After firing Chaim Bloom and still looking for a Chief Baseball Head of Operations, the Boston Red Sox are the latest team to be linked to Shohei Ohtani, but there are more reasons as to why they won’t sign him than signing him.

The Boston Red Sox have been linked to Shohei Ohtani as their offseason begins. Insider Jon Heyman of The New York Post reported that the Red Sox are a real threat to sign the superstar. Sunday, Sean McAdam of MassLive reported that recent preliminary meetings held by the Red Sox Ohtani was not at all a focus.

So which is it, the Red Sox are a threat to sign Ohtani or he’s not on their radar? Time will tell, however, if recent history tells us anything, it could go either way. Here are two reasons why Boston will not sign Ohtani and one reason why they will.

First reason the Red Sox will not sign Shohei Ohtani

The first reason Boston won’t sign Ohtani is because they already have a roster loaded with players who need to be DH. Masataka Yoshida is someone who forced Justin Turner into the field this past season because he needed a game at DH and eventually, Rafael Devers, who just signed long-term last winter, is going to eventually take over a lot of DH at-bats too.

It’s unlikely that Turner returns to Boston, but with the current make up of the Red Sox roster, there are a lot of players that are going to need DH at-bats going forward. Whoever ends up making the decisions in the front office this winter and Turner is indeed gone, then look for them to spend the money elsewhere to replace him.

Ohtani is not someone like Turner who can slide into a position for a game or two to give another player at-bats and a game off from the field. That’s not how the Red Sox are built and signing him to be a full-time DH doesn’t make sense. Signing Ohtani would likely mean trading a player such as Yoshida, something they wouldn’t want to do.

Second reason the Red Sox will not sign Shohei Ohtani

The second reason why the Red Sox won’t sign Ohtani is because it’s not been the motive over the last few seasons, not to sign players to big contracts. Recent history certainly tells us that.

In 2020, it was clear that the Red Sox were not going to sign outfielder Mookie Betts to a new deal and traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers, something the franchise has yet to recover from. Then last winter, they were outbid for shortstop Xander Bogaerts who ended up signing with the San Diego Padres.

Boston ended up signing Devers long-term, but it came after owner John Henry got booed by fans at the 2023 NHL Winter Classic at Fenway Park in January when his Pittsburgh Penguins played the Boston Bruins. A week later, Devers was extended.

Cutting back on spending has been the Red Sox way the last five seasons and you can blame Bloom all you want, but he was doing what the front office was telling him to do. It was more about not having to pay the first competitive balance tax threshold. Don’t be fooled to think otherwise.

One reason why the Red Sox will sign Shohei Ohtani

The only reason why the Red Sox will sign Ohtani is because of their last-place finishes over the last two seasons and to appease the fanbase. This season, Boston climbed back into the Wild Card race in August but fell apart at the end of the month before falling fast in the American League East standings in September and being passed by the New York Yankees.

Right now, in order to be competive again, Boston is going to need a superstar and Ohtani is that. Fans are frustrated with what has happened and it feels like they have taken the furthest step back in the division. The Baltimore Orioles are a young up and coming team, and the Tampa Bay Rays are a good regular season team but the struggle comes October, and despite playing an egg in the Wild Card series against the Minnesota Twins, the Toronto Blue Jays have some nice pieces that are looking to take the next step.

Then’s there’s the Yankees. A team that took a big step back this season is a team that you can expect to be very active this offseason when it comes to adding pieces to their roster for 2024. You can bet your bottom dollar that they are going to be on the Ohtani sweepstakes as well and along with the Los Angeles Dodgers, they will drive up the price. If there is a player that the Red Sox sign this offseason and put all their eggs in one basket and revert back to their spending days, it’ll be for Ohtani.