12:33 p.m.: Speier’s report has been updated to highlight the Cardinals utility man Brendan Donovan as the fifth baseman the Red Sox are currently focusing on.
Donovan, 29 next month, is among the most talked about players in baseball this winter. In addition to being a versatile infielder and outfielder, Donovan sports a career 119 wRC+ and has delivered 6.0 fWAR (5.3 bWAR) in 271 games over the past two seasons. As a left-handed hitter, Donovan wouldn’t be as effective in balancing the Red Sox left-handed lineup as Bregman, Bichette, and Paredes (or the button-hitting Marte), but he comes with two years of affordable team control.
Newly named Cardinals president of baseball Chaim Bloom is familiar with Boston’s farm system right now, thanks to the trade that included Contreras and Sonny Gray earlier this offseason and also because of the years he spent as the Red Sox’s baseball executive before Craig Breslow took over. Notably, the competition figures for Donovan’s services will increase. Seattle and San Francisco were previously reported as the frontrunners for personnel services earlier this month, while the Royals, Guardians, Astros, and Pirates are among the other teams linked to Donovan.
10:26am: The Red Sox have long been known to be looking for a right-handed bat to add to their infield, and they got one when they traded with the Cardinals. Wilson Contreras. Contreras figures to settle into an everyday role with the club between first base and DH, but veteran slugger Alex Speier of the Boston Globe notes that the Red Sox remain in the market for another big bat in their position. Speier specifically highlights four potential assets for the Red Sox: free agents Alex Bregman again Bo Bichettethird base for the Astros Isaac Paredesand second base coach of the Diamondbacks Ketel Marte. While Speier acknowledges that alternatives to that team exist in both free agency and the trade market, those four names appear to be the focus of Boston’s efforts at this point.
Certain words themselves are not new information. Bregman, of course, has been an impact player for the Red Sox this past season after signing a three-year exit contract with the club last season. After slashing .273/.360/.462 in 114 games and seeing his third career All-Star appearance, Bregman opted out of the final two years of that deal to return to free agency. A reunion with Boston has long seemed like the perfect fit for Bregman, and the team’s interest in a reunion is well established. With that said, the Red Sox are notoriously reluctant to offer long-term deals in free agency; Bregman’s three-year deal with the Red Sox last year was the longest free agent contract ever Craig Breslow he’s out of his time as baseball’s top executive. With Bregman known to be seeking a long-term deal this winter, it’s unclear whether the Red Sox would be willing to break their preference for short-term contracts to sign Bregman to a five- or six-year deal that could carry him into his age-36 or -37 campaign.
Regarding Bichette, the Red Sox reportedly held a video conference with him earlier this month. Bichette stands as the best hitter available in free agency this winter on the heels of a season in which he hit .311/.357/.483 for the Blue Jays in 139 games. Bichette isn’t quite as pure a fit for the Red Sox as Bregman would be, position-wise. A reunion with Bregman will allow Trevor’s story again Marcelo Mayer to stay in their current spots up the middle, while Bichette is a shortstop who has shown a willingness to play second base but may not feel the same way at the hot corner. With that said, most of Mayer’s time in the majors last year actually came at third base when Bregman was injured. Perhaps, then, Bichette could be the preferred addition to Bregman. Although he will need a contract as long as (or perhaps longer than) Bregman, Bichette is four years younger than Bregman. Because of this, even Bichette’s eight-year contract won’t come with as many years of expected decline as Bregman’s five-year contract.
Turning to the trade market, Marte competed with the Cardinals man Brendan Donovan as the most popular name available in the market this winter. Although the Diamondbacks have made it clear they are not actively trading Marte and expect to keep their star second baseman, the three-time All-Star has slashed .288/.374/.539 over the past two seasons with a 149 wRC+, 10.9 fWAR, and 11.2 bWAR in 262 games. It’s that kind of production that forces teams to evaluate a player if there’s a chance he’ll be available, and the Red Sox are among the teams to do so this offseason. Marte would be on Boston’s books until the end of his age-37 campaign if acquired, though the $102.5MM in guaranteed money left in that deal is relatively cheap compared to the going rate for the star players.
Perhaps the biggest obstacle to acquiring Marte would be the cost of acquisition; while the Red Sox are known to be open to dealing with manageable depth, free agent deals Merrill Kelly again Michael Soroka they helped fill out the Diamondbacks’ rotation enough that the team would prefer to bring back some talent to help fill the void created by Marte’s departure. Trading for elite elite talent like Mayer or Kristian Campbell could be a tough pill to swallow for the Red Sox, especially when paired with a controllable rotating arm like Connelly Early or Payton Tolle.
That would make another player in the market more attractive. While Paredes is not a star on the level of Marte, Bichette, or Bregman, he will still bring an impact to the Boston infield. The 26-year-old hit .254/.352/.458 (128 wRC+) in 102 games for the Astros last year and is slashing .239/.341/.442 (124 wRC+) since the start of the 2022 campaign. Paredes offers a consistent, first-bat profile at third base that should appeal to the Red Sox, especially considering the slugger’s relative reach. Paredes is scheduled to take his first trip through arbitration this offseason, and with two years of affordable team control including his age 27 and 28 seasons, the Red Sox don’t have to commit to him long term or in the years following his prime.
Regarding his availability, Houston GM Dana Brown has publicly suggested that the team has no desire to trade Paredes but still attracts interest from the Red Sox nonetheless. Notably, the presence of Carlos Correa again Christian Walker in the corners of the infield (to say nothing Jordan Alvarez at DH) limits Paredes’ options for playing time in Houston, making a trade more likely. The Astros have already delivered Mike Burrows to help fill out their rotation but they could certainly benefit from more youth input, which the Red Sox can provide. Previous reports have indicated that Early and Tolle are both players the Astros are interested in, and removing one of those arms as the centerpiece of Paredes’ deal would make a lot of sense.
