Expert: Red Sox Must Make This Move, Or Offseason Is A Failure

Is it this cut and dry?

Aug 16, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora (13) stands in the dugout during the first inning of the game against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox's offseason hasn't been a failure so far, but it would be marked as incomplete if midterms were today.

Boston has added starting pitchers Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo, traded for first baseman Willson Contreras, and brought in a lot of interesting minor-leaguers on both sides of the ball. But it's abundantly clear that the Sox are still missing one more big bat.

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On Sunday, longtime Red Sox beat reporter Sean McAdam of MassLive essentially laid down the gauntlet for this year's ballclub: Either bring in one of the top two free-agent infielders on the board, or prepare to be slaughtered in a brutal American League East.

Insider says Red Sox need Bichette or Bregman

Those two infielders, of course, are Alex Bregman, their incumbent third baseman, or longtime Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette, who profiles as a second baseman moving forward.

"The Sox need to lengthen their lineup with a significant run-producing bat," McAdam wrote. "Bregman also offers improved defense and a considerable off-field presence; Bichette is younger, puts the ball in play, and hits all kind of pitching.

"One or the other has to get done. Otherwise, the Red Sox consign themselves to the middle of the pack in the American League and will have wasted a prime opportunity."

It's nice to have flexibility, and the Red Sox essentially have eight of the nine spots in the lineup filled, but because the ninth man could play either second base or third base, both Bregman and Bichette make sense for Boston.

As McAdam wrote in his column, Marcelo Mayer would play second base if Bregman returned, and he'd shift over to third if Bichette came to Boston. The Red Sox currently would have either Nick Sogard or Romy Gonzalez slotted into the everyday lineup if no other additions were made.

The Blue Jays reportedly signing Kazuma Okamoto may have taken one team out of the hunt for Bregman, but it only underscored the urgency for the Red Sox to do more. Because not only have the Blue Jays gotten better, but so have the Baltimore Orioles, and we know the New York Yankees will be in the hunt as well.

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