Craig Breslow addressed the media on the first day of the annual GM meetings and laid out the Red Sox’ offseason wish list. What does he want? A middle-of-the-order bat and a top-of-the-rotation starter, stating that “I don’t think we’re going to spend a ton of time trying to add a No. 4, No. 5 starter.” (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)
And now, he’ll have a little more cash to go out and find those pieces. As announced last night, Roman Anthony finished in third place in the American League Rookie of the Year Award voting. In addition to that being a total bummer in general, it means that Anthony will miss out on at least $3 million worth of bonuses that were written into his contract extension. (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)
Speaking of Anthony, how is his rehab from injury going? Breslow said that he should start swinging in a few weeks, and that everything is on track for him to have a normal and healthy offseason. He also said that Marcelo Mayer has essentially fully recovered from his injury and may have even appeared in the playoffs had the Sox advanced, and that Triston Casas is working out down in Fort Myers, though there is no guarantee that he’ll be fully healthy at the start of spring training. (Christopher Smith, MassLive)
It’s refreshing to not read Trevor Story’s name in a piece about injury rehab, isn’t it? But while he’s healthy and will be back with the team in 2026, there was a question as to whether he’d be moved off of shortstop given his defensive dip this year and the emergence of Marcelo Mayer. But not so fast, says Breslow, who indicated that they do not plan on moving him to second or third just yet: “I’m aware of some of the errors. I’m aware of what some of the defensive metrics indicate.I also think that he brought a stabilizing presence to the infield. I think some of his errors were clustered toward the end of the season, in just a short time period. And also, he hasn’t played a full season in a really long time. . . When Trevor was playing shortstop, we felt like balls that were put in play to the shortstop were going to be converted into outs.” (Jackson Roberts, Sports Illustrated)
So where does that leave Mayer for 2026? Breslow says that it’s premature to assign him a role. Right now, the Sox want Mayer to focus on adding strength in the offseason to help him withstand the rigors of a full season of professional baseball, something Mayer has yet to complete. (Christopher Smith, MassLive)
