Conflicting Red Sox reports on Tanner Scott make Boston look even worse
By Austin Owens
Well, the Los Angeles Dodgers have done it again. On Sunday, left-handed relief pitcher Tanner Scott signed a four year contract worth $72 million. Scott was arguably the most sought-after relief pitcher on the free agent market, with several teams in pursuit of signing the southpaw.
While the Atlanta Braves were rumored as a team who had interest in Scott, we know that Alex Anthopoulos would not spend $72 million on a relief pitcher. The Boston Red Sox were also a logical fit for Scott and were thought to actually offer him more money than the Dodgers, we are now learning that this information is false.
For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray's work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB offseason.
Red Sox outbid by Dodgers for Scott
After Tanner Scott and the Dodgers were in agreement, USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported that the Red Sox actually offered Scott more years and more money. Since, Rob Bradford of WEEI has told us that there is no truth to this.
It is not necessarily surprising that the Dodgers were willing to spend more money than others but this was a situation for the Red Sox to show they are for real about trying to compete in 2025.
So far this offseason, Boston's rotation has welcomed some remarkable additions in Walker Buehler and Garrett Crochet. Their offense is more than respectable with Jarren Duran, Rafael Devers, Triston Casas and Trevor Story. At this moment, Boston's biggest weakness is their bullpen.
Red Sox relievers finished the 2024 season with a combined 4.39 ERA. This ranked 24th out 30th across Major League Baseball. With time split between the Miami Marlins and San Diego Padres last year, Scott showcased his durability with 72 appearances and posted an astonishing 1.75 ERA.
Being that the bullpen is seemingly the one area that the Red Sox need to focus on, it is not a good look that they were not willing to spend more money than the already super-team Dodgers on the best reliever on the market.
feed