The Boston Red Sox have their sights set on New York Yankees free agent outfielder Juan Soto this offseason, as he's by far the best player available on the market.

Earlier in the week, the Red Sox secured a meeting with Soto's representation, and that reportedly took place on Thursday.

According to MassLive's Sean McAdam, Red Sox chairman Tom Werner, president Sam Kennedy, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and manager Alex Cora all traveled to California for the meeting. McAdam's source indicated that the roughly three-hour meeting was "productive."

McAdam also reported that was just a preliminary meeting, as Boston introduced themselves and the club to the superstar outfielder and his representation. There was no discussions of money or term and no contract offer was made.

This indicates the Red Sox should have another meeting scheduled if everything went well. Hopefully one of the other teams doesn't put a huge offer on the table during these introductory meetings because if that's the case, Boston may be left without an opportunity to sign Soto.

And, while a left-handed outfielder is far from their biggest need, adding a future Hall of Famer to the roster is never a bad thing and could certainly speed up their path to World Series contention.