Is there any chance the Red Sox could be in on the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes?
-- Julian B., Lynchburg, Va.
There will be a large contingent of teams trying to acquire Ohtani, and I'm all but certain the Red Sox will be one of them. But the obstacle for Boston is this: Its allotted bonus pool for Ohtani is $462,500. The Rangers, Yankees and Twins can both offer him over $3 million, and the Pirates, Marlins and Mariners are all at $1.5 million or higher.
What the Red Sox do have is a history of making Japanese players feel comfortable.