Start with Ohtani: here are five prospective players the Red Sox ought not to sign.

Start with Ohtani: here are five prospective players the Red Sox ought not to sign.

Since Chaim Bloom was fired as chief baseball officer, the Red Sox have money to spend this winter.

This is because Rafael Devers (10 years, $313.5 million) as well as Trev Story (six years, $140 million through 2027) are the only big contracts that Craig Breslow has to work with.

Also, Masataka Yoshida has four years with approximately $75 million left on his contract. However, the Red Sox are still about $40 million below their initial luxury tax threshold.

Monday at 5 p.m. ET, Shohei Ohtani became a free agent. He can now talk to and sign any prospective MLB team.

The reciprocal star and sure AL MVP has an opportunity to get the first player within MLB history to make $500 million.

This is true even though he will not be able to throw in 2024 because of an elbow surgery. That powerful of a batter and that good at getting donors to pay for things.

The 29-year-old Ohtani has made it clear that he wants to sign with a contender this summer. In July, he said, “It stinks to lose.”

Even though Ohtani played like the MVP and was paired with the renowned Mike Trout, the Los Angeles Angels did not maintain a good record with him, let alone made it to the playoffs. Ohtani hasn’t played yet in October.

It’s time for the most-anticipated free agency in the history of the game. Ohtani will not be able to pitch next year because he had surgery on his arm to fix a torn ulnar ligament ligament.

However, he will likely be in a person’s lineup as a designated hitter on Opening Day. In the meantime, Ohtani is sure to get a huge, record-breaking paycheck.

He should, right? Since his first game, he’s been in the top 10 for both ERA+ and OPS+, and he has changed the Overton Box to include two-way players all by himself.

It’s reasonable to wonder the way his work load will shift in the future. Maybe he’ll be put in charge of filling in for someone else?

But that’s the risk you’re willing to take when you get to sign the kind of weirdo that makes you think of Leon Day, Bullet Rogan, Martín Dihigo, as well as Babe Ruth.

Ken Patchen once said, “Destiny is the rhythm of the unlikely.” “Were it otherwise, nearly anybody could exist.”

This winter, even though there is more noise around Ohtani, ensure that you find a means to enjoy his song.

In 23 games last season, Ohtani’s threw 132 innings, had a 3.14 earned run average, and struck out 167 batters.

He then hurt his elbow. He hit.304/.412/.654 and hit 44 home runs, which was the most in the American League.

Ohtani had the most WAR of any player in 2023, with 10. He was valuable 28.5 WAR from 2021-23. It’s possible that this is the best three-season stretch by a player in the sport’s history.

Of course, Ohtani could help all 30 teams. A one-of-a-kind player in baseball history, he brings a lot to a team, both on the playing field and in the bank.

There are, however, teams that are much more likely to sign Ohtani than others. With that said, here is our official list of all 30 MLB teams that could sign Ohtani.

At the beginning of that line, change “in retrospect” to “from the very start of spring training…”

It has always seemed like a bad idea to count on starting relievers like Chris Sale, Corey Kluber, as well as James Paxton, who get hurt a lot, to stay fit and pitch like they did when they were young.

And making Enrique Hernandez the full-time shortstop while Trevor Story was out, despite the fact Hernandez had only ever started 17 games at shortstop in a season, and that was in 2018? There was no need for that risk.

And the list goes on. This is one reason why Chaim Bloom, who made decisions in the Boston administration, was dismissed as main baseball officer. Was Bloom to blame for everything? Not in the least.

It was clear that it wasn’t going to work out because he almost always did what the owners told him to do to save cash and cut costs. But that’s not the subject of this piece.

Compared to this: When we sit down to talk about what Boston plans to do this summer, Bloom taking his place is where we start. Without that person, you can’t make deals or try to sign free agents.

It’s a big job. There’s a lot to do. Will being an owner help the fresh person more than it helped Bloom?

Another season at last place within the AL East might finally do the trick. 2023 was the third year in a row and the second on a row.