Dodgers burning Red Sox again in free agency is becoming comical

Will we ever get tired of laughing at the Boston Red Sox? After they lost Teoscar Hernández to Dodgers in a race that didn't seem remotely close by the end, he went on to explain his decision to come to LA as "an easy choice" despite having other offers. It was easy enough to pick on the Red Sox then, but it with LA's newest addition in James Paxton, that low-hanging fruit is just descending further and further.

On Tuesday, Paxton and the Dodgers agreed to a one-year, $11 million deal. He rounds out the rotation as an apparent No. 4 or 5, behind Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Bobby Miller (and, eventually, Walker Buehler). He's had some ups and downs over the last few years, including missing all of 2022 due to injury, but his 96 innings with Boston in 2023 were enough to land him a spot with the hottest team in baseball.

Per Red Sox journalist Rob Bradford, Boston was interested in keeping Paxton, but it seems like they never even put a number in front of him, and returning to Fenway was a 'no' from the get-go, as he wanted to stay on the west coast.

The Red Sox were interested in keeping James Paxton before he signed with the Dodgers

Players often cite family as their reason for moving or not moving (i.e. Eduardo Rodriguez blocking a Tigers-Dodgers trade last year because of his family), but what makes Paxton's unwillingness to stay in Boston that much funnier is that the Red Sox might not have ever gotten around to offering him a deal at all. "Interest" is a widely-used word in the offseason months that can and often does lead to something tangible, but when it's used in retrospect, after a player has already committed to another team, it's just sort of sad.

What are the Red Sox doing? We couldn't tell you, and given the reception for president Sam Kennedy and chief of baseball operations Craig Breslow at Red Sox Winter Weekend, it doesn't seem like Boston fans could either.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers are set. Other than a couple more bullpen additions that may or may not actually happen, Paxton was the last crucial piece of the puzzle as LA heads into spring training. After swiping two players from right under the Red Sox's nose, at this point, all the Dodgers can do is tip their caps to them.