Plus, Dick Fitts a good fit for Boston.

With ownership appearing to be even more reluctant to spend than anyone expected, are now seeing why so many candidates turned down the job the Red Sox eventually handed to Craig Breslow? Alex Speier caught up with some of those candidates, including New England native Sam Fuld. (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)

So maybe Jordan Montgomery and Blake Snell aren’t walking through that door. That’s okay, we’ve got . . . Jakob Junis and Ryne Stanek? Reports are that the Sox have been in touch with both free agent pitchers. (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)

I’m not a fancy TV executive like Tom Werner, but I’m not sure Junis and Stanek are going to draw a lot of eyeballs to NESN, which has seen ratings plummet in recent years. (Sean McAdam, MassLive)

But hey, maybe this is the year that Garrett Whitlock finally clicks in the starting rotation (and stays healthy). Plenty of his teammates think he has what it takes to step up to another level. (Christopher Smith, MassLive)

Or maybe Dick Fitts, recently acquired from the Yankees in the Alex Verdugo trade, will end up surprising people. He’s been in Boston this winter, and he seems to love the city and have some genuine excitement about the season to come. (Keagan Stiefel, NESN)

But, ultimately, it’s looking like the focus of 2024 is going to be on the prospects, as the Red Sox don’t feel like competing until Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony, and Kyle Teel are established big leaguers. At least all three of them cracked the top 40 of MLB.com’s latest rankings, along with Ceddanne Rafaela, who checked in at #76. (MLB.com)