When the Red Sox open the doors to Fenway Park today for the club’s annual winter fan festival, they’ll pull out all the stops to generate excitement ahead of the upcoming season. And there is plenty to be excited about, especially coming off the club’s first playoff appearance since 2021.

But amid all the pomp and circumstance, there’s one question that will no doubt linger over the proceedings, just like it has so often in recent years.

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When are the Red Sox actually going to sign a big free agent?

Or heck, any free agent?

With the Colorado Rockies’ signing right-hander Michael Lorenzen earlier this week, the Red Sox are now the only MLB club that has not signed a big league free agent this offseason.

That dubious distinction has re-ignited some familiar discourse, which is that the Red Sox aren’t willing to spend what it takes to land premium players.

At this point the notion has to be exhausting for the club, who would surely argue that the whole “Stingy Sox” narrative is outdated.

Though they haven’t made any free agent signings, the Red Sox have made 10 trades this offseason, including major moves that brought in right-hander Sonny Gray and first baseman Willson Contreras. Those two players addressed key needs and combined to add more than $38 million to the club’s payroll, bringing the Red Sox just below the first Competitive Balance Tax threshold of $244 million.

The Red Sox have also invested heavily in players already on the roster.

Over the past year the Red Sox have signed Garrett Crochet to a six-year, $170 million extension, locked up top prospects Roman Anthony (eight-years, $130 million) and Kristian Campbell (eight-years, $60 million) to long-term deals, and agreed to a one-year, $13.3 million extension with Aroldis Chapman, keeping the closer off the free agent market.

In many respects the club has done exactly what fans have been clamoring for. But until they prove they can open up their pocketbook and win a bidding war for a premier free agent, the Red Sox won’t get credit for any of it.

Maybe that’s unfair, but Boston’s skinflint reputation has been well earned.

Throughout the club’s five-year rebuild Red Sox ownership has consistently pulled its punches, and since Craig Breslow assumed control as Boston’s chief baseball officer the club has not signed an outside free agent to a deal longer than three years.

Even Alex Bregman’s three-year, $120 million contract last winter — which ranked among the largest in Red Sox history by average annual value — was laden with opt outs and was correctly assumed to be a glorified one-year deal.

Meanwhile, after watching Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts depart to greener pastures, Red Sox fans saw history repeat itself in shocking fashion this past summer when Rafael Devers was traded less than two years into his 10-year, $313.5 million extension, the largest contract in franchise history.

The main return Boston got for Devers was being unburdened of his salary, and the implication was that the Red Sox would take his money and reinvest it into the roster.

Breslow has since used roughly half of it to extend Anthony, but corners of the fanbase remain skeptical the club won’t pocket the rest.

Fortunately, there is a simple way the Red Sox can begin rebuilding that trust and put the old narratives to bed.

Alex Bregman remains one of the top free agents on the market, and if the Red Sox hope to bring him back they are going to have to be willing to pay. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Bregman and Bo Bichette, two of the top free agents on the market, are still available and have been linked to the Red Sox throughout the offseason. Either one would fit neatly into the Red Sox lineup and could prove the last missing piece needed to help the club level up from playoff contender to championship contender.

The Red Sox are known to have been in touch with both throughout the offseason, and a report from ESPN’s Buster Olney from earlier this week even indicated that the Red Sox have made an offer to Bregman in the ballpark of the six-year, $171.5 million deal he was extended by the Tigers last winter.

That’s obviously a good start, but the Red Sox have made offers to big free agents before. If the Red Sox want to change the conversation and finally show they are ready to compete with the big boys, they need to finish the job.