If you haven’t been following Kristian Campbell down in Puerto Rico this winter, here’s a little update: in 8 games he’s hit .214 with just 3 extra base hits. Not great, Bob! But the Sox aren’t too concerned with his back-of-the-baseball-card results. They view this as an opportunity to “pressure-test” the changes he made to his swing in the second half of last season. As for his defense, he has yet to play in the field, but likely will get some work in at left field soon. (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)
We know Kristian Campbell won’t be playing third base anytime soon, regardless of whether Alex Bregman resigns with the Red Sox. So is there any meat to the rumored pursuit of Bregman by the Diamondbacks? Here’s one of the game’s most prominent insiders reporting that… no one really knows. (Ken Rosenthal, The Athletic)
Speaking of small moves, the Sox have a new director of pitching, having promoted Ben Buck to fill that post after Justin Willard was hired to be the Mets pitching coach. (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)
And here’s a big move, albeit one that doesn’t directly impact the Red Sox roster: John Henry and Fenway Sports Group, who bought the Pittsburgh Penguins a few years ago for $900 million, have just sold the team to a Chicago-based family. We don’t yet know the finances of the deal or what motivated the sale. It’s worth noting, though, that the Penguins were one of several hockey teams whose TV rights were thrown into limbo when Warner Brothers dismantled its regional sports networks a few years ago, forcing the team to purchase its own channel that was managed by NESN. (Andrew Limberg, WEEI)
With the Penguins news it’s time to cue up the “there’s the Bo Bichette money!” jokes. But while we’ve heard little on the Bichette front lately, there is some news that potentially makes him an even better fit for the Sox: he’s telling teams he’s willing to move off shortstop:
