It’s said that the Boston Red Sox are losing out on yet another free agent.
The real story here isn’t that the Red Sox lost out on Soler. The narrative is that the Red Sox are still losing out on everyone.
Soler is not truly needed by the team. They can already choose from six different outfielders. His power would be a nice luxury and could maybe allow them to spin an outfielder in a trade for a pitcher, but again, he’s not a necessity. However, the Red Sox have struggled to attract elite players to Boston since they traded Mookie Betts prior to the 2020 campaign, which has greatly irritated the fan base.
The team hasn’t addressed its biggest need—starting pitching—since trading for Betts, letting Xander Bogaerts walk in free agency, and relying mostly on veterans like Martin Perez, Garrett Richards, and Corey Kluber as stopgaps since the 2020 campaign. Because of this, the Sox have lost in three of the previous four AL East championships.
The Red Sox will drop even further in the division if they lose out to the Toronto Blue Jays for Soler. Even with the current level of difficulty in the American League East, Toronto will become even more formidable and distance themselves from Boston if they acquire Soler.
