All Boston Red Sox fans are sick of hearing the same thing: that they are “highly interested” in what feels like every free agent every season. Sox fans got more of that yesterday when Pete Alonso, who was heavily involved in talks with Boston, signed with AL East rival Baltimore.
According to The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey, the Red Sox are now looking to get “creative” in order to add more power to their lineup this offseason.
It’s not what any Boston fan wants to hear; as a big market team, the Red Sox should never have to get creative to sign players, they should instead open the checkbook and lure players with money and the history that comes with playing for one of the original MLB franchises. However, it was instead reported that Boston offered both less years and less AAV to Alonso than the Orioles did.
It’s become apparent that John Henry and Fenway Sports Group aren’t willing to shell out money, so general manager Craig Breslow has unfortunately been hamstrung with the difficult job of trying to convince players to come to Boston without being able to offer a top of the market contract.
Red Sox Targets Now That Alonso is Off the Table
With Pete Alonso now an Oriole and Kyle Schwarber a Phillie, the Red Sox figure to revert to their original plan, which was re-signing Alex Bregman following his opt-out after the 2025 season.
Despite injury struggles, the Alex Bregman experience in Boston was very good. Bregman brought a consistent bat to the lineup (albeit lacking top end power) and was a mentor to young players. Assuming the Red Sox are still on good enough terms with Bregman, which by all accounts they are, he’ll be the top free agent target moving forward.
Outside of Bregman, the best power bats remaining on the market are Kyle Tucker, Cody Bellinger, and Eugenio Suarez. Tucker is the consensus top free agent this year, and if trends continue to prevail, there is zero chance the Red Sox would offer even close to the top dollar for him, so you can confidently mark that one off your boards.
If nickel and diming free agents is the way the Red Sox are going to play this offseason, you can also count Cody Bellinger out, as he’ll be looking for length on his contract, something Boston seems unwilling to offer.
So, we’re left with Suarez, who is probably second on the Red Sox board right now behind Bregman. Suarez, 34, is coming off of a 49 home run season. Considering he’s getting older, the Red Sox may be able to get away with offering a short term deal at a reasonable AAV. His market value according to spotrac is only $15 million per season, a reasonable price for a hitter of his caliber.
Suarez Deal Would Embody “Creativity” Sox Are Looking For
Though Suarez is a great power hitter, he’s on the low end of the top of the free agent market, which seems to be the area Boston wants to target. It wouldn’t be the sexiest signing, that would be Kyle Tucker or Bo Bichette, but it would help solidify the middle of the Sox lineup.
If they can sign both Suarez and Bregman, Suarez could become the everyday DH as he is typically a third baseman.
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