If there's one person who knows to never count out the Boston Red Sox, it's Pedro Martinez.
Jul 13, 2024; Arlington, TX, USA; MLB Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez (45) of the American League warms up before he pitches against the National League during the 2024 All Star Celebrity Softball Game at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
In 2004, Martinez was a key member of the Red Sox team that overcame a 3-0 series deficit to the New York Yankees and went on to win the club's first World Series title in 86 years. Now, two decades later, Martinez thinks the Red Sox could shock the Yankees one more time.
New York has advanced to its first World Series in 15 years, and they wouldn't have gotten there without generational superstar Juan Soto. It was Soto's 10th-inning home run in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series that officially punched the Yankees' ticket back to the Fall Classic.
This winter, Soto will hit free agency at 26, primed to cash in over a half-billion-dollar contract. And Martinez believes the Red Sox could be the team to give him that contract.
Speaking on a recent live stream with Bleacher Report's Steve Perrault, Martinez loosely predicted that the Red Sox would be the team to sign Soto this winter, though he qualified it by saying he also thought there was a strong shot Soto would return to the Bronx.
"My one bold prediction (is) that the Red Sox go and get Juan Soto," Martinez said. "He would be very welcome in Boston; the kind of bat and power that we need. Just in case it doesn't work out with the Yankees, which I think it will... but New England would go cuckoo bananas. I would be jumping on top of the dugout."
The legendary Red Sox pitcher laid out the case (in a manner only he could) quite succinctly. Soto is a phenomenal player, and the Red Sox would be a much better team if they could sign him. But aside from his enjoyment of being a Yankee, the price tag is the most obvious holdup that Martinez neglected to mention.
Soto isn't expected to pass Shohei Ohtani's record $700 million free-agent deal, but it's been widely speculated that he will land in the $600 million range. Not only will the Yankees throw their hats back in the ring, but the richest owner in baseball, Steve Cohen of the New York Mets, is also expected to get involved.
It seems unfathomable the Red Sox would pay that price tag after the last few winters have been rather tight-fisted, but in theory, anything is possible.
