The Boston Red Sox appear to be targeting two star southpaws in MLB Free Agency.

During an appearance on the Baseball Bar-B-Cast podcast, Jeff Passan of ESPN reported that the Red Sox are talking to lefty pitchers Blake Snell and Max Fried.

"The Red Sox, everything has lined up for them at this point except their ability to develop starting pitching at a big league level." Passan said. "They don't have a dude. It's why they are talking with Blake Snell and it's why they are talking with Max Fried."

Passan also noted that the current free agent market is focused on outfielder Juan Soto and that the Red Sox could potentially pursue White Sox starter Garrett Crochet in the trade market.

Regardless, the Red Sox are clearly after left-handed starting pitching. It's easy to see why, as the 2024 team featured mostly right-handed starters, with veteran James Paxton and reliever Brennan Bernardino being the only left-handed pitchers to make a start. Those two combined for just six total starts.

The Red Sox only had one starter with at least 10 starts record an ERA under four and this contributed to the team's 81-81 finish. It was the third consecutive season in which the team failed to reach the postseason and the fifth time since the team won the 2018 World Series that it did not qualify for the playoffs.

Snell went 5-3 with a 3.12 ERA for the San Francisco Giants in 2024 and is just one season removed from a NL Cy Young Award from 2023. Fried went 11-10 with a 3.25 ERA for the Atlanta Braves in 2024.

Both would be solid additions to the Red Sox pitching staff and would give the team a much needed element after the righty-heavy 2024 rotation.