Coming into this winter the hope was the Red Sox would bring in significant outside reinforcements after finishing last for the second straight season. So far those big moves have failed to materialize, but even with spring training underway most of the biggest free agents remain unsigned.

It’s not too late for the club to make a splash, and Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy told reporters Monday that former second baseman Dustin Pedroia reached out over the weekend to offer his thoughts.

“I’ll tell you last night at dinner, Raquel and Bres and AC and Eddie and I and a few others got a FaceTime from Dustin Pedroia and he reminded us who is still out there on the market and what opportunities might be out there,” Kennedy said, referring to assistant GMs Raquel Ferreira and Eddie Romero, manager Alex Cora and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. “So we appreciated that perspective.”

“He was very clear about his feelings,” he added, without elaborating on what exactly Pedroia said.

Sam Kennedy told us that Dustin Pedroia FaceTimed him, Alex Cora, several of the assistant GMs at dinner last night to point out the remaining free agents on the market and make his feelings known about what the Red Sox should do…

— Gabrielle Starr (@gfstarr1) February 19, 2024

Known for his competitiveness and fiery disposition, it’s easy to picture a scene where the four-time All-Star is haranguing the club’s top decision-makers over dinner on why they haven’t signed a top starting pitcher like Jordan Montgomery or Blake Snell. Spending was rarely an issue during Pedroia’s 14-year tenure with the Red Sox and numerous club legends have expressed their dismay over how things seem to have changed in recent years.

Even with that being the case, it’s still not too late for the Red Sox to make meaningful upgrades. Monday they reportedly signed All-Star closer Liam Hendriks to a two-year deal — though he’s still recovering from Tommy John surgery and isn’t expected to contribute until 2025 — and as Pedroia probably pointed out, Montgomery and Snell are both still available.

Will the Red Sox go out and get one of them? Kennedy acknowledged that ownership has set specific payroll parameters for Breslow to operate within, but he declined to say what those are or if fans should expect any moves one way or the other.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen over the next couple of weeks so I don’t want to speculate and set myself up for being wrong or misguided,” Kennedy said. “I’ll just say Bres is always looking to improve the team and then there are a lot of talented players still out there, big name free agents, other players who are still available, so we’ll see what happens.”

One area the Red Sox are exploring is potential long-term extensions for young standouts, and Kennedy notably said the club isn’t opposed to extending one of their top prospects before they’ve made their MLB debuts — much like the Milwaukee Brewers did recently with top prospect Jackson Chourio.

As for an extension for Cora, Kennedy reiterated that will be Breslow’s call.

“We’ve made it clear both to Alex and Craig Breslow that that’s Craig’s decision to make,” Kennedy said. “Those guys will talk about it, they do not want it to be a distraction and they’ve had open and honest and direct conversations about it so I’ll leave those discussions to Bres and AC when they feel it’s appropriate.”