The search continues for a new chief executive to run baseball operations for the Boston Red Sox. Reports late last week said the team is ready to bring a select group of candidates back for a second round of interviews in the coming days.

There is plenty of work waiting for the new boss. The World Series starts later this week, meaning the free agency season is right around the corner.

Here’s hoping the new boss is empowered to dive into the deep end of the free-agent pool. There are stars out there looking for new homes. It’s time to once again make Boston a destination for the biggest names in the game.

Here are a few names that could make a big difference for the coming year, and help spark a franchise coming of back-to-back last-place finishes:

1. Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The Japanese superstar is 25 years old and would give the Red Sox an ace to put at the top of the rotation. He’s a former teammate of left fielder Masataka Yoshida and has led the Orix Buffaloes to the Japan Series for the third straight year. He’s a two-time Pacific League MVP and is favored to win his third straight award this season. The Red Sox have spent considerable money, time and energy scouting him. So have numerous other teams. There will be a major bidding war over Yamamoto in the coming weeks. But it won’t be the biggest one in the game.

2. Shohei Ohtani. He will be the target of the game’s biggest bidding war. And the Red Sox should be in on the battle. He’s going to cost someone a lot of money, and is going to instantly become the face of that franchise. The Red Sox, well under the competitive balance tax last season and in desperate need of a reboot, could use a new face. And at least one former Sox legend thinks it could happen. “I think he’s going to be playing in Boston,” Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez told Sports Illustrated. Pedro went on to list several other teams he could wind up with, but for now Sox fans can dream.

3. Jordan Montgomery. Back to pitching. Montgomery’s price tag has gone up as he has pitched well for Texas this postseason and he would fit in perfectly as the No. 2 starter behind Yamamoto. The former Yankee has big-market experience and is building a reputation as a playoff performer with a postseason ERA of 2.15. He’s left-handed, meaning he can slide right into the spot vacated by James Paxton. His ground-ball rate has been better than 40% in each of the last four seasons.

4. Whit Merrifield. The Red Sox need to get better defensively. Much better. Merrifield would be a good place to start. An All-Star second baseman who can also play outfield, he would bring versatility and dependability to the Boston infield. He also has elite speed, and would join the likes of center fielder Jarren Duran and shortstop Trevor Story to create one of the fastest lineups in the game. Assuming you could get Merrifield to sign a one- or two-year deal, he would be the perfect middle-infield place holder until Marcelo Mayer is ready to move up from the minors. The Red Sox had 12 players man second base last season. It’s time to stop the merry-go-round and shore up the middle.

There are plenty of other names to consider. Among starting pitchers, Aaron Nola or Blake Snell would work if Montgomery goes elsewhere. A homecoming for Eduardo Rodriguez also could be a good fit.

And there are plenty of moves to be made on the trade front, if the new baseball ops director is willing to part with some of the minor-league assets accumulated by Chaim Bloom over the past four years.

We’ll get to those ideas in the weeks to come. But the offseason is well under way. And the new boss should be ready to make a splash via free agency if he wants to turn things around for 2024. And if he wants fans to believe in the direction of this team.

Tom Caron is a studio host for the Red Sox broadcast on NESN. His column appears in the Portland Press Herald on Tuesdays.

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