The Boston Red Sox boast some of Major League Baseball's biggest stars, but that is not the only factor when determining which team has the best core.
According to ESPN's Kiley McDaniel's latest piece on the matter, the Red Sox have quite a lot of work to do. To determine which team has a stronger core, McDaniel only included players under team control through 2024 and did not include probable opt-outs such as shortstop Xander Bogaerts, who is expected to test the free agent market this offseason.
McDaniel placed the Red Sox all the way down at No. 24, trailing the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates by a spot.
"Bogaerts will likely opt out this winter to join (designated hitter) J.D. Martinez and (pitcher) Nathan Eovaldi in free agency, while (third baseman) Rafael Devers is set to hit free agency after next year, making this one look even worse than I expected," McDaniel wrote Wednesday.
"(Pitcher) Chris Sale and (second baseman) Trevor Story are the two best long-term core pieces on the team and are set to make a combined $47.5 million next year, while former Red Sox star (Mookie) Betts will make just over $25 million next year. Counting on hits in free agency, re-signing Devers and/or Bogaerts, and getting quick returns from (Marcelo) Mayer, (Brayan) Bello and (Triston) Casas has to be the plan, but that's still not a strong hand to be holding relative to their rivals."
The Red Sox have a farm system that has risen each season since the arrival of chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom in 2019. The organization is starting to elevate most of the high-end prospects to the higher levels of the minors with players like Bello already contributing in Boston. Should any number of those players "hit" the core will have a substantial boost and these rankings would look silly.
The offseason will be incredibly important for locking down MLB-level talent long-term, as the Red Sox have a significant amount of money freed up and the ownership group has made their intention to invest heavily in the club clear.
