A big piece is off the board. Former Cy Young winner Blake Snell reportedly agreed to a five-year, $182 million contract with the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers last night. It’s not clear if the Red Sox ever made a hard offer to Snell, but the team met with him last week (if a Zoom call even counts as a meeting with a person), so Breslow and Co. were on that Look for him. (Juan Toribio, MLB.com)

Personally, I won’t lose sleep over missing Blake Snell. Despite his talent, he always struggled in games and will be 32 years old on Opening Day. There are three more elite free agent starters in Roki Sasaki, Corbin Burns and Max Fried, and that’s before we get into the trade possibilities for arms like Garrett Crochet. And according to America’s Sweetheart, the Sox are actually turning their attention to one of these names:

But let’s hope the miss against Snell doesn’t signal the return of the “interest kings,” as the Sox have been derisively called in recent offseasons. If Craig Breslow really wants to shake that reputation, the fact that the team was reportedly “in” with both Snell and Yusei Kikuchi (who recently signed with the Angels) doesn’t help:

But for all the talk about pitchers, Juan Soto remains the biggest prize this winter. In this race, the Sox are reportedly “stepping up their game” and are increasingly viewed as a “legitimate contender.” (John Heyman, Mark Sanchez, New York Post)

But of course, free agency isn’t the only way to improve a roster. There’s been a lot of discussion about a potential Triston Casas trade, but would it be even remotely a good idea? (Jen McCaffrey, The Athletic)

Regardless of how the rest of the offseason turns out, the Sox officially have an award winner in house. Cam Booser, the surprisingly lively reliever, receives the Tony Conigliaro Award for overcoming adversity. (Jimmy Golen, Boston Globe)