Story by
MLB Notebook: Refusal to ‘go long’ hamstrings Red Sox; Rocco Baldelli’s next adventure
- Story by
- MLB Notebook: Refusal to ‘go long’ hamstrings Red Sox; Rocco Baldelli’s next adventure
The exact nature of the Red Sox ’ offer this past week to free agent Pete Alonso isn’t known. What is known, of course, is that, in the end, it didn’t match what the Baltimore Orioles gave — five years, $155 million — the first baseman .
Speaking in general terms and not specifically about the failed Alonso talks, one prominent agent noted of the Red Sox : “They don’t believe in long-term deals.”
Advertisement
Indeed, it’s hard to think otherwise in recent years.
The Red Sox, under Chaim Bloom, signed infielder Trevor Story to a six-year, $140 million deal in March of 2022, just after the last lockout ended.
Since then? The Red Sox have given out just one deal longer than three years — a five-year contract for Japanese outfielder Masataka Yoshida for $90 million. And even that pact didn’t reach nine figures. (They’ve extended a number of their own players, led by Garrett Crochet , who agreed to a six-year $170 million deal last April).
The biggest contract to someone outside the organization was the three-year, $120 million deal for Alex Bregman last February. But even that deal, which included two opt-outs that Bregman was almost certainly always going to exercise, was not as long as it appeared.
Advertisement
The ink on the biggest deal in Red Sox history — an 11-year, $331 million contract for Rafael Devers — was barely dry beforethe Red Sox unloaded all the remaining money in a stunning deal with the San Francisco Giants last June.
The rest of the deals in recent seasons — to Lucas Giolito , Walker Buehler , Aroldis Chapman — have been either one or two-year deals.
That makes it difficult to compete for the top players in free agency, almost all of whom command multi-year commitments.
It’s well documented that free agency is full of inefficiency. Teams are almost always forced into paying for past performance, and since most players don’t qualify for free agency until they’re approaching or past the age of 30, there’s tremendous risk involved.
Advertisement
Some clubs rationalize that, for contracts of five or six seasons or longer, the expectation is that there won’t be much return on the investment in the final few years. Most teams also acknowledge that as being part of the cost of doing business.
But as the names came off the board in the last week, there was the growing sentiment that, for the time being at least, the Red Sox have made a conscious decision to steer clear of the high end of the free agent market.
“I don’t think that’s true,” maintained chief baseball officer. “We want to address the roster the best way that we can. Free agency is a path that could allow us to do that; trades are another one. We’re trying to build the best roster and I don’t think it would make any sense to shut off any particular pathway....We’ll remain in engaged in both free agency and with other teams.”
Still, at some point, perception becomes reality and the more the Red Sox remain relatively passive at the top end of the free agent class, the harder it may be to convince top talent otherwise.
Advertisement
Take Bregman, for instance.
It’s known that one of the reasons the Red Sox weren’t more aggressive in the pursuit of Alonso was their concern with how the first baseman would age. Alonso is already a slow baserunner and is highly limited defensively according to metrics. But Alonso, who turned 31 less than a week ago, has been very durable, missing a total of just 10 games in the previous four seasons combined.
Meanwhile, Bregman, who will turn 32 soon after Opening Day, missed more than a third of the season with a calf strain last year and was clearly limited by the injury over the second half of last season.
Why is a 31-year-old first baseman a risky investment, but a 32-year-old playing a more demanding position, not?
Advertisement
At this point, the Red Sox’ best hope to re-sign Bregman may lie with a somewhat diminished market for the veteran infielder. If Bregman had difficulty landing a five-year deal last winter — Detroit offered him six years and $171 million — what are the chances that changes this time around, now that he’s a year older and especially taking his injury history into account?
It’s possible that a desperate New York Mets club could view Bregman as a step in the right direction when it comes to improving the team’s run prevention while adding a unifying personality to a divided clubhouse. Seattle , too, is seeking righthanded pop and could use a third baseman. But that is mere speculation.
There’s also this: even if the Sox are able to bring back Bregman, that would only get them back to a net zero offensively. In other words, while Bregman would be a welcome addition to the roster, the Sox wouldn’t have upgraded what they had a year ago, which they admitted wasn’t sufficient from an offensive standpoint.
There are trade possibilities, of course, headlined by Arizona ’s Ketel Marte , which would allow the Sox to bolster the lineup without competing in free agency.
Advertisement
But an unwillingness to commit long-term to the likes of, say, Bo Bichette would likely preclude them from winning that negotiation.
The franchise’s own self-imposed limitations — whether publicly acknowledged or not — will continue to haunt them and limit ways in which they can improve the roster.
After seven seasons managing the Minnesota Twins , Rhode Island native Rocco Baldelli was fired at the end of the 2025 season.
At the time, there were a number of managerial openings, and given his success in Minnesota — three first-place finishes, four winning seasons — he surely would have received strong consideration for available jobs.
Advertisement
Instead, Baldelli recently signed on with the Los Angeles Dodgers – not to manage, of course, but to work in the front office as a special assistant to Dodgers lead executive Andrew Friedman.
Baldelli and Friedman have a long history that dates back to their time together with the Tampa Bay Rays . Baldelli spent parts of six seasons of his playing career with the Rays and when injuries cut short his career at 28, he spent four seasons working for the Rays in a variety of roles that included some on-field work as a coach and various other roles in service to the front office.
In his new position with the Dodgers, Baldelli will have a non-defining title of “special assistant.” What that translates to remains to be seen, but for now, the plan is for Baldelli to serve as a player development evaluator who will oversee the team’s prospects.
He’s expected to spend much of spring training with the Dodgers in Arizona to better familiarize himself with the personnel. Once the season begins, he’ll visit the team’s minor league affiliates.
Advertisement
The rest of the time, Baldelli will work out of his home in Rhode Island, who is an important consideration for the father of a four year-old daughter and twin two year-old boys.
The Dodgers have won the last two World Series, and it’s not just because they spend more than anyone else. There’s a strong culture from the top down and Baldelli is eager to learn from it.
“I think a lot of it stems from Andrew (and GM) Brandon Gomes and the way that they approach problem-solving and building an organization,” said Baldelli. “It’s the epitome of a winning culture in every way.”
Under Friedman, the Dodgers operate with one foot in the analytic world and the other in the more traditional scouting environment. No team in the game employs more scouts.
Advertisement
“I’m thinking of it like this,” offered Baldelli. “I want to really enjoy being a Dodger and help them win a third World Series in a row. That’s where my attention is going to be. I’ll really just see where it goes. What else can you ask for?”
Another positive: this position will allow Baldelli to do a lot of work from home, and spend time with a young family which features twin two-year old boys and a four-year old daughter.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to be around my wife and my kids, in a way that I’ve never had the opportunity to do and something that I think is a real gift in some ways and I’m going to thoroughly take advantage of that.
“I haven’t had a year like this in my adult life. Since leaving to go play as an 18-year-old. This is the first time that I’ve had a year when I’m going to see green leaves and the beach in Rhode Island since I was in high school.”
Advertisement
What did the Red Sox get when they traded for reliever Ryan Watson from the Athletics this week immediately after the Rule 5 draft?
Here’s the scouting report from another organization:
“Big and strong, durable-looking...Throws from a three-quarter arm slot...A loose arm with very good extension....Throws both a two-seamer and four-seamer, with 93-95 mph on the two-seamer...throws four-seamer 36 percent of the time and is the better of the two fastballs....Slider features good cutting action...Sweeper has inconsistent command, can get righties to chase it, ranging from 84-91 mph...Needs to keep sweeper out of good hit zones...Changeup is a ‘show’ pitch only. Needs to refine the quality; lacks some feel for it.
Advertisement
“Agile for a big guy, with a compact, repeatable delivery...Sounds like he could be a back-end workhorse starter who would need better command of his breaking pitches and improved off-speed stuff to keep hitters off-balance...Has solid fastball strike-throwing ability to work ahead...Competes well....For now, sounds like a long guy or a multi-inning reliever out of the bullpen unless he can add a split-finger fastball or a better off-speed pitch to neutralize lefthanded-hitters.”
More Red Sox coverage
Read the original article on MassLive . Add MassLive as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
