Former GM Breaks Down Red Sox, Bo Bichette Pursuit

If the Boston Red Sox want to fill the hole left in the infield by Alex Bregman, the top option available in free agency is Bo Bichette.

Bichette is one of the top three remaining offensive free agents along with Cody Bellinger and Kyle Tucker. There's a pretty steep drop-off from Bichette to arguably the second-best option in Eugenio Suárez. Another option who is available is Luis Arráez, who could play either second base or third base. He wouldn't provide much pop, but he does get on base a lot.

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Bregman was the most obvious fit and now that the Red Sox missed on him, there aren't a lot of options. Bichette is the top remaining fit, but how should Boston handle the market? Former MLB general manager and current insider with The Athletic, Jim Bowden, broke down how he would go about the market.

Boston has to get moving quickly

"What I would have done in this situation is I would've called Bichette's representatives on Saturday about 10 minutes after I was told that Bregman had agreed with the Cubs and I would have told his representatives, I would have said, 'We just got word that Bregman is signing elsewhere. We'd now like to pivot to Bichette. We understand you have a meeting Monday with the Phillies. We're wondering if we could either fly him in on a private jet on Tuesday to Boston. Or if we can come get on a plane and meeting with him on Tuesday because he's now our No. 1 priority.'

"That's how I would react if I was Boston, immediately. I think that's more important than the offer. I'll have the offer with me when I meet with him, but now I need to meet with him. I can't him do a deal with Philadelphia today, regardless. I need to let them know I am in and I want to meet him and we mean business. If you want the player, you have to go out and get the player. You can't wait at this point. You just can't. We're in January."

Bowden provides an interesting perspective because he was a general manager in the league before with the Cincinnati Reds and the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals. It has been reported that Bichette is meeting with the Phillies on Monday. There may not be much time left in the Bichette sweepstakes. Hopefully, Boston already has expressed legit interest since losing Bregman because if Bichette comes off the board, the club could be in a bit of trouble.

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