ORLANDO, Fla. – With starting pitcher acquisitions checked off their to-do list, the Boston Red Sox came to the 2025 MLB Winter Meetings with a clear top priority.
A big, game-changing bat.
“We still haven’t addressed some of the position-player needs that we have,” said chief baseball officer Craig Breslow on Monday. “We still are going to prioritize someone who can hit in the middle of the order and kind of change the overall outlook of the offense.”
That ‘someone’ could be one of the market’s more homer-heavy hitters like Kyle Schwarber or Pete Alonso, or a more well-rounded hitter whose consistency makes up for their somewhat lower power output, like Alex Bregman or Bo Bichette.
“Home runs are a foolproof way to put runs on the board,” said Breslow. “Typically, that type of profile comes with a trade-off, most often contact-ability, which is another area that we feel like we need to improve, kind of the identity of the offense. But at the end of the day, we’re trying to score as many runs as possible.”
The Arizona Diamondbacks are also listening to offers on second baseman Ketel Marte. Said position has been something of a black hole for the Red Sox ever since knee injuries brought Dustin Pedroia’s career to a premature end in 2017. Arizona’s asking price will be high, specifically in regard to club-controlled starting pitching, but the Red Sox are willing to trade from their pitching surplus, Breslow confirmed Monday.
“We’ve got pitching depth, based on some of the inbound calls that we’ve received over the last couple weeks,” said Breslow. “I think teams have recognized that there’s appeal to controllable starting pitching. If there are opportunities to use some of that depth in order to address other areas of the roster, we’d be willing to do it.”
The Red Sox were a top-ranked offensive production in several metrics this year, including fourth in hits and batting average, eighth in on-base percentage, and seventh in runs. They again led the majors in doubles (a byproduct of playing in the unique confines of Fenway Park).
In home runs, however, they ranked 15th and fell two round-trippers short of the league average (188). The ’25 Red Sox were excellent at creating situations for such a slugger to come through, only to be reminded that they lacked such a man.
Breslow pointed to it as soon as Boston’s short-lived postseason run came to an end: teams that go far in October have hitters who can go deep.
Adding a player with high strikeout probability may seem counterproductive for a team that, as Breslow acknowledged, already does that too much; the Red Sox ranked eighth in strikeouts this year. Yet this type of power bat brings another benefit to the lineup.
“I think that the true middle-of-the-order bat that can hit the ball out of the park, it has probably outsized impact on the rest of the lineup, because of the way that you have to attack someone, the on-base implications that can have,” Breslow said. “And so again, we’re going to consider all ways of improving the team, but finding someone in the middle of the order who hits the ball out of the park is a really good place to start.”
What the Red Sox lack in everyday ‘horses,’ to borrow a term from manager Alex Cora, they make up for in players who can man multiple positions. Breslow believes their major and minor league infield depth will work to their advantage. They’re not searching specifically for a power-hitting third baseman or contact-hitting second baseman; they’re on the hunt for the best bat they can get, and will then reshape the team accordingly.
“I don’t want to put limitations on what we may be able to do,” said Breslow. “That’s where the positional flexibility comes in… We’ve seen with guys like Romy (Gonzalez), (David Hamilton), Marcelo (Mayer), the ability to move around, even with the outfielders and rotating through both three spots and the DH spots, and I think that just gives us a little bit more latitude when it comes to finding someone who can improve the offense.”
The position player market is currently waiting for the first big domino to fall, with the expectation that it will be Schwarber. The Red Sox are among the many teams linked to him and Bregman. Their competition for Schwarber includes the Phillies, his team these last four seasons, and the Orioles.
Alonso is driving from his Tampa home to meet with select teams in Orlando this week, but Breslow would neither confirm nor deny reports that the Red Sox are on his dance card.
“Our hope is that we’re having a lot of meetings here over the next few days,” he answered cleverly.
