How Red Sox Reportedly Might ‘Prefer’ To Complement Juan Soto

Emerging as the winner of the Juan Soto sweepstakes won’t be easy, but one MLB insider believes the Red Sox wouldn’t stop there.

The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal published a wide-ranging column Monday and wrote the Red Sox “might prefer to complement” Soto by trading for a star pitcher.

“The Sox’s biggest need is a top-of-the-rotation starter,” Rosenthal wrote. “If they come away with Soto, they might prefer to complement him with a trade for the Chicago White Sox’s Garrett Crochet, who will earn a projected $2.9 million in arbitration and remain under club control through 2026.”

The Red Sox, who have one of the best farm systems in baseball, would have to part ways with multiple assets in order to acquire Crochet. They wouldn’t have to deal anything to sign Corbin Burnes or Max Fried, two of the top pitchers in free agency. However, Burnes and/or Fried would cost the Red Sox another big-money deal while Crochet provides value with his current contract.

There are positives and negatives in both situations. It would be understandable for Boston to prefer a Soto-Crochet package more than a Soto-Burnes/Fried tandem. Rosenthal referred to the Soto-Burnes combo as “probably unrealistic.”

The first step, of course, is landing Soto himself. But if the slugger opts for somewhere other than Boston, Rosenthal wrote the Red Sox could turn their attention to this “Plan B”.