The Red Sox have a lot less winter housekeeping to do than most clubs, but one call could steer the whole offseason: Sonny Gray.
Boston and the All-Star right-hander have a mutual option decision due within five days after the World Series ends, and those kinds of options usually go one way around baseball. Most get turned down.
Sometimes the player underperforms and the team moves on. Other times the player performs so well that he’s positioned to chase a bigger deal.
Gray’s situation sits in that second lane, and there’s real money attached to it. The option comes with a $10 million buyout.
If the Red Sox exercise their side and Gray declines, he gives up that buyout, per Spotrac. If Boston passes, Gray gets the $10 million and becomes a free agent.
What makes this tricky is that Gray’s season was strong enough to make the $30 million figure look justified. The question is whether the Red Sox are willing to commit that kind of money, and whether Gray would even be satisfied with a one-year setup. At 36, he still pitched well enough in 2026 to put himself in line for a multi-year deal, something Boston has to weigh carefully.
However it plays out, the ripple effects could be huge. If the Red Sox bring Gray back, either through the option or a fresh contract, that money comes off the top of the offseason budget and narrows what Boston can do elsewhere in free agency. The upside is obvious: the rotation would be locked in with Gray, Ranger Suarez, Jake Bennett, Payton Tolle and Garrett Crochet.
That would also open the door to a possible trade from that group, with Brayan Bello, Tanner Houck or Kutter Crawford named as possibilities. It would not be a wild idea.
And if Boston commits that much to Gray early, it’s tough to imagine the club also diving into the very top tier of the free-agent market.
The decision is coming soon, right after the World Series, and the Red Sox will shape the rest of their winter around it.
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