The more that comes to light about the Boston Red Sox’s plans for this winter, the harder it will be to contain the excitement.

The Red Sox obviously have a need to start pitching, and early reports quickly linked them to all the big names. As the winter meetings approach, optimism appears to be growing that the Reds

Among the remaining starting free agents, a fairly clear “Big Three” has emerged, both in terms of expected contracts and recent track records. It’s possible others will join them, but Corbin Burnes, Max Fried and Blake Snell are the only three locks to receive contracts over $100 million.

A while ago it would have been surprising to hear that the Red Sox were in the middle of negotiations for one of these three. Now it turns out Boston might not even be content with landing just one of them.

According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Red Sox hope to sign two of the three big starters, including at least one left guard (Snell or Fried). Nightengale said no team “bragged about their plans” like the Red Sox, especially to player agents in the market.

“That’s why they met with Soto, told everyone how well it went, and informed the agents that they not only had one of the most prominent free agent pitchers in Corbin Burnes, Max Fried and Blake Snell, but actually “They insist on signing at least one left-back between Fried and Snell,” Nightengale said.

As if that wasn’t enough to send Red Sox fans into a frenzy, Nightengale quoted an anonymous general manager who believed Boston could already be close to signing one of those three starters.

“They’ve made their intentions so clear,” the GM said, “so there’s no way you’re talking unless you’re absolutely sure you’re signing one of these guys. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if they announced that.” They’ll have one of these guys pretty soon. They’re pretty confident.

Burnes and Snell are Cy Young winners (Snell did it twice), while Fried has two All-Star appearances and may be the most consistent of the three. All three are between 30 and 31 years old and all three would be candidates to take the ball for Boston on Opening Day.

It’s hard to say which of the three the Red Sox should want most, so the fact that they might be able to pull off a double-dip feels too good to be true. But soon the Red Sox front office will have a chance to prove to everyone that they can do wonders these days.

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