Could the Boston Red Sox actually end up making a franchise-altering move this winter?
There has been speculation for weeks that the Red Sox were showing interest in New York Yankees star Juan Soto, but it didn’t really seem like anything more than that. It seemed like fun speculation and rumblings that probably wouldn’t turn into anything.
While a deal with Soto still shouldn’t be considered likely, things do seem to be changing. Boston met with the 26-year-old superstar on Thursday and it was reported that he was “impressed” by the meeting by MassLive.com’s Sean McAdam.
On top of that, Red Sox legend David Ortiz opened up about the possibility of Soto coming to town, as transcribed by WEEI’s Rob Bradford.
“We live in the same building,” Ortiz said. “I was with his mom and his brother last night. We were laughing because somebody sent a fake video saying the Red Sox paid $780 million to him. I saw that when I was sitting with them and we were laughing like crazy…
“I’m telling you. We would have (Manny Ramirez) and Papi for the left side. If there was one player in baseball who could be the next David Ortiz in Boston, it is Juan Soto. He’s that good. He’s got great makeup…If there is a guy I would like to build a team around it would have to be Juan Soto.”
Hopefully, Ortiz’s proximity to the Soto family could be a factor to help make a deal with Boston more realistic. Soto grew up a Red Sox fan in large part because of Ortiz.
There still is plenty of competition for Soto with the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, and New York Mets all still seemingly involved in the sweepstakes.
If the Red Sox somehow could shock the baseball world by signing him, it would completely change things and immediately make Boston contenders for years to come. This is the type of move that would be a shock still, but the chances do seem better than they were a week ago so that’s progress.
More MLB: Yankees Free Agent Superstar ‘Impressed’ By Red Sox, Per Insider
