top prospects are set to be called up in the coming seasons.

“Have they understood that carrying a payroll near the CBT threshold is something that’s worth doing, particularly when Kristian Campbell, Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, and Kyle Teel are all going to be making $800,000 a year, depending on how they play their call ups, over the next three or four seasons? You’re going to have bargains all around that diamond,” Passan said. “So, if there is any time for the Red Sox to go an spend hefty, it’s right now.”