Red Sox CEO confirms interest in Juan Soto, promises to invest more in 2025
Juan Soto is one of the biggest names on Major League Baseball’s free agent market. The Boston Red Sox have been reported as one of many teams interested in the outfielder, along with the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies and others.
MassLive reported early Friday that the Red Sox met with Soto in California last week for three hours, which CEO Sam Kennedy confirmed to The Boston Globe during the annual owners’ meetings.
Soto would immediately upgrade the lineup and give the Red Sox another power bat — something they were missing at times during the 2023 season. The 26-year-old is expected to land a massive contract that could possibly exceed $600 million and Kennedy didn’t rule out another potential mega-deal for the Red Sox, who signed Rafael Devers for $313 million two winters ago.
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“Is that possible? If that’s what it takes, yeah, absolutely,” Kennedy told The Globe. “We are investing more than we did last year. We intend to invest going forward. Our priority is 90 to 95 wins, and winning the American League East, and winning the division for multiple years.”
Even if Boston misses out on Soto, Kennedy doesn’t see the Red Sox stopping their pursuit of trying to sign high-end talent and said they could afford to sign someone to a large deal “even if it takes (them) over the ($241 million) CBT.”
“There is an extreme urgency internally to be competing for the American League East Championship and to set ourselves up for a deep postseason run in 2025 without question,” Kennedy told The Globe. “The goal is to win 90 plus games to not be worrying about a wild-card spot.”
Kennedy also acknowledged to the newspaper that Red Sox need more pitching in terms of starters and relievers.
“A high priority is pitching but everything and anything’s on the table for us — free agency, trades, promotions from the minor leagues,” Kennedy said.
The Red Sox have missed the postseason for three straight years and five times in the previous six. Fans were told the team would go “full throttle” last offseason only for those comments to be walked back as the team finished 81-81.