This story was excerpted from Ian Browne¡¯s Red Sox Beat newsletter, written this week by Molly Burkhardt. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

BOSTON -- With new leadership in place and a promise from chairman Tom Werner to go ¡°full throttle,¡± Red Sox fans had reason to be optimistic this offseason.

Nearing the end of December, that optimism has lost some steam.

The Red Sox haven¡¯t been totally silent. They¡¯ve made some smaller moves to improve the overall roster -- including trading outfielder Alex Verdugo to the Yankees for right-hander Greg Weissert and Minor League righties Richard Fitts and Nicholas Judice, adding a solid right-handed bat in outfielder Tyler O¡¯Neill in a trade with St. Louis and signing righty Cooper Criswell to a one-year deal for further bullpen depth. Still, the big splash Red Sox fans were anticipating remains at large.

The free-agent market has largely been held at bay as the baseball world awaited the decisions of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. With the Ohtani sweepstakes ending in dramatic fashion and Yamamoto reportedly joining his fellow Team Japan star in Los Angeles, the free-agent pitching market is sure to pick up steam.

There are still two months left in the offseason, but time is of the essence for the Red Sox as dominoes begin to fall around the league.

Biggest question to answer before Spring Training
Who will they add to the rotation?

The Red Sox entered the offseason with a number of needs, primarily: starting pitching, a strong defensive second baseman and a right-handed bat. They checked off the latter in acquiring O¡¯Neill, though they could arguably add one more impact hitter.

Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow stressed at the Winter Meetings that starting pitching was their biggest priority. Though the Red Sox left Nashville, Tenn., without a deal in place and missed out on Yamamoto, Boston has been linked to top free agents Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery, reportedly signed free agent Lucas Giolito to a two-year deal and maintains interest in Japanese lefty Sh¨­ta Imanaga. MLB.com¡¯s Mark Feinsand also noted Marcus Stroman and Michael Lorenzen as possible targets for the Red Sox. Whether it lands one of the top tier free agents or not, Boston will need to add at least one or two starters.

Player poised to have a breakout season
The easy answer would be Triston Casas, if he hadn¡¯t already had a breakout season in 2023. So let¡¯s turn our attention to another representative of Boston¡¯s promising youth: Brayan Bello.

As it stands, Bello is slated atop the rotation after Chris Sale was traded to the Braves. After debuting in 2022, Bello had an up-and-down first full season in ¡®23. He shined in June, holding a 2.14 ERA over 33 2/3 innings. The 24-year-old right-hander has the stuff to be a solid fixture in this rotation, but it may just take some patience as he adjusts to a Major League workload.

The biggest challenge for Bello in 2024 will be finding ways to attack lefties.

Prospect to watch in 2024
Boston¡¯s first-round pick in the 2023 Draft, Kyle Teel rapidly climbed through the Minors in his first professional season. The club¡¯s No. 4 prospect per MLB Pipeline, Teel started the year in the Florida Complex League, where he hit .429 over three games. The 21-year-old had 53 at-bats with High-A Greenville, hitting .377 with a .938 OPS to earn a promotion to Double-A Portland.

A left-handed-hitting catcher, Teel will likely start the 2024 season with Portland, where he will continue to adjust to the heightened level of competition. In the meantime, Teel is one of 11 players set to participate in the Red Sox 2024 Rookie Development Program, a five-day event that is scheduled to begin Jan. 15 at Fenway Park.

One prediction for the new year
The Red Sox will win more games than they did in 2023.

The bar is low, but after going 78-84 in back-to-back seasons, finishing above .500 seems like a fair goal to set. The 2023 Red Sox exemplified what it means to have a rollercoaster season, finding themselves on hot streaks before going ice cold. With little rotation depth, a revolving door at shortstop before Trevor Story¡¯s return and weak defense at second base, Boston was rarely at full force at any point last season.

If they can find a way to add two to three solid starters and a strong defensive second baseman this offseason, the Red Sox will immediately put themselves in a better position entering Spring Training.