The Boston Red Sox’s pursuit of adding proven talent around their young core could come at a high price – the trust of the future face of their franchise, Roman Anthony.

The Red Sox are reportedly still in conversations with the Arizona Diamondbacks’ $116.5 million star Ketel Marte. Apart from trying to re-sign Alex Bregman, they’re actively involved in trade discussions for both Marte and Houston Astros’ Isaac Paredes.

Neither of the deals is close yet, but as insider Chris Cotillo says, the talks are still very much “exploratory” for Ketel Marte.

If a Ketel Marte trade goes through, Marcelo Mayer could end up being part of the package. Apparently, he has drawn interest from the Diamondbacks.

But Roman Anthony might not be too happy about that.

Recently, he talked about how close he is to Mayer.

When asked who his “baseball bestie” is, the 21-year-old shared, “It’d be hard not to say Marcelo. You know, coming up with Marcelo the most and living with him.”

Even if Mayer is a player of interest for the Diamondbacks, the Red Sox would reportedly try to get a deal without including him in the package. And it’s not hard to see why.

Mayer and Anthony are part of Boston’s “Big Three” alongside Kristian Campbell.

For Anthony, in particular, the Red Sox’ outfield decisions will largely center on his rise. It was only this year that Craig Breslow committed to an eight-year, $130 million contract extension to Anthony.

In all, the Red Sox are seemingly struggling to make a big splash this offseason. When they entered the annual winter meetings, they were viewed as frontline suitors to land top free agents Pete Alonso and Kyle Schwarber. But we all saw how that turned out; both players ended up signing five-year deals with other teams.

The Red Sox’s off-season approach is proving to be costly

The Red Sox front office departed from Orlando empty-handed. And as the winter meetings wrapped up, one agent shared his stance on why the team couldn’t land top free agents like Alonso and Schwarber.

While speaking with MassLive’s Sean McAdam, a “prominent” agent noted, “They don’t believe in long-term deals.”

The deals Pete Alonso and Kyle Schwarber ultimately signed might not seem like massive long-term commitments at first glance. But when you compare that to some of the other top contracts around MLB, it’ll make sense.

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Alonso signed for $155 million with the Orioles, and Schwarber secured $150 million from the Phillies. Both contracts are bigger than anything Craig Breslow has offered a free agent since becoming Boston’s chief baseball officer in 2023.

This kind of approach could also factor into Alex Bregman’s future in Boston.

With Pete Alonso off the board, it should be more a matter of “when” the Red Sox will finalize a deal with Bregman. This Friday, we certainly got an optimistic update from Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report. He has predicted that Bregman will return to Boston and even suggested a potential five-year contract worth $135 million.