Red Sox Chasing Kyle Schwarber, Pete Alonso As 'Primary Targets'

The Boston Red Sox should have plenty of cash at their disposal after trading Rafael Devers away this past June and things are about to really pick up steam around baseball.

The Winter Meetings will begin in less than a week and we should see star-studded movement across the league, hopefully involving Boston. As the offseason has progressed, it's become abundantly clear that the Red Sox want to add some pop to the middle of the lineup. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and manager Alex Cora have said so themselves.

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Two big-name targets have been consistently reported as potential fits all offseason to this point, outside of Alex Bregman. Those are Kyle Schwarber and Pete Alonso. In the MLB offseason, there's always noise. There's a lot of speculation and mock trades, that really don't mean anything. That's how to cut through the noise. Schwarber and Alonso have been two names thrown out there and The Athletic's Jen McCaffrey continued to add fuel to the fire on Thursday by calling them "primary targets" for Boston.

It sounds like the Red Sox are looking at big-name sluggers

"After partially sufficing their rotation needs with the addition of Sonny Gray, the Boston Red Sox are expected to turn their attention to the lineup, with a focus on acquiring at least one big bat for the middle of the order," McCaffrey wrote. "With the Winter Meetings set to commence next week, Pete Alonso and Kyle Schwarber are both primary targets.

"'Someone who is a threat who can hit in the middle of the order and can lengthen our lineup is going to be something we’re going to pursue,' chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said at MLB’s GM meetings. 'That is absolutely a path to improving our team.' Last season, the Red Sox finished exactly in the middle of the league (15th) in home runs with 186 longballs and a .745 OPS (ninth). MLB league average was 188 homers and a .719 OPS."

It's easy to get caught up in the excitement of predictions and projections and all that. But this is the type of update that should have fans' attention. This isn't some random blogger saying Boston should target these guys. This is one of the top Red Sox insiders out there, in McCaffrey, saying they are targets for the organization.

That certainly adds to fuel to the fire.

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