Ranking the 3 biggest threats to the Angels in Blake Snell race after Yoshinobu Yamamoto decision

2) Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox were serious with their pursuit of Yamamoto and didn't appear to be completely out until the right-hander made his final decision to go to the Dodgers. Boston's interest in Yamamoto makes a ton of sense as their rotation is a mess. If they have any hopes of competing in 2024 they're going to have to make a meaningful upgrade with their starting pitching, and Snell is one of the last players available for them.

As of now, the only locks in Boston's rotation appear to be Chris Sale and Brayan Bello. Sale was once one of the best pitchers in the American League, but he's battled through many injury issues in recent years and didn't appear to be the same guy when healthy this past season. Bello had some good moments in 2023, but is far from a frontline starter. Guys like Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford, and Nick Pivetta are decent back-end starters, but nothing more.

The Red Sox need an ace, and signing one who is familiar with the AL East and coming off a Cy Young win could be intriguing. Snell spent each of his first five years in the AL East with the Rays and won the first of his two Cy Young Awards in 2018 with Tampa Bay. Snell has a 3.10 ERA in his five career starts at Fenway Park, showing that he can be successful in that environment.

The Red Sox have money to spend, a glaring need, and not many people to consider other than Snell. It just makes too much sense.