MLB rumors: Red Sox missed on Blake Snell, is a Mets free agent next?

The Red Sox weren't able to sign Blake Snell and a pair of Mets free agents could fit what they are looking to add.

San Francisco Giants v Baltimore Orioles
San Francisco Giants v Baltimore Orioles | Patrick Smith/GettyImages

In before the Thanksgiving Eve news dump, the Los Angeles Dodgers added Blake Snell to their already impressive roster. A match for the New York Mets this offseason as well as any other ball club looking to upgrade their roster without getting penalized because they signed a qualifying offer player, the top tier of free agent starters is beginning to shrink.

According to the MLB rumors shared by the NY Post’s Jon Heyman, the Boston Red Sox were hopeful they could land Snell. Still as “in” on signing Juan Soto as we can believe, the loss in free agency should have them taking aim elsewhere.

If a lefty starter is what the Red Sox have in mind, a pair of Mets free agents could be a match for them.

Mets free agents Sean Manaea and Jose Quintana match what the Red Sox are looking to add

Manaea does have the qualifying offer penalty attached to him which will have some teams staying away. Quintana doesn’t carry with him the same penalization. He’s also not coming off the greatest of seasons.

Boston has some desire to spend money. Beyond their pursuit of Soto, they did extend the qualifying offer to Nick Pivetta. He turned it down, though. Now Pivetta will look to battle in a pitching heavy free agent market where crawling back to the Red Sox might become his only option. How many teams are willing to spend big bucks on him as well as lose draft pick compensation, etc.? Pivetta is in the same boat as Luis Severino whose rejection of the qualifying offer should be a major turn-off for multiple clubs.

Manaea is one of the more intriguing free agents this offseason. He had a career year in 2024 for the Mets. How he performs going forward is difficult to predict because of how he evolved so well this past year. He could just as easily outperform Snell in this coming year. Expected to get a contract more similar to what Yusei Kikuchi got from the Los Angeles Angels, he’d be a satisfying enough pivot for the Red Sox to immediately make.

Quintana, much less so, would fill their desire for a left-handed starting pitcher. It was a missing element for the ball club this past year. Not the only reason they’d finish with the most average record possible at 81-81, Boston is quickly running out of southpaw options for the coming year.

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