This week, the annual MLB general manager meetings are taking place in Las Vegas. Boston Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow is there, and this is a rather big week.
Much of the groundwork for this offseason’s deals starts with all GMs in one place. However, this offseason is setting up to be different. A potential lockout is looming on December 1. That would mean all offseason business would cease. It would also eliminate the annual Winter Meetings.
Breslow has some free agents this season, and two of them are from his 2026 starting rotation. One of them is Sonny Gray. The other is Patrick Sandoval. According to The Athletic, Sandoval is drawing interest once again, similar to two years ago.
Boston Red Sox Free Agent Pitcher Patrick Sandoval Reportedly Drawing Interest
According to Will Sammon, Ken Rosenthal, and Katie Woo of The Athletic, Sandoval is drawing free agent interest. Why is he getting interest behind the top tier of free agents?
“A sampling of people in the industry revealed several reasons. Sandoval, who turned 30 in October, is still relatively young. His surgery is behind him. His strikeout rate, even last season, was above league average. And before his surgery, it was well above,” wrote The Athletic.
Sandoval, who missed the entire 2025 season following Tommy John surgery, went 1-7 with a 5.12 ERA in 70.1 innings for Boston this past season in 15 appearances, 13 starts. He had a career-worst -0.6 WAR. Teams are clearly hoping that his strikeout rate will return to his pre-surgery numbers.
“Sandoval was six months removed from Tommy John surgery in 2024 when the Boston Red Sox signed him to a two-year, $18.25 million contract. The Red Sox banked on Sandoval becoming productive the second year of the deal. But he didn’t return until July and finished with a 5.12 ERA in 70 1/3 innings,” added The Athletic.
Left-Handed Free Agent Pitching Market Will Be in High Demand
Let’s not overreact to Sandoval generating interest. Tarik Skubal is the No. 1 target of teams this winter. Trevor Rogers of the Baltimore Orioles is also hitting the open market, along with Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, and David Peterson of the Chicago Cubs. Also joining the market are Kris Bubic, Foster Griffin, Martín Pérez, and Robbie Ray.
After those names, Sandoval is an intriguing name and someone teams might take a flyer on. A return to Boston is not in the cards, and it feels the same for Gray, who gets much more free-agent interest from clubs.
According to Rob Bradford of WEEI, Breslow at the GM meetings on Monday threw out names on what his rotation could look like in 2027. Garrett Crochet, Payton Tolle, Ranger Suárez, Jake Bennett, Brayan Bello, Johan Oviedo, Kutter Crawford, and Tanner Houck were all mentioned. No Gray or Sandoval.
When it comes to free agency in MLB, teams leave no stone unturned. Some teams value some players differently than others. Sandoval is someone who could be a back-of-the-rotation starter for a club looking for depth. It won’t likely be in Boston, but it’ll be somewhere else. Where that is remains to be seen.
Boston Red Sox Free Agent Pitcher Becoming a Coveted Target of Teams Needing Rotation Depth