Are the Red Sox ready to make a run? Targets, trade chips as Boston’s contention window swings wide open

All indications are 2025 will be the start of an extended run of contention for the Red Sox. The team has build an impressive young core, led by outfielder Roman Anthony and AL Cy Young runner-up Garrett Crochet, and they have more talent on the way and money to spend. Boston’s Wild Card Series loss to the rival Yankees was a disappointment, but there is every reason to believe the Red Sox will be in the postseason mix for the foreseeable future.

“The most significant (lesson) is to remind ourselves there is no guarantee we pick up where we left off at the end of 2025,” chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said last month. “Expecting everyone to take a step forward could cause us to he complacent and fall flat.”

As talented as they are, the Red Sox have several needs to address this offseason and goals they want to accomplish. They finished 2025 with a $246.1 million payroll for competitive balance tax purposes, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. That was seventh highest in baseball and a franchise record, though it’s likely the Red Sox have the capacity to spend more. Ownership’s willingness to spend has been called into question in recent years. Now’s as good as a time as any to boost payroll.

What do the Red Sox need this offseason? Who could they target? Who could they move? Let’s dive into that now in our offseason preview for one of baseball’s top up-and-coming teams.

Needs

Breslow was nice enough to lay out his team’s needs and his offseason priorities at the GM Meetings in Las Vegas earlier this week. He wants a starting pitcher, which makes him like every other lead baseball operations executive, and to add more power to a lineup that had only two players hit 20 home runs in 2025. The Red Sox finished 15th among the 30 teams with 186 homers.

“In a perfect world, I would suppose we would want to balance out the lineup (with a righty). That said, I think when you can hit the ball out of the park, it doesn’t really matter,” Breslow said. “… There are a number of different ways for us to improve our slug, but I think this idea that we can do more damage on balls on play is certainly a correct one.”

Crochet and Brayan Bello are a strong 1-2 punch and the Red Sox have some exciting young arms behind them (Connelly Early, Kyle Harrison, Payton Tolle, etc.), but a veteran innings guy seems imperative. Ditto reinforcing the middle of the bullpen. Also, the Red Sox need a third baseman with Alex Bregman again a free agent and Rafael Devers having been traded away.

Possible targets

Including arbitration projections, the Red Sox have approximately $210 million on the books for CBT purposes going into 2026. Even if they only return payroll to its 2025 level, there’s money to spend. They’re also rich in MLB-ready or near-ready young players, giving them plenty of trade capital. To put it another way, the Red Sox can be in on just about anyone this offseason.

It just worked, right? Bregman had a tremendous season with the Red Sox and fits the roster and their needs very well. He brings plus third base defense to an infield that must improve defensively. He’s a righty who pulls the ball a ton, allowing him to wear out the Green Monster. Bregman is also postseason battle-tested and a leader in the clubhouse, using his experience to help his teammates. That’s especially useful with a young core. Bregman opted out of his contract and walked away from two years and $80 million. That does not mean he wants to leave Boston. It was a business decision and he wants to maximize his earnings. A long-term contract at a lower annual salary could be in the cards.

The Red Sox were among the teams most heavily involved in Joe Ryan trade talks at the deadline and there’s no reason to think they won’t circle back with the Twins this offseason. Ryan, 29, has two years of cheap arbitration control remaining. He’s in his prime and he’s not a rental. In other words, he aligns perfectly with the rest of Boston’s core. The Twins sold very hard at the deadline and it stands to reason they’ll re-engage interested teams about Ryan (and Pablo López) this winter. This is more a question of whether the two teams can match up for a deal, not one of whether Ryan’s available. 

There is already speculation linking the Red Sox to Pete Alonso, who would bring needed right-handed power and a solution at first base, where Triston Casas has been unable to stay healthy. (Alonso would also be a defensive upgrade over Casas, though that says more about Casas than Alonso.) The Red Sox have not had a right-handed hitter hit 34 home runs since J.D. Martinez in 2019; Alonso’s hit at least 34 in every 162-game season of his career. As an added bonus, Alonso was not eligible for the qualifying offer this offseason. He is not attached to draft pick compensation. It would be a money-only free-agent signing.

Although he won’t provide the same level of defense as Bregman, Eugenio Suárez would bring much more righty power, something the Red Sox badly need. He would also come on a shorter term contract given his age and just the fact he’s not as well-rounded. Suárez has a lot of swing and miss in his game (his 196 strikeouts were fourth most in baseball) and the Red Sox usually lean toward contact-oriented hitters, though perhaps they’re willing to make an exception to get the game-changing power. Like Alonso, Suárez was not eligible for the qualifying offer and is not tied to draft pick compensation.

The homecoming angle always gets overplayed in free agency but Michael King, a New England native, fits the Red Sox well on the field. He’s a high-upside starter (see: 2024) who is plenty familiar with the AL East given his time with the Yankees, plus he’s shown he can be very effective in relief. That could come in handy come postseason time. King’s value is down because he missed time with shoulder and knee trouble in 2025, but, if his health checks out, there could be an opportunity to get a difference-making starter at a discount. The homecoming would be a neat talking point on top of the baseball fit.

Possible trade chips

It’s getting to be time for the Red Sox to do something with all their outfielders, especially with Kristian Campbell seemingly set to move there full-time. Even without Campbell, the Red Sox have Anthony and Ceddanne Rafaela, who are going nowhere, plus Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran, and Jhostynxon Garcia. Masataka Yoshida ties up the DH spot and trading him to clear the logjam will be a challenge, though perhaps the BoSox will be willing to eat money to make it happen.

Clearly though, the Red Sox have the potential to trade an outfielder for immediate MLB help. Abreu and Duran are the most logical trade candidates and there has been interest in both over the last 12-18 months, especially Duran. Maybe trading Abreu or Duran would not qualify as a true blockbuster, but Boston is in position to make a significant MLB player-for-MLB player trade this winter. Abreu or Duran for a controllable third baseman or starting pitcher definitely seems possible.

The Red Sox also have some young arms who would interest other teams, including Early, Tolle, and David Sandlin. Richard Fitts would slot into more than a few rotations as well. Infielder Mikey Romero, Boston’s first-round pick in 2022, might be more useful to the franchise as a trade chip than as a roster player. The outfield is the big one though. The Red Sox have more outfielders than roster spots and trading an outfielder to improve another part of the roster has to be on the table.