Red Sox Pushed To Acquire Mets' 5-Time All-Star By Boston Insider

The valiant efforts of the Boston Red Sox this season should not overshadow the glaring need to improve the roster this winter.

Boston improved by eight wins from its .500 record a season ago and made a playoff appearance for the first time since 2021. However, when the New York Yankees took down the Red Sox in a three-game playoff series last week, they exposed a weakness that had shown up all season in Boston.

The Red Sox simply didn't have enough power to match up against the league's best pitching staffs in October. Resurgent shortstop Trevor Story led the club with 25 home runs, and only one other player (Wilyer Abreu, who was hurt for most of September) hit over 20.

Insider proposes Pete Alonso fix to Red Sox power outage

Red Sox insider Rob Bradford has an idea for the Red Sox to fix their power shortage, and it's a good one.

On Tuesday, Bradford campaigned for the Red Sox to acquire New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, who announced his intention to opt out of the second year of his short-term contract signed last offseason.

Alonso, the five-time All-Star who recently became the Mets' all-time home run leader, hit 38 home runs this past season and has three previous seasons with 40 or more. The Red Sox have not had a batter with 40 home runs since J.D. Martinez in 2018.

"The logical avenue to fix what ails the Red Sox in regards to the power-hitting problem is taking a run at (Alonso)," Bradford wrote.

"Alonso is a player you don't have to worry about. He has played in the second-most games of anybody in MLB over the past four seasons, hitting the fourth-most homers of any player. Yes, the "models" might not suggest it's worth allocating such a big chunk of change to a corner infielder, but some of those same narratives were also in play when it came to Bregman a year ago. Sometimes, it's just about being the right guy at the right time for the right team."

Maybe Alonso wants to stay in New York for his whole career, and although they weren't willing to give him a long-term deal last winter, maybe the Mets will pay him what he wants. But that collapse was so brutal that it's also easy to envision either or both sides wanting a fresh start.

Assuming the Philadelphia Phillies find a way to keep Kyle Schwarber, Alonso is by far the best fit on the free-agent market for the Red Sox lineup. If that means splitting time between first base and DH with Triston Casas, or even trading Casas at a low point in his value, so be it.

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