Boston Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony didn't win the American League Rookie of the Year Award on Monday night, losing out to Nick Kurtz and Jacob Wilson of the Athletics, but he does have a big fan in former MLB executive Steve Phillips, who sang his praises on MLB Network.

Phillips declared that he thinks that Anthony has a chance to be a superstar for Boston, and he thinks he could end up better than both Kurtz and Wilson in the long haul.

About Anthony

The No. 1 prospect in the sport at the time of his promotion in June, Anthony hit .292 across 71 games. He had eight home runs, 32 RBIs and a .292 batting average. Very disciplined at the plate, he had a .396 on-base percentage, but unfortunately missed the last few weeks of the regular season and the Red Sox playoff run because of an oblique strain.

He figures to start in 2026, but the question is who will be starting around him. The Red Sox have been linked to possible trades involving both Wilyer Abreu and Jarren Duran. Masataka Yoshida's future with the organization is also murky.

Red Sox front office leader Craig Breslow recently told reporters that Anthony is on track for a normal offseason and will start swinging a bat in a few weeks.

About the rest of the Red Sox this offseason

According to early reports out of the general manager's meetings, the Red Sox are looking to upgrade their starting rotation. They could be in play for a high-end starter, and there are multiple of them available on the free agent or the trade market.

It starts with Tarik Skubal, who could be made available by the Detroit Tigers, but it extends to All-Star Freddy Peralta of the Milwaukee Brewers and Joe Ryan of the Minnesota Twins.

Dylan Cease, Framber Valdez and Lucas Giolito are all free agents that could make sense to varying degrees.

Furthermore, the Red Sox are being linked to first base options, including Pete Alonso, who is a free agent after a stellar seven-year run with the New York Mets.

Timing

The general manager's meetings are going on through Thursday, and that's where we could see the groundwork laid for some big deals. Those big deals are likely to come to fruition at the winter meetings, which take place from Dec. 7-10 in Florida. Juan Soto, Max Fried and Willy Adames all signed in that time last year.

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