Red Sox ‘Pulled Back Curtain’ In Pursuit Of Top Free Agents

BOSTON — The Red Sox have been extremely honest in their recruitment of free agents this offseason, which has led to pretty decent results.

Walker Buehler says it’s why he chose to pitch at Fenway Park in 2025.

Buehler signed a one-year deal with the club back in December, giving himself an opportunity to showcase value in a new market and potentially cash in next offseason. Boston recognized that was the best path for the player, and countered his candid approach with one of its own, laying out a precise plan of how it could help the right-hander recoup value before he even put pen to paper.

Red Sox pitching coach Andrew Bailey believes that’s the right way of approaching a free-agency pitch.

“I’ve done it both ways in my career,” Bailey said at Fenway Fest on Saturday. “You can open the curtain a little bit for a player, but in the last three or four years, I’ve just pulled the curtain back fully… You’re trying to pitch them on reasons — ways we can help them, why they’d be valuable to our team, optimization of opportunities. I’m not going to hide the ball.

“I really don’t like hiding the ball from players during the season or the offseason, so why would I do it during a call? It’s really just opening up the curtain and showing them what we like, things that we would change or talk about changing. It’s obviously their decision, but I’ve been consistent with that the last two or three years.”

Buehler first mentioned his conversations with Bailey on an episode of the “Section 10” podcast last Thursday.

Bailey laid out a plan, Buehler liked it and the Red Sox hope to profit.