The Red Sox added Isiah Kiner-Falefa to their infield group last night on a one-year deal, and they’ve also been poking around the market for right-handed hitting outfielders, per Katie Woo and Will Sammon of The Athletic. Colleague Jen McCaffrey writes in a separate piece that the Red Sox are interested in someone to fill a role similar to the one held by Rob Refsnyder (who signed with the Mariners in free agency) in recent seasons.
The free agent market has been largely picked over but still has some options that could fit the bill. Randal Grichuk, Austin Slater, Mark Canha, Connor Joe and old friends Hunter Renfroe and Tommy Pham all remain unsigned. Some from that group could probably be had on a minor league deal with a spring training invite. The trade market generally isn’t bursting with names this time of year, though Houston’s Jake Meyers has reportedly been available for much of the offseason and there are some obvious salary dump candidates (Tyler O’Neill, Nick Castellanos) if the Red Sox want to just pay a bit of cash without giving up much of anything in the way of prospects.
Ceddanne Rafaela is Boston’s only righty-swinging outfielder. He’ll be in the outfield every day, given that he’s arguably the game’s best defender there, but he doesn’t offer huge production at the plate. The rest of the Red Sox’ outfielders — Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, Masataka Yoshida — hit from the left side of the plate. The Sox have suggested Abreu might get more run against lefties this year, but he’s a career .205/.271/.318 hitter in left-on-left matchups. Yoshida is a .237/.310/.340 hitter against southpaws. Duran held his own against lefties in 2023-24 but fell off again in 2025 and now sits on a lifetime .232/.284/.336 line against them. Anthony hit well against pitchers of either handedness in his debut last year but was better against righties.
Beyond the more obvious names listed above, spring training is sure to present plenty of outfield options for Boston to consider, whether it be via a waiver claim or small trade for a player who’s been designated for assignment or a veteran who signed a minor league deal elsewhere but returns to the market after not making his club’s roster. Chas McCormick, Dylan Moore and Stuart Fairchild are among the veteran righty-swinging outfielders who’ll be in camp with other teams this spring.
It’s not clear just how much more budget space Red Sox ownership is giving chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and his staff. RosterResource’s projections have the Sox about $20MM over the tax threshold. Any subsequent additions will thus be taxed at a 42% clip.
They are Pham-i-ly.
Tommy Pham will bring his fantasy team to Boston if they want him!
No thanks. I’ve been suggesting this type of move and wanted Andujar. O’Neal is injured too often even if the price was right and I’m not sure if Renfroe has much left. Too bad Gonzalez isn’t considered as if he could play the outfield, the roster would be set.
dewey – As of right now the Sox have 10 who bat righty and 9 who bat lefty …… it makes zero sense to pick up another outfielder.
This feels like they are ready to move from Yoshida, and the new outfielder would split time at DH.
Still, the thought of replacing Duran or Abreu with any of the 9 aforementioned OF’ers is disappointing.
If that’s the case why not Ozuna?
Going for 7 opening day HRs in a row!
Strictly a DH at this point.
Fever, I agree in Yoshida which is why I had been looking at Alonso and then others (most recently Andujar). As for trading Duran (I do not trade Abreu the way he plays right at Fenway), we may get back less in the OF but improve either elsewhere (second base or pitching if not DH). It could also be to re-stock the minors with quality if not quantity.
If Duran and Yoshida get dealt, he could be the answer but without trading both, he clogs up the roster after all of the off season work. He’s also the kind of guy who could help big time or be released in May and while they’re looking for upside, I think he’ll cost too much to tske that risk given the present payroll.
It doesn’t make sense to replace a guy with a .592 OPS vs LH SP or RP with a guy that has a ..830 OPS vs LHP ? At least, replace one of the two LHH against a tough LHP.
Fever- Based on the names listed in the article I will take my chances with Yoshida. Some of these guys have a WAR in negative numbers, why on earth would we want that?
T
Tyler O’Neill is probably available. 🤣
Tyler O Neill for Ranger Suarez
They should look at that Jhostynxon Garcia kid the Pirates have.
You need the right password to get a look at that guy.
Or you can just pirate him, apparently!
What a joke the Red Sox are
What do you find funny specifically?
If u consider 93 Wins a joke
LOL! This isn’t happening
Care to elaborate?
acentola
👎
Just mute certain individuals.
As a Red Sox fan, I agree. This offseason has been a total joke. The Sox entered back into win-now mode last season. They had the prospects and money to make some big splashes this offseason, and they did very little. I don’t think the rotation is as great as some others think it is, and the offense looks very mediocre right now. They also did absolutely nothing about the bullpen. They traded away their only couple somewhat reliable lefty relievers from last year besides Chapman, and did nothing to replace them. D+ offseason.
I disagree about the rotation. Huge potential there. There is never a guarantee, but we have some solid veterans behind Crochet. No we did not trade for Skubal, but neither did anyone else. I think the offense looks better than mediocre and the defense has improved. I am still hoping for another bat and not from that list above, but I am staying optimistic.
The fact that 9 people upvoted this idiot is hilarious.
Why are you shocked? I can think of 6 Red Sox bashers who are prolific commenters without even trying.
I’m not a basher at all and I can see that they should have traded Abreu or Duran for a RHH OF/3B/2B. Then they sign IKF for 6M?
Yes, that’s a joke.
Or trade Duran for a decent SS and put Story at 2b or 3B
“They should trade abreau or duran” ..that comment is a joke ..no team “should” trade young controllable all-star and go talent ..find another way if possible..thats what they “should” do
Nine up votes and six bashers so you’re one of three lol.
I’m with you. I think they should’ve traded Duran last season. He’s only going to slip further as he ages with his speed game.
So OK that decision is a joke, but to say the Red Sox are a joke is wrong.
Poolhall, yup, sure would be nice if they spent more money and signed a guy instead of trading a valuable player. That would actually be the preferred route.
That’s said, I’m still in favor of trading away Duran at this point. I know I’m in the minority, but it’s what I think.
Gary for the right player absolutely we should trade Duran. I don’t see his numbers climbing much after a bit of an off year, so trade him while he still has value. I just have no interest in getting rid of him if someone on the list of right handed outfielders above is the replacement.
Um, what team are you rooting for? I feel pretty good about the Sox.
Why’d we let Refsnyder walk??? Smh. No interest in Pham. O’Neill is interesting if his contract is paid down, he was great for 1 year here…… I always loved Marcell Ozuna, but he’s mostly a DH, had a rough 2025 and he isn’t getting any younger.
On another note…..I thought Theo was on board as an adviser???
Do you think Breslow could use some decision-making help? Hello. Hello?
They let Ref walk because giving $6M to a minimal contributor is a bad… oh wait, nevermind.
A guy who just put up a .959 OPS vs. lefties last season is hardly a “minimal contributor”! And it’s not like Refsnyder hasn’t done that for years…
The Sawx paid IKF $6M while a much better hitter in Andy Ibanez just got DFAd (his salary will be $1.2M in 2026)!
Can Ibanez play + defense at three infield positions as well as be an emergency outfielder? While I like Sogard and Eaton in small doses, getting IKF was insurance for Mayer and Story.
Breslow seems very short sighted when it comes to the position player side. Like he can only focus on one thing.
Gotta get Crochet, gives up Teel. Oops now there’s no catching depth whatsoever.
Gotta get better SP. Oops our platoon OF guy left and now we need another one.
What? They gave up Teel to get Crochet and you’re worried about their catching depth? lol
Joemo is Slow really isn’t here but for one thing. Bash the Red Sox and every decision they make.
They traded literally the only decent catcher on their team (majors or minors).
Notice how this off-season they acquired like 6 C? Yeah … Gotta plan ahead a little bit Breslow.
Crochet was amazing last year, but the deal probably could have been done without him. If CWS said we need Teel then sure, but they have Quero…. Who was an equally good C prospect.
Joemo is Slow.., “the only decent catcher on their team?”
You’re further away than I originally thought. I’m leaving this one alone.
With catching, defense is most important and Narvaez is far better behind the dish than Teel will ever be. Teel may end up being a very good or even great overall catcher but trading him as part of the Crochet package was simply the cost of doing business.
Mollysdad15
What? They gave up Teel to get Crochet and you’re worried about their catching depth?
====================
I suggested that they only give a couple of lowly-rated prospects, but apparently the WS wanted serious prospects.
Well, we finally found someone to complain about the Crochet deal.
They traded literally the only decent catcher on their team (majors or minors) […] but they have Quero….Who was an equally good C prospect.
Brilliant.
I don’t see the Sox including Teel in the trade if they didn’t have to. We needed Crochet far more than we needed Teel.
Uncle: Exactly. Perfectly said.
Joemo, the only short sighted people are the constantly complaining fans who act as if they somehow know everything about what the front office wants, pursues, what players wanted, etc.
And it’s incredibly short-sighted to whine about the necessary prospect price paid to get a young ace – one whom many of the same complaining fans said was too “unproven” to be worth paying such a price for.
I guess the front office had better foreSIGHT!
Red Sox – it’s not me guessing what the Red Sox want, they have came out and said these things.
I completely understand that you need to give up something good to get something good. But if you were able to actually read and comprehend what I wrote, the White Sox already had a good C prospect. The deal more than likely could have been completed without Teel – and without Anthony.
The concern for Crochet was can he hold up to the starters workload. He did it for one season. I hope he keeps it up, but I would not be surprised in the slightest if he doesn’t.
The Red Sox gave up their 4th and 5th best prospects in the Crochet deal. As much as we’d all like to give up the 21st through 25th best prospect instead of the 4th best prospect, teams will rarely accept these deals and they want the premium prospect (they have their own large group of mid-range prospects).
So could the Red Sox have gotten Crochet without giving up Teel? Probably. But it would have required they gave up Mayer or Campbell. In hindsight, giving up Campbell would have been better for 2025, but that wasn’t clear at the time and may not be the outcome going forward.
What if the only options they wanted as the centerpiece were Teel or Anthony. Why are you assuming they could have got Crochet without one of them. Let’s be happy we got Crochet, locked him up with a long term contract, and have continued to put together a strong rotation.
If you want to complain about not getting one of the big names this offseason I get it, but why whine about a trade from last year that got us an ace.
Everyone was pretty high on Campbell at that point and I think there would have been a bigger outcry if they traded him. In Chicago without the pressure and big contract, Campbell may have settled in easier and people could be saying it was the worst trade of all time right about now. I agree that we gave up a reasonable amount to get an ace. What good does it do to complain about it now.
Uncle is spot on. We have no idea what the White Sox demanded from the Red Sox for Crochet. It very well could have been Teel. When you don’t know the full story, it is foolish to jump to a conclusion and pass judgement.
It’s almost like you have to give up something to get something in a baseball trade. Something the other team wants. Weird.
This is a very deceiving headline. The Red Sox have Eaton and Campbell as RHH outfielders plus Romy has experience as a corner outfielder.
This is likely just the Red Sox looking for depth in case Eaton gets hurt and Campbell hasn’t figured things out yet – a minor league depth signing makes sense here. The only other conclusion is that they’ve decided to move Rafaela back to the infield after failing to get a starting infielder in free agency/trade, which has lead to needing more outfield depth, but that would be speculation at this point.
WC, not a chance Rafaela moves back to the infield barring major injuries. Campbell needs to work himself into the majors despite the contract. Eaton is an unknown for large playing roles and as for Gonzalez, he would have been out there last year when Anthony and Abreu were both hurt if he was really an outfield option.
@Dewey
‘Eaton is an unknown for large playing roles’ – we’re talking about the 5th outfielder spot, not a ‘large playing role’.
‘not a chance Rafaela moves back to the infield barring major injuries’ – last year they were playing Rafaela at 2nd when the outfield was fully healthy and Bregman is gone, so we’re already at that same point.
‘as for Gonzalez, he would have been out there last year when Anthony and Abreu were both hurt if he was really an outfield option.’ – Romy played in 9 games in the outfield as recently as 2024! so he’s clearly an option. But it didn’t make sense to put him in the OF when they had Refsnyder and Eaton both healthy.
Sorry man, these are some awful takes.
WC, why would ANY club take arguably the best defensive outfielder and move him to become a nice but not great infielder as they try for a title? They learned last year the club plays overall better defense with Rafaela in center as long as you have a competent infield. The present roster construction removes the need for Ceddane to play the infield. Romy playing NO games last year says enough (for me as to his ability to play the outfield for a contending team in a non-emergency situation). Finally, while Eaton can be the final outfielder, especially with IKF, last year showed even backups can be forced to play larger than expected roles. Campbell’s inability to step up is the real issue here and Eaton could end up being the answer. My response though was mainly about Rafaela.
“why would ANY club take arguably the best defensive outfielder and move him to become a nice but not great infielder as they try for a title?”
The Red Sox did this last year. They did it because they were a better team at the time by doing this. Nobody wants to move Rafaela out of the outfield, but as good as he is defensively, the downgrade to Duran isn’t huge, because Duran is also very good defensively. Meanwhile, if he can play similar defense to IKF at 2nd, and I think he can, having Yoshida at DH is a HUGE upgrade as a hitter to IKF as a batter. So, the question is: is the 30-40 additional points of wRC+ worth the 8-9 outs lost by having Duran in CF against RHPs instead of Rafaela.
Nobody who follows the Red Sox ‘learned’ that the team plays better defense with Rafaela in CF last year, that’s been known since before he debuted, especially by the club. That’s a very silly thing to say. Everybody wants Rafaela in CF if they can make the roster work. Unfortunately the roster is not built for that, seemingly unintentionally.
IKF has 7.2 fWAR in 8 full seasons – that is not a starting MLB player. He’s a nice bench piece who can play multiple positions and step-in due to injury while spelling Story, Mayer (possibly platooning with Mayer) and occasionally at 2nd – he probably gets 300-400 PA throughout the season (unless Mayer suffers a major injury). The options aren’t all great, but there are a lot of options and depth now.
IKF has 7.2 fWAR in 8 full seasons
===================
Just imho, the better way to look at it is, IKF has a 3.0 bWAR per 600 ABs for his career. And he’s had 4 years with 133+ games, and had a 3.9, 2.9, 3.6, and 1.6 bWARs in those 4 years.
@Joe Brady
Setting a metric to a rate-stat based on at-bats is very bad practice. At-bats aren’t something that are consistent and out of the hitter’s control, like plate appearances. IKF has been awful at drawing walks the past two seasons (which you include), that’s his main issue, so you’re either naive using at-bats rather than plate appearance or you’re being intentionally deceptive in order to make an argument. Then switching your filter from at-bats to games played is even more of an issue – pick a filter and stick with it, otherwise the numbers you use will never be useful.
Aside from that, you’re cherry-picking 4 years from an 8 year career in which he’s been quite healthy, but teams have chosen not to play him as a full-time player. Assuming he’s now a full-time player after signing for a sub-full-time-player salary, coming off a year where he struggled and was eventually cut, doesn’t make sense.
He has light reverse splits for his career, but as a part time player, his teams undoubtedly platooned him in a way which played up his stat lines, as teams typically do with platoon players, so we can’t assume a rate-based statistic would tell the whole story.
He’s been a sub 1 fWAR player so far (8 years) through his career. He’s a great fit for this team as he can back 3B and SS, which was a major need, but assuming he’s now the full-time starting 2nd baseman would be silly. I expect Story to bounce back and have a better defensive season, but if he doesn’t, having IKF available to play SS (or 3rd with Mayer at SS) while moving Story to 2nd is another bonus he brings to the team.
WC- My first thought is that another move is coming and I don’t think it is going to be for a has been right handed outfielder. I just don’t see the team moving Rafaela back into the infield. There are a lot of moving pieces and I know everyone is trying to figure out how they are going to maximize the at bats for the best hitters (with the assumption that Duran is still on the team).
Since Schwarber and Alonso are no longer options and Casas is a huge question mark, I am hoping that Yoshida is going to get the majority of the at bats at DH. He was killing it at the end the season and I think he is going to get on base at a very high percentage if given the opportunity. My hope is that IKF is going to be a well paid utility guy as well as someone to cover for an injury, but if they are sticking with what they have now he is probably going to get a significant amount of playing time at second, rotating with Romy and whoever else fills out the roster.
I am not sure how they will maximize all of the outfielders and Yoshida, but the chances of injury are always something to consider (think about last year when the majority of the team spent a chunk of time on the disabled list). I am still hoping for a big trade, but in the back of my mind I wonder if we are better with keeping the outfielders we have so we know we will have premium players available even if an injury creeps up.
I’m sure Breslow is still exploring trades, I’m just not optimistic that there’s a team out there willing to trade a player who would fit. And when Breslow makes panic moves, it doesn’t turn out well.
You’ve pointed out part of the issue. We would both like Rafaela in CF and Yoshida at DH vs RHPs, but that means one of Duran/Abreu/Anthony sit vs RHPs – and that REALLY isn’t happening. So as of now, either Rafaela is in the infield against RHPs or Yoshida is wasting away on the bench without a clear role aside for occasionally pinch hitting for Narvaez/Rafaela.
I expect IKF to play full-time against LHPs (with one of Duran, Abreu or Mayer sitting – on a rotation) and filling in all over when one of Rafaela, Mayer or Story get hurt or need a day off. Plenty of playing time available for him. Just don’t see him as a full time player as he hasn’t been that in the past and has never been an average hitter.
Yoshida for Tyler O’Neill … problem solved
The only available righty FA worth considering is Grichuk. The rest are firmly in the hot garbage phases of their careers.
Ozuna isn’t OF but man would he fit there
They’re pretty much full on domestic abusers
Are we? I can’t name a single one.
Aroldis Chapman had an incident where he was abusive towards his girlfriend and fired a gun in a garage. It was a long time ago and he has seemingly stayed out of trouble ever since, but it was a pretty big deal at the time and some people still dislike him for it, which I can understand.
Oh yeah Chapman. Good call. No excuses.
When the team signed Chapman I immediately looked into this. They have the police reports (there are two which conflict a bit) online and it wasn’t nearly as bad as many had reported at the time.
The Rundown: During a party at his house his girlfriend (baby mama) took his phone because she thought he was texting with another woman, he got angry and grabbed it back, there was some pushing (they were both intoxicated so it’s unclear the extent of physical altercation) before the girlfriend’s brother shoved Chapman. Chapman’s driver then took him to his car so he could cool off. While Chapman sat in the car he found the gun in the glove box and went into his garage (a separate building from the house) and fired several rounds into a wall (with nobody else around). Meanwhile, Chapman’s girlfriend had gone outside (the other direction) to cool off herself, but when she heard the gunshots she got scared, hid in a bush, and called 911. That’s the whole story and nothing came of it afterwards. IMO, it was a young drunk guy making multiple stupid mistakes, but it doesn’t seem he did anything particularly violent (but again, that part is not clear, whatever the altercation was it was brief).
Possible O’Neil for Yoshida trade?
O’s don’t need any more lefty OF/DH types either
Castellanos playing right in Fenway… I think that seems very realistic. Philly is going to unload him for practically nothing, he could have a big offensive year. He’ll always be a butcher in right, there’s no getting around that.
Castellanos would have to play left. He’s already a horrible right fielder and would be even worse at Fenway. Either way the Sox should definitely take a hard pass.
Sure if you want a huge downgrade in RF….
Can’t believe nobody has mentioned the photograph that Mr. Adams chose to accompany the article. Comedy gold. Thank you sir.
He knows what he’s doing lol
Exactly what I was thinking. I think even Adams is wondering what Breslow has been smoking.
Don’t underestimate Rafaela, he made notable improvements last year. He’s a gifted player.
If he wouldn’t be so scared of hitting from behind in the count.. The kid is just full blast at the plate.
If they keep him in CF, his offensive numbers would be fine, just like they were trending this season before they moved him around a bunch.
Rafaela still needs some plate discipline, but he’s improving.
This is idiocy. Truly a clown show
Teoscar was available earlier in the offseason and he would have been a good DH and part time OF.
Another Outfielder is the last thing this team needs, regardless of what hand he hits with
No, another INFIELDER is the last thing. IKF, Story, Eaton, Mayer, Gonzalez, Sogard, Hamilton, Rafaela in a pinch. Infield is even Campbell’s most familiar position despite this OF experiment. Enough already, though they all won’t be on the team in April. The current OF is weak against LHP.
Grichuck still absolutely smashes LHP. He had a lot of bad luck on outcomes last year, but the underlying numbers were as good as ever. I think he’d be a great easy sign for this role.
Adding any OF does leave the 26-man roster thin on infielders, but if you accept Rafaela could play IF in a pinch (I know no one wants him to), then you can get by. I guess Wong also plays a little IF in a pinch as well.
Why? They have too many outfielders.
Because neither Duran nor Abreu can hit LHP well. So if they continue on that trend, they need one platoon guy.
If only they had a great RHB OF who absolutely destroyed LHP…….
My name is Joe Slow
Middle name is”mo”
I bash the Red Sox
Wherever I go
Because they can then trade one. And I assume they have a deal lined up.
Playing Anthony, Duran, Cedanne, Yoshida and Abreu 120 games each between the OF and DH. Maybe a few less for the lefties in that bunch while whoever they bring in as a RH OF plays?
Is that the strategy?
Alex Cora would be as excited as a 7-year old on Christmas morning if he had to chance the manage that scenario. The Red Sox would not have the same line-up twice the entire season!
How about the Mariners send Randy Arozarena and others to Boston for Wilyer Abreu? Who says No?
That’s actually a reasonable swap, but the other player from SEA needs to have ~1.5 WAR value to make it doable considering Wilyer’s contract.
I say no. I’m not ready to move Anthony full time to right when we already have a great defensive right fielder (perhaps the best) given how tough Fenway is. Also, the prospect from Seattle needs to be a stud given this is Atozatena’s final arb year (Abreu has four). Finally, his salary for 26 requires another move to keep Boston Under the second layer. Substitute Yoshida and we have a deal (tongue in cheek).
That makes zero sense. 4 years of Wilyer for one year of Arozarena? Wilyer has a higher OPS and 2 Gold Gloves, Arozarena is a below average defender.
Arozarena hit 5 more HRs last year, but had 200+ more ABs
Wilyer even has a higher career OPS
Craig hangs up and laughs.
Wilyer is so much better than Arozrena overall. And has three more years of control. Why would the Sox do this trade??
He can’t hit LHP… he is a platoon player
The OP said ‘and others’. No laughing without knowing the full terms.
I mean why does it have to be an OF? If you go by the rosterresource chart which has Duran at DH, you can easily just plug him in the field for Abreu or Anthony and the DH spot could be anyone. They have enough OF as is.
Could go in on Goldschmidt, Ty France, Hoskins (all of whom could also play 1B with Contreras at DH).
Vientos or Spencer Steer on the trade market?
Could also take cheap minor league fliers on Justin Turner (he was actually competent vs LHP last year) or Mitch Garver (look at the home/road splits).
Sox need to get rid of Yoshida – pay that deal down and do what it takes. Total waste of the DH slot.
I’m sure Craig called Chaim on this. Sox would need to pay probably 30 of the 36 M and add in a pretty decent pitching prospect( not top tier guys), with a low minors lottery ticket coming back.
At this point, if they can’t find a taker, they should just cut bait. He has absolutely no spot on this team anymore. The only thing he can really do is hit singles off right handed pitchers. The Sox ate almost $50 million to get rid of Pablo Sandoval. Just eat the contract if need be.
I thought Campbell was their RH OF depth. Also I would rather just use Nate Eaton over these other choices. This whole conversation is stupid.
Sign Mark Canha
End of discussion
Van, I liked that idea last year. I’m not sure what Canha has left but when he played for the Mets, he showed he could easily handle the green monster.
Maybe the 2022 or 2023 version of Canha who no longer exists.
Memories of 2021 have me nostalgic for Hunter Renfroe but he’s 5 years older and coming off an abysmal ‘25 that saw him released before June.
I didn’t like the Renfroe trade myself. At least we have David Hamilton to show for it! 🙄
I’m guessing they’re done, no more external moves.(for now). Bullpen slots will be filled by rotation excess (Harrison, Kutter).
I’ll keep screaming this until it sinks in,,,, Tolle is a Reliever…. not a Starter…. a Left Handed Mason Miller. That is where he needs to be and that really helps the BP. In order to be a Starter Tolle needs to master at least one more pitch that he currently does not have or can use with consistency.
Tolle needs to gain better control wherever he pitches. Let him start at Worcester and see what develops.
That image of the Red Sox mascot Adams chose for this article is PERFECT.
On a serious note, I wonder what Breslow has been smoking?
Why would we want to pick up some .230 right handed hitter off the scrap heap when Kristian Campbell can hit that. Romy Gonzalez can play left field and hit .300 against lefties.
Get another outfielder so they can get Duran out. They can’t dump him fast enough. Abreu is the one who should be traded and would bring a lot more.
We would love to do Paredes for Duran 1-1.
But Boston wouldn’t Astros. Stop pushing one for one deal that heavily favors the Astros. Paredes’ glove did not fit Boston’s primary desire of defense first and he simply doesn’t provide the power they want from the DH spot.
I’m doing it based on his logic. If Paredes 25 homer power or so in Fenway doesn’t fit your needs, what is? 40 homers?
That’ s why MLB ranking the Top Left Fielders in the game as of now have Duran 1st…. because he is actually so much better than most Red Sox Fans understand….. The infatuation with Abreu is ridiculous… unless he changes his approach he will NEVER hit LHP enough not to be a platoon player.
Some Red Sox fans say that Brice Matthews and Issac Paredes for Wilyer Abreu is a fair trade. It’s not. It’s very very very very very lopsided to the Red Sox side. (I think it was one or two to many verys)
Cooper, while the corners at Fenway are tough, right is much harder and Duran also doesn’t do much against lefties. No one is downplaying Duran who improved tremendously as a fielder since his original indoctrination to Fenway but barring injury, it’s been assumed either would be traded. Duran will become more expensive and in the team’s budget, the difference between Duran and Abreu’s cost could prevent Henry from greenlighting a later move.
I know this post is just click bait, but it just makes me have nightmares about a one year $8m for Randall Grichuk.
I really miss Dave Dombrowski. A month ago he went and got Adolis Garcia on a one year show me contract for $10m
Sigh
That was a sneaky good move
Well seeing as we were hunting down a power right handed infielder and managed to come away with IKF 🙄 I have zero faith that who they bring in for the right handed hitting outfielder will be of any value. I’m sure Breslow find some scrub
Could have just re-signed Refsnyder! 🤦♂️
He signed for more than he was worth to the Red Sox. Seattle had an opening at 6.2. We don’t.
If the Sox are going to pay 6.2 they want a better player. For RefSnyder’s production they’ll want to pay less than 6.2.
Get it?
Plus the Red Sox were working on other things when Reffy signed with Seattle. Not going to commit that contract to him in December if you’re Boston.
Dude they just have $6 million to IKF – a utility infielder with a career OPS under .700 when they already have like five utility players. Refsnyder put up an OPS over .900 against lefties last year – he was the PERFECT fourth outfielder for this team. He was easily worth $8 million for so on a one-year contract. It was stupid to let him go AND trade Garcia to the Pirates, and now right as spring training is about to start we have no lefty mashing OF to compliment the starters.
Get it?
If he’s the perfect fourth outfielder, what do you do with Duran or Yoshida?
Agreed Ref had a nice season last year but 6.2 for filling a need at second is better than 6.2 for a 6th outfielder.
Unless I’m missing something, and that is quite possible, what the Red Sox have done regarding this subject just seems logical to me.
Grichuk.
Done
Sounds to me like someone wants O’Neill back. Y’all are welcome to him.
Any interest in Cutch from the Sox for $5m per year?
He is strictly a DH as he can no longer play the OF while putting up league average hitting stats (at best).
Didn’t think so.
Why does it feel like the Red Sox 2026 plan is an absolutely rudderless odyssey
Lol
Thirdbaseman- because it is….
Also, if youre willing to change your position, Breslow wants to extend an invite to camp to play 2B
Is JD any good anymore or is he too far removed?
JD Martinez? I think he’s done but to bring him in to compete in spring training wouldn’t be bad. It would remind me of 75 when Tony C won the starting job. He got hurt, was replaced by a rookie named Jim Rice and was released a month later…
Whoever it is, this player will hit the game-winning, wall-off hit in a 2026 MLB World Series game. Big decision.
Castellanos will look great in red
I’m really trying. I get trading Teel (because it was for Crochet), though in hindsight Campbell might have been better. But to let Refsnyder walk, then to turn around and say “oH, wE nEeD a Rh Of” is absolutely ludicrous. YOU HAD THE GUY FOR THE JOB AND YOU LET HIM GO.
I wonder if they’ll sign Castellanos because he’ll only cost league minimum. He could be worth a change of scenery flyer. I’m skeptical that he is, but this feels like an episode of Arrested Development, because absurdity is probably going to ensue.
👎
Catching is in high demand right now. Campbell was not going to be a sufficient replacement in that trade. It was Teel or not going to happen.
Ref signed December 22 or so. Red Sox are not going to give their 6th outfielder $6 million on December 22.
They had a lot of irons in the fire at that time, plus personally Ref had to take the Mariners offer.., that was a no-brainer.
You can’t see these things as logical occasions of off-season activity? There’s going to be hits and misses.., good timing and bad timing, spending a little and saving a little. That’s baseball especially Red Sox nation right now.
My opinion is that Boston is greatly improved and that’s not even “trying.”
I agree they’ve improved. That doesn’t have anything to do with letting Refsnyder walk.
You think they should’ve signed him December 21 or earlier for $6 million as the sixth outfielder on the Major league roster?
1.2 WAR is worth 2/3 more than that or so.
Yes, I do.
Fair enough 👍