Remember when the Yankees and Red Sox were finalists for Juan Soto, and then barely missed out on signing him when he went to the New York Mets?
Since then, both franchises have operated in eerily similar fashions. They haven't performed identical maneuvers — New York traded for Cody Bellinger, Boston traded for catcher Carlos Narvaez (in a swap with the Yankees) — but the highlights of their offseasons have practically mirrored each other.
The Red Sox signed Aroldis Chapman (before Soto’s deal became official) and traded for Garrett Crochet, while the Yankees signed Max Fried and traded for Devin Williams. Both franchises have added an ace and a closer, though they’ve done it through different means. Are one side’s acquisitions clearly better than the other's?
Yankees & Red Sox at stalemate with pitching additions
Let’s start with the acquisition costs. The Red Sox only surrendered money to sign Chapman, giving him a one-year, $10.75 million contract. As for Crochet, Boston dealt four top-15 prospects (Kyle Teel, outfielder Braden Montgomery, infielder Chase Meidroth, and pitcher Wikelman Gonzalez) in exchange for the southpaw's services, and they’ll have him under team control for his final two years in arbitration.
The Yankees, on the other hand, gave Fried a whopper of a contract: $218 million over eight years. They paid a comparatively smaller price in their trade, losing out on just one season of Nestor Cortes Jr. and second base prospect Caleb Durbin in exchange for one year of Williams.
Regarding the relievers, Williams is obviously better than a 37-year-old version of Aroldis Chapman, but they’re not being brought in to fill the exact same roles. The former is going to be the unquestioned closer in New York; he’s running a 1.66 ERA (2.29 FIP) in 141.0 innings over the past three seasons, with a 39.5% strikeout rate and 48.3% groundball rate. Just take a look at his Statcast page, and you’ll see a pitcher who rates out in the 99th percentile of more metrics than he doesn’t.
Chapman, meanwhile, has only racked up 20 saves over the past two seasons, with numbers that are more “great” than “best in the league” (3.45 ERA (2.78 FIP), 39.1% strikeout rate, .598 OPS allowed versus opposing hitters).
With both relievers on one-year deals, the Yankees are going to get more juice for their squeeze, but does that offset the larger cost they paid? You could probably argue for it, especially since their bullpen was in flux after losing Clay Holmes in free agency (also to the Mets), but Chapman is no pushover, nor is he a stranger to the ultra-competitive AL East.
As for the starters, both Crochet and Fried exist on a similar tier. Fried has a longer track record of success, but he’s never had the putaway stuff the 25-year-old Crochet possesses. The former Atlanta Braves starter is a master of inducing soft contact and ground balls and boasts a deep and impressive arsenal of offerings.
On the other hand, Crochet has one of the best fastballs in the game and strikes out hitters at a nearly peerless rate. However, he’s susceptible to giving up hard contact, doesn’t have a deep repertoire of pitches, and has never exceeded 150.0 innings pitched in a season (something Fried has done four times).
Fried’s deal is fascinating because he’ll turn 31 before it starts, but the rest of his career will be spent in New York. Crochet won’t even be 26 until the middle of next season, but the Red Sox are going to have to pay handsomely if they want to keep him beyond the 2026 season. Is one significantly better than the other? They’re different pitchers who get similar results, but would you rather be paying a 38-year-old Fried $27.25 million in 2030, or would you rather watch Crochet walk away before he’s even really in his prime?
Perhaps the more interesting take away from all of this is that both of these teams pivoted to pitching after losing out on Soto. The Red Sox were always going to have to reinforce a pitching staff that lacked impact talent, but the Yankees chose to pivot this way. They effectively stole Fried from Boston by offering him an eighth year. Their pitching staff is going to be among the best in the business in 2025, but they may find it challenging to score runs with an offense featuring Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, Giancarlo Stanton, and a whole bunch of question marks.
If nothing else, this offseason has breathed new life back into baseball’s oldest rivalry. Only time will tell which side made the better calls, but next season should offer a prominent look into which side is pulling ahead.