Poll: Sox signaling readiness to spend but are fans buying it?

Everything being said about the Boston Red Sox in the build up to the Hot Stove season should be music to the ears of Sox fans across New England.

Everybody is talking about them being legitimate big game hunters this winter. From the man at the top of the industry in Jeff Passan, to beat writers like Pete Abraham, Alex Speier, and Rob Bradford, agents are speaking and they're all sharing the same message - the Red Sox mean business.

They're one of four teams, along with the Blue Jays, Mets, and Yankees, who are set to meet with Juan Soto. They're linked to Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, Garrett Crochet, and Teoscar Hernandez. It's like I went to sleep and woke up in 2016. Not since the days of Dave Dombrowski have Sox fans been treated to this level of excitement entering an off-season...

Oh yeah, except for this same time last year when Tom Werner uttered a pair of words that have haunted the organization ever since - "Full Throttle."

So, yeah, I'm meeting all these reports with a healthy bit of skepticism.

That being said, I'm very easy to win over. Just make the moves. Show me that the major league team is what's most important to the organization, something that has not been the case for several years regardless of what they tell us.

Does that mean they have to splash $600 million to bring in Juan Soto? No, but it means aggressively pursuing top talent and not just "checking in to check in."

Fans should be encouraged by what we've heard so far. But based on how things have gone, are you like me and need to see it before you believe it?