There was once a time when fans of most big market teams could fantasize about acquiring any big name player, and for the most part the idea wasn’t completely unrealistic.

Around the turn of the 21st century, the Red Sox landed Pedro Martinez and Manny Ramirez, two of the best players of their era, and nearly Alex Rodriguez. They acquired Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett and more recently Chris Sale, and there’s a whole laundry list of stars the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers and lately the New York Mets have brought in over the years.

Now, the idea Boston could go out and land a real big fish feels more farfetched. It’s not that the club doesn’t have the resources, it’s that ever since Mookie Betts got away the prevailing sense has been the Red Sox aren’t willing to go the extra mile it takes to bring in a superstar.

Maybe that will change when the new head of baseball operations comes aboard, but if the Red Sox wanted to shake up the narrative and put the rest of the league on notice, there’s one player in particular who looms as an obvious target.

Juan Soto could potentially go down as one of the greatest players in baseball history. He made his MLB debut as a 19-year-old in May 2018, and in six big league seasons since Soto’s already become a three-time All-Star, won a batting title and helped lead the Washington Nationals to the 2019 World Series championship. He also has the best combination of power and plate discipline the league has seen since Barry Bonds, and on top of that he was one of just four players who played in all 162 games this past season.

Soto, who is about to turn 25, is also set to hit free agency after this coming season, and it’s widely expected he’ll land one of the largest contracts in MLB history. He’s already turned down a 15-year, $440 million offer from Washington, just to put things in perspective.

Given how the San Diego Padres flopped after going all-in this past season, and given how they’ve already invested nearly $1 billion in Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Xander Bogaerts over the next decade, it’s reasonable to imagine the Padres could trade Soto and replenish the farm system they stripped to get him in the first place. San Diego paid a king’s ransom when they landed the outfielder ahead of the 2022 trade deadline, but now only a year from free agency his price should be much lower.

Could the Red Sox make a deal? Some within the industry believe it’s possible.

Earlier this week Jim Bowden of The Athletic identified the Red Sox as a team to watch in a potential Soto Sweepstakes, suggesting Boston could land the talented outfielder with a package that includes big leaguers Alex Verdugo and Tanner Houck along with prospects Miguel Bleis and Luis Perales.

Bowden argued that Verdugo, who like Soto is set to hit free agency after this coming season, would immediately slot into San Diego’s starting lineup and Houck would join the starting rotation. Houck brings the added benefit of having four years of team control remaining, and the two prospects are each among the top 10 in Boston’s system, according to MLB Pipeline.

Bleis in particular is highly tantalizing. The 19-year-old outfielder is considered a potential five-tool superstar and would be the main prize for San Diego in this deal, but he also just missed almost the entire season to a shoulder injury and has only ever played 31 games at Single-A. Perales is a well regarded right-hander with a fastball topping out at 99 mph and is considered a future mid-rotation starter or a closer.

Would the Padres bite on a package like this? And should the Red Sox pull the trigger if they do?

My gut reaction was it’s hard to imagine the Padres actually accepting this deal and the Red Sox would be crazy not to do it. Verdugo likely has no future with the Red Sox and Houck is the type of pitcher it might be prudent to sell high on if the right deal came along.

Still, a deal like this carries a lot of risk. There’s no guarantee Soto will agree to a contract extension, and with Scott Boras as his agent there’s a good bet he’ll hit the open ma

San Diego Padres outfielder Juan Soto tosses his bat after hitting a three-run home run during the first inning of a Sept. 24 game against the St. Louis Cardinals. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

rket, where the Red Sox would have to fend off offers from all the other big clubs. Losing two top prospects for only one season of Soto would be tough, especially if Bleis blossoms into the type of superstar some evaluators believe he could become. You could make the case it would be more prudent to wait until next winter, when all Soto will cost is money.

Soto is also admittedly a poor defender and would have to play left field in Boston, essentially rendering Masataka Yoshida a full-time designated hitter. He also wouldn’t help balance the lineup, which already leans heavily left-handed.

Even taking all of that into account, if the opportunity to trade for Soto is there, the Red Sox should still do it.

This is a generational talent we’re talking about, and if you have a chance to bring that kind of player into your organization, you can’t pass it up. Even if the prospects reach their full potential, they probably won’t become as good as Soto is right now.

As for the concern about Soto’s long-term future, that’s a simple enough matter. Show him the money. Manny Machado was “definitely” going to hit free agency until the Padres blew him away last offseason and next thing you know he was locked up for another decade.

And the roster-construction concerns? That should all be secondary. You build your team around the best players, not the other way around. If a couple additional trades are necessary to make the pieces fit a little better, so be it.

The bottom line is the Red Sox shouldn’t be afraid to swing big, and even if a Soto deal doesn’t come to pass, the club needs to get back in the deep end of the market, just like in the old days.

The resources are there, all that’s missing is the will, and if the club wanted to make a statement and let everyone know the Boston Red Sox are back then it’s hard to imagine a better way to do it than by reeling in the biggest fish in the pond.

Altuve does it again

Say what you will about Jose Altuve, but when the chips are down the man always seems to come through.

The diminutive Houston Astros second baseman stood tall again on Friday night, powering the go-ahead three-run home run in the top of the ninth inning to turn a 4-2 deficit into a 5-4 lead. Houston closer Ryan Pressly shut the door and after at one point trailing 2-0 in the series, the Astros now go home to Houston with a 3-2 series lead and a chance to clinch the club’s fifth American League pennant in seven years.

At the heart of that success has been Altuve, who has continued to perform even after reputation was sullied by his connection to the Astros 2017 sign-stealing scandal. To this day Altuve is loudly booed at almost every opposing stadium he visits, but to whatever extent he may have gained an advantage in 2017, he’s remained a postseason monster ever since.

Altuve has now played 101 playoff games in his career, and over that stretch he’s hit 26 career postseason home runs, which ranks second in MLB history behind only Manny Ramirez (29). He also ranks top five all-time in playoff runs scored (86, 2nd), at-bats (419, 3rd), hits (113, 4th), total bases (211, 4th) and doubles (20, 5th).

His evolution into an October masher is particularly impressive given that Altuve hardly started his career as a power threat. Over the first five years of his career Altuve hit a combined 36 home runs over 2,721 at bats, averaging a home run every 75.5 ABs. But since 2016 he’s topped 20 home runs in a season five times and 30 homers twice, a stretch that more or less aligns with Houston’s transformation from a doormat to a dynasty.

Houston Astros star Jose Altuve celebrates with teammates after Game 5 of the American League Championship Series against the Texas Rangers on Friday in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Now he has the Astros on the doorstep of the Fall Classic again.

Leyland, Piniella on ballot

The Baseball Hall of Fame just announced this year’s candidates for the Contemporary Era Committee’s Managers, Executives and Umpires ballot, which will see eight of the most accomplished decision-makers of the past 40 years up for election to Cooperstown.

This year’s Era Committee candidates are managers Cito Gaston, Davey Johnson, Jim Leyland and Lou Piniella, executives Hank Peters and Bill White, and umpires Ed Montague and Joe West.

Though none of the four managers ever led the Red Sox, each served as prominent opponents throughout their careers. Piniella was a longtime New York Yankees player who spent time managing both the Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays, Johnson led the New York Mets to their 1986 World Series victory over the Red Sox, Gaston spent 12 seasons as Toronto Blue Jays manager and led the club to two World Series titles, and in addition to winning the 1997 World Series with the Florida Marlins, Leyland managed the Detroit Tigers during the epic 2013 ALCS against Boston.

In order to earn induction, candidates must appear on 75% of the ballots cast by the 16-member committee, which would translate to 12 votes assuming everyone casts a ballot. The committee will meet at the Winter Meetings in Nashville on Dec. 3 and the result of the vote will be announced that night on MLB Network.

Troye bounces back

Red Sox pitching prospect Christopher Troye had a terrific season, posting a 3.10 ERA with 87 strikeouts over 38 appearances split between High-A Greenville and Double-A Portland, but his stint in the Arizona Fall League got off to a rocky start.

Last Wednesday Troye got crushed, allowing five runs on four hits, two walks and a two-run home run without recording an out in the Glendale Desert Dogs’ 16-1 loss to the Surprise Saguaros. The outing raised his ERA to 18.00 in the AFL, meaning no matter how well he pitched afterwards it was pretty much a guarantee his fall numbers won’t look great.

To his credit, Troye bounced back about as well as a pitcher possibly can. In his subsequent two outings Glendale used Troye as its closer, and he responded by locking down consecutive saves with scoreless ninth innings, including in Thursday’s 10-9 win over the Salt River Rafters. Even though his ERA is still over 10, that kind of resilience will make a strong impression on his coaches in the Red Sox system.

Among Boston’s other prospects playing in Arizona, outfielder Corey Rosier has gotten off to a strong start and entered the weekend batting .333 with a .836 OPS and five stolen bases through 13 games. Left-hander Zach Penrod has posted a 1.13 ERA in his first two starts (8 innings) and righty Wyatt Olds a 3.00 ERA through four relief appearances.

The Chicago White Sox will have their third hitting coach in as many seasons after announcing Friday that José Castro would not return in 2024.

It’s one of several changes to the coaching staff.

Longtime first-base coach Daryl Boston will not be back while assistant hitting coach Chris Johnson and bullpen coach Curt Hasler have been offered positions in the Sox player development system.

Castro replaced Frank Menechino as hitting coach in 2023. He joined the Sox after being the assistant hitting coach for the Atlanta Braves from 2015-22.

The shake-up at hitting coach positions come after the Sox ranked near the bottom in the American League in several offensive categories, including 12th in hits (1,308) and batting average (.238), during a 61-101 season.

Here are three issues offensively for the team to address.

1. The Sox must produce more power.

Luis Robert Jr. hit a liner near Pesky’s Pole in the ninth inning of a Sept. 23 game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

Robert knew it would stay fair but wasn’t sure if it would get over the fence. It reached the first-row seats down the right-field line for a go-ahead solo home run.

According to MLB Statcast, it went 311 feet.

“(Teammates) have been telling me, ‘Remember Baltimore, you hit two good balls and they didn’t leave the yard. Now you hit this one and it went over the fence,’ ” Robert said through an interpreter after the 3-2 victory. “Thank God for that.”

It was the center fielder’s 38th and final home run of the season. He suffered an MCL sprain in his left knee the next day and missed the final six games of the season.

While Robert displayed plenty of pop, finishing third in the AL in home runs, the offense as a whole suffered a power outage.

The Sox finished tied for 11th in the AL with 171 home runs and were 12th with a .384 slugging percentage. They were held to one or zero home runs in 22 of the final 28 games, hitting just 22 during that span.

Robert, Jake Burger (25) and first baseman Andrew Vaughn (21) were the only players on the team with at least 20 home runs. And the Sox traded Burger to the Miami Marlins on Aug. 1. Only three other players — Eloy Jiménez (18), Yoán Moncada (11) and Gavin Sheets (10) — reached double figures.

It wasn’t all that long ago that the Sox flexed plenty of muscle. They led the AL with 96 homers during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season but finished 11th in 2021 (190 home runs) and 10th in 2022 (149).

They have to find a way to turn the power back on.

2. The Sox need to show more patience.

Every team in the majors had at least 400 walks in 2023 — except the White Sox, who finished last in the big leagues with 377. They also were last in the majors with a .291 on-base percentage.

The Sox were tied for fourth in the majors in walks in 2021 (586), but 29th in the category in 2022 (388).

Left fielder Andrew Benintendi led the team with 52 walks in 2023. Vaughn and Yasmani Grandal were next with 36 each. Robert and Jiménez were the only other players on the team with at least 30 walks. Both had 30.

A four-game series against the Minnesota Twins in September at Guaranteed Rate Field illustrated the lack of patience. The Sox drew just three walks while losing three of four in the series.

“We have to bear down on our at-bats and find a way to get to first base and create some free passes and get guys in when we have to,” Sox manager Pedro Grifol said after a 4-0 loss in the series finale. “It has to be a big part of our game.”

The Sox also need to cut down on their major-league-leading 32.9 chase percentage.

3. More consistency up and down the lineup.

Moncada was a big contributor during the team’s final win of the season on Sept. 28 against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Guaranteed Rate Field.

The third baseman walked and scored on a two-run home run by Vaughn in the second inning, then hit a solo homer in the fourth in the 3-1 victory.

“If I’m healthy I’ll be able to do more than I’ve shown,” Moncada said through an interpreter after the game. “Injuries have been something I’ve had to deal with throughout my career, but hopefully all of that is in the past. If I stay healthy I can do what I know I can do.”

Moncada had two back-related IL stints this season. He produced after returning, reaching safely in 30 of his last 33 games with a plate appearance. Moncada slashed .320/.362/.557 with seven homers, 20 RBIs and eight walks during the span.

“Honestly it feels good when you’re healthy,” Moncada said. “It’s been a rough season, but you can notice that. The last two months or so I’ve felt good, and that’s good. It’s something I can build on for next year.”

That’s what the Sox will be looking for — especially considering Moncada’s contract jumps to $24.8 million in 2024 — along with the consistency the likes of Benintendi (.262/.326/.356 slash line, five homers, 45 RBIs) and shortstop Tim Anderson (.245/.286/.296, one home run, 25 RBIs) generally have provided in their careers. The Sox have a contract decision upcoming with Anderson — they have a $14 million team option with a $1 million buyout for 2024.

Sox right fielders had a combined .219/.271/.344 slash line. There were struggles at catcher (.192/.256/.311) and second base (.215/.253/.348), showing there’s plenty throughout the lineup for team to work on.

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We’ll be back.

It’s the refrain every ballclub turns to in the moments after a season ends in abrupt, crushing disappointment.

The Orioles followed the script Tuesday night. In the wake of a 7-1 postseason bludgeoning at the hands of the Texas Rangers, they clung to the fact they had shocked the baseball world with 101 regular-season wins. More importantly, they said, the best is yet come.

Not since the franchise’s 1970s and 1980s heyday has an Orioles team won big in the present and had sound reason to believe it would win bigger in the future. The 2023 Orioles are not just spitting in the wind when they talk of next year, saying what they’re supposed to say as they process the close of a joyous run.

Their top two position players, catcher Adley Rutschman and infielder Gunnar Henderson, are 25 and 22, respectively. They have two young pitchers, Kyle Bradish and Grayson Rodriguez, whom manager Brandon Hyde believes could join the sport’s rarefied club of true No. 1 starters. They have the No. 1 prospect and No. 1 farm system in baseball.

General manager Mike Elias said only brutal competition in the American League East tempers his optimism for what’s to come.

“Do we have the talent and the organization to have another regular season as successful as our regular season was? Absolutely, but there’s other organizations out there trying too, and we’re gonna have 162 games next year and a lot’s gonna happen,” Elias said Thursday. “But I am exceedingly confident we’re gonna have another very competitive, entertaining, excellent season next year.”

That doesn’t mean the losses to the Rangers hurt any less for the time being. “I’m still pissed,” Hyde said twice as he spoke with reporters Thursday.

When he huddled with players on the final team flight from Texas, however, he wanted them to cherish their accomplishments and to feel the pull of what’s next.

“The guys who are going to be back, there’s going to be a lot to look forward to,” he said. “Because they’re really good players.”

The wider baseball world sees much promise in Baltimore.

“They need to look at all possible options to boost the rotation next year, but everything else is pretty much in place,” said Keith Law, a former Toronto Blue Jays executive who writes about prospects and team building for The Athletic.

That knowledge has allowed Orioles fans to savor a sweet year despite the bitter taste left by a playoff sweep.

Tim Cooke, 41, lives a few blocks from Camden Yards and called the last six months the most satisfying in his lifelong love affair with the team.

“You go back to 2014, when we got swept by the Royals, that hurt so much because it felt like the one shot for that team,” he said. “Here, we’re still theoretically a year early in terms of things coming together. I was talking to [my brother], and I said this truly is only the beginning. The embarrassment of riches we have in the minor leagues, the flexibility we have payroll-wise … and I know I’m a little biased, but we have the best front office. It’s set up for so much success.”

There is a flip side to all this optimism, the cold truth that many teams come close and never make it back. Or they assume, incorrectly, that one triumphant season will carry over to the next. Sometimes, the horizon is closer than anyone thinks.

Just ask the most famous Orioles of all, Cal Ripken Jr. After the club won the World Series in 1983, Ripken assumed that would be the norm going forward, and why wouldn’t he? He was a 23-year-old Most Valuable Player. Eddie Murray was in his prime. Ripken had grown up around the organization, watching his father coach the next crop of stars, who always seemed to refresh as the Orioles kept winning.

But most of the key players around Ripken and Murray were veterans, and there was no next wave coming. Within five years, the Orioles were unrecognizable, the worst team in baseball.

When asked recently about the current team’s splendid future, Ripken cautioned that the Orioles should “enjoy the moment.”

A look at the most successful teams from more recent Orioles eras reveals the wisdom in his words.

The 2014 club also won the AL East, only to be swept from the playoffs, albeit a round later, by the Kansas City Royals. “I think we can be even better,” center fielder Adam Jones said after the final defeat.

In fact, they dropped from 96 wins to 81 in 2015. They were back in the playoffs as an 89-win team in 2016, but that run lasted one game, with manager Buck Showalter leaving closer Zach Britton to watch helplessly from the bullpen as Edwin Encarnación hit a season-ending home run off Ubaldo Jiménez. They lost 87 games the next year and 115 the year after that, with their offensive core fading more rapidly than hoped and their promising starting pitchers either suffering injuries or failing to develop.

In 1997, the Orioles won the division but lost the AL Championship Series to Cleveland when closer Armando Benítez surrendered the only run of Game 6 on a home run by Tony Fernández. A few weeks later, Davey Johnson resigned the same day he was named AL Manager of the Year. The Orioles went 79-83 with a similar roster in 1998, kicking off a run of 14 straight losing seasons.

The 1997 team was built largely around stars in their late 20s or 30s, many of whom had signed as free agents and would be gone two years later. There was no robust crop of prospects to replace them. They were made to peak that season, not to last.

Elias, by contrast, has tried to build a club resembling those from the Orioles’ golden age, when Earl Weaver insisted the “Oriole Way” be taught at all levels and general managers Harry Dalton, Frank Cashen and Hank Peters ensured an ever-replenishing flow of quality players from the farm.

“This is not the first time this place has been a state-of-the-art, top organization in baseball,” Elias said before the playoffs. “We have that again now. It took some work, took some pain, took some focus on infrastructure.”

That talent pipeline, fueled not just by astute draft choices but by fresh investment in Latin America, is the Orioles’ greatest hedge against falling off the pace they set this year.

It begins with No. 1 prospect Jackson Holliday and his .442 on-base percentage across four levels as a 19-year-old shortstop. He’ll have a chance to make the Orioles next spring as will outfielders Heston Kjerstad and Colton Cowser. For sheer power, look to 21-year-old corner infielder Coby Mayo, who hit 29 home runs between Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk this year. Samuel Basallo, who hit 20 home runs and reached Double-A as a 19-year-old catcher, is the first fruit from the Orioles’ bolstered efforts in Latin America. Infielder Joey Ortiz is one of the top 50 prospects in baseball, and he might not find a place to play.

The farm system is not perfect. With Rodriguez now in the major league rotation, none of the Orioles’ elite prospects are pitchers.

“They’re going to have to trade some of this position player surplus for pitching,” Law said. “You just look, and they can’t play all these shortstops; they can’t play all these outfielders. This is the winter. … I don’t say any of this as a negative. I just say this is the one thing that’s going to have to be different over the next five years versus the last five.”

Even on the pitching side, the Orioles made great strides in 2023, with Bradish stepping forward, Rodriguez maturing from prospect to rotation fixture and John Means returning successfully from Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery.

“Our starting pitching is up and coming,” Hyde said, a terrifying thought for opponents if the Orioles’ hitting prospects are half as good as touted.

Las Vegas bookmakers will almost certainly set their over/under higher than 76 wins next spring. They’re done sneaking up on anyone, and that’s fine by them.

“I think we showed that we’re gonna be here for a long time, we’re gonna be here to stay,” said pitcher DL Hall, yet another top prospect who stepped forward late this season. “This organization isn’t a joke.”

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