Rival Exec Praises Current And Future State of Red Sox

Just four days before Christmas, Blue Jays president and CEO Mark Shapiro was in the holiday spirit when he was asked about the state of the other four teams in the AL East - just two months removed from his team being a part of what many consider to be the greatest Game 7 in World Series history.

Here’s what he said on SiriusXM MLB Network Radio when asked about the Red Sox:

“Boston is probably positioned as well as any team in all of Major League Baseball. I don’t know if there is a team that is positioned for the next five years better than the Boston Red Sox with young talent and flexibility.”

While he was complimentary of the Yankees, Orioles and Rays, none of his words for his other fellow rivals came close to the heights of what he had to say about Boston. For a man associated with an operation that just won its first pennant since 1993, he clearly knows what works in today’s modern game when it comes to team building. So if you’re to take what Shapiro is saying at face value, there’s some real weight to the ideas he’s throwing around.

But then you take a step back, and remember he’s a rival GM. Is there a bit of gamesmanship going on here?

So I asked myself the following questions:

Is what he’s saying about their flexibility true?

While a large portion of Red Sox fans remain angry at the team’s lack of free agent spending this offseason, the answer is definitively yes.

All of their young cornerstone talent is signed to long-term, team-friendly-ish deals, with a large portion of the roster made up of guys that are pre-arbitration, or have deals that would not raise eyebrows of anyone after looking at their Spotrac.

Two contracts in particular you should be feeling really good about if you’re a Red Sox fan are that of Roman Anthony and Garrett Crochet.

Anthony is signed to an eight-year deal worth $130 million, keeping him under contract in Boston through the end of the 2034 season with a club option for the final year. The deal includes a $5 million signing bonus and potential escalators, allowing it to reach up to $230 million with awards and All-Star selections, making it a potential bargain for the Sox if he performs as expected.

Crochet is signed to a six-year deal worth $170 million, keeping him under contract in Boston through the end of the 2031 season with a potential opt-out for the final year. Crochet’s deal also is latent with performance escalators while still remaining “team friendly” as compared to the rest of the league’s top aces.

When you have the face of your franchise and your franchise-ace on deals where each are making less $200 million in today’s day and age of baseball, you’re in a great position to have flexibility moving forward.

Add in the fact that the team currently doesn’t have a bad contract on the books, and you have to imagine most teams around baseball would be willing to trade places with the Red Sox at this time.

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Is what he’s saying about their young talent true?

Unequivocally, yes.

We already discussed Crochet, 26, and Anthony, 21, but that’s not the end of it:

- Payton Tolle, 23, and Connelly Early, 23, both showed flashes of brilliance during their debuts in 2025, so much so that both players have been talked about as valuable trade chips this offseason

- Ceddanne Rafaela, 25, is coming off winning his first career Gold Glove in center field, while Wilyer Abreu, 26, is coming off winning consecutive Gold Gloves in right field. Having a pair of outfielders under the age of 30 winning Gold Gloves while also presenting a ton of upside offensively is an incredible luxury

- While the momentum on this player has cooled, Kristian Campbell, 23, did win AL Rookie of the Month in April, and he did go on to finish his season in Worcester on a high note. Now playing winter ball, Campbell could end up being Boston’s secret weapon, either this season or down the line, at either second base or first base. Clearly there’s something there, they just need to figure out how to unlock it again

- Even with his season ending with a wrist injury, Marcelo Mayer, 23, showed an elite ability with the glove at third base while playing in the absence of Alex Bregman this season. To do that while playing out of position (a middle infielder by trade) while also flashing at times offensively, there’s a reason why the guy is only being considered a trade asset if he’s attached to a true big ticket item

- Carlos Narvaez, 27, was an absolute revelation during his rookie season in 2025, bursting onto the scene both offensively and defensively after taking over early in the season when Connor Wong broke his pinky. He went from a relative unknown around baseball to one of Boston’s most untradeable assets at catcher

- Say what you want about Brayan Bello, 26, but he’s still a really young player with a ton of upside, playing on a relatively team-friendly deal at six years, $55 million (signed ahead of last season). If he’s able to build off of what he did in 2025, there will be an argument to be made that this is one of the best contracts in all of baseball

That’s a young core any executive around baseball would want to get their hands on. Add in the aforementioned lack of bad big money contracts, and this team is set up to be a successful operation for the next decade.

But the key to all of this is utilizing their flexibility to add in the cherries-on-top necessary to push themselves over the top.

Your young core is intact. Now go get the fancy window dressing and compete for a World Series in a real way.

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Tom Carroll is a contributor for Roundtable, with boots-on-the-ground coverage of all things Boston sports. He's a senior digital content producer for WEEI.com, and a native of Lincoln, RI.