The MLB owners, including Red Sox chairman Tom Werner, see the ice-cold free agent market as a sign of teams showing financial responsibility.
But player agent Scott Boras sees it as a ruse for owners to pocket more of the profits while inventing excuses for their cheap spending.
As the calendar flipped to February on Thursday, the Red Sox were stuck with the same offensive players they had a year ago. It’s an offense that team president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski took blame for when he fired manager John Farrell last October.
J.D. Martinez, the Red Sox’ primary free agent target, is still unsigned, and now both the team and agent have exchanged opinions publicly this month.