Red Sox Rumors: This Free Agent Pitcher ‘On Boston’s Radar’

Shohei Ohtani is off the market, but there still is a handful of upper-echelon players available in Major League Baseball free agency.

One of them is Blake Snell, the 2023 National League Cy Young Award winner who remained unsigned as of noon ET on Sunday. Snell likely is fielding a substantial market, which appears to include the Red Sox. According to WEEI’s Rob Bradford, Snell is “one of many” pitchers Boston still has interest in.

The Red Sox kicking the tires on Snell shouldn’t surprise anyone. The 31-year-old has two Cy Young Awards under his belt and has proven he can pitch in the American League East, where he played for five seasons as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays. If Boston is looking to add a legitimate frontline starter this offseason, there aren’t many options out there better than Snell.

However, Snell might not occupy the highest spot on the Red Sox’s wish list. Craig Breslow and company reportedly prefer both Jordan Montgomery and Yoshinobu Yamamoto over the two-time MLB ERA leader. And conveniently, Montgomery has been living in Boston this offseason while his wife serves her dermatology residency at a local hospital.

But whether it’s Montgomery, Yamamoto or Snell, it would behoove the Red Sox to land one of the top starters on the market.