Juan Soto isn't the only bidding war the Yankees could lose to Red Sox this winter

For the first time in a long time, the Boston Red Sox appear to be ready to spend like a big-market team. Their sudden urge to spend came at the worst possible time for New York Yankees fans, because Juan Soto is a free agent, and the Red Sox want him badly.

Whether Boston gets Soto or not remains to be seen, but they appear to be in the thick of it alongside their arch-rivals in the Bronx and a couple of other teams as well.

As is the case with the Yankees, the Red Sox can't stop even if they end up winning the Soto sweepstakes. Their lineup would be one of baseball's best with Soto in it, but their rotation still would need some work for the Red Sox to be true World Series contenders. Re-signing Soto would be great for the Yankees, but doing that and nothing else would essentially mean they're running a team back that wasn't good enough to win the World Series this past season.

With both of these franchises knowing that work has to be done whether Soto signs with them or not, they've both been poking around at the top of the free agency market beyond Soto. They were both linked to Blake Snell before he ended up signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and now, MLB.com's Mark Feinsand believes that there could be a bidding war between these two franchises for Max Fried.

"The Red Sox and Yankees are believed to be seeking a left-handed starter, which could ultimately mean a bidding war between the rivals for Max Fried," Feinsand wrote.

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Juan Soto isn't the only high-end free agent of interest to Yankees and Red Sox

According to Feinsand, both New York and Boston are interested in adding a left-handed starter. With Snell off the board, Fried is clearly the best southpaw available in free agency.

It isn't surprising in the slightest to see Boston be very interested in adding Fried. They lack an established ace, and Fried - a two-time All-Star with a lifetime 3.07 ERA - would fill that void. They also don't have a single left-handed starter in their projected rotation.

It's a bit more surprising to see the Yankees express interest in Fried, given the fact that they have an ace (Gerrit Cole), a left-hander (Carlos Rodon), and one of the best rotations in the American League, but with them having shown interest in Snell, perhaps it shouldn't be surprising at all. There's no denying that Fried would make them substantially better as well.

Losing out on Soto to Boston would be awful, obviously, but losing out on Soto and one of the backup options would be an unmitigated disaster.

As terrible as watching Soto walk would be, the Yankees would still be able to field a competitive team by spending a substantial amount of money to fill the many holes on their roster. Failing to win bidding wars for players like Fried after losing Soto would make it nearly impossible for them to be better than they were this past season.

Soto is a must for the Yankees, obviously, but even if they fail to bring him back, they have to make other big moves. Failing to even do that, and especially losing Fried to a team like the Red Sox, would be rock bottom for the Yankees.