The Boston Red Sox bounced back from their Juan Soto and Max Fried misses nicely by swinging a trade for Garrett Crochet and signing Walker Buehler. Their rotation finally has the ace it has been missing in Crochet, and Buehler offers intriguing upside on a one-year deal.
As solid as those two moves were, the Red Sox have done very little to address the rest of their team. Patrick Sandoval can help in the second half, and Aroldis Chapman can help in the bullpen, but they’ve done nothing to address their lineup.
The Red Sox do have a stout core, but they could use another infielder and perhaps more importantly, are extremely left-handed heavy. There’s nothing wrong with having some left-handed hitters, but an argument can be made that their five best hitters all bat from the left side. That isn’t even mentioning prospects like Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer who also hit left-handed.
With that in mind, adding a right-handed bat felt paramount heading into the offseason, and sure enough, one of Breslow’s priorities is adding a right-handed bat to give the lineup some much-needed balance.
What are the Red Sox going to do next?
“We’ll shift our focus to thinking about how to balance the lineup. We’ve talked about some RH-bat helping to equalize the significant number of LH- hitters we have. We’ll probably look to add in the bullpen as well.”…
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) December 30, 2024
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Given the fact that the Red Sox are looking for a right-handed hitter and could use another infielder, the solution simply has to be Alex Bregman, right? Not only is Bregman still a high-end right-handed hitter, but he’s expressed a willingness to play second base. This would allow Boston to hold onto Triston Casas, giving them stars at three of the four infield positions.
Bregman won’t come cheap, but the Red Sox proved by pursuing Soto that they have money to spend. The biggest move that they made this offseason was for a player in Crochet who is projected to earn under $3 million in 2025 according to Spotrac. They signed guys like Buehler and Chapman, but they only required one-year deals. The Red Sox should still have a substantial amount of money to spend, and there isn’t a better fit right now than Bregman.
If the solution isn’t Bregman, who will the Red Sox pursue? Randal Grichuk crushes left-handed pitching, but he probably isn’t more than a platoon player. Anthony Santander is a switch-hitter, so he’d give the lineup some balance, but do the Red Sox want an outfielder, especially after not looming as much of a threat for Teoscar Hernandez? The infield options are Pete Alonso, an older first baseman than the young budding star they have, and Ha-Seong Kim, a light-hitting middle infielder. They’d both make the team better, but again, Bregman is by far the best fit.
He is coming off his worst season and will be asking for a substantial contract, but this Red Sox team is ready to win right now. Plus, Bregman’s market doesn’t appear to be including several suitors. Adding Bregman would make them legitimate contenders, if not favorites, to win the AL East. They’ll have a great chance to do lots of damage in a weaker American League.
It’s time for John Henry and Craig Breslow to open up the checkbook and bring Alex Bregman to Boston. He’d cost a lot, and might not be a star by the end of his deal, but even after a down year, he is a star now. He’d make an improving team that much better and would cost nothing more than money and a couple of draft picks. If they’re serious about winning right now, this should be a no-brainer.
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