The Red Sox reportedly have an agreement with the infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa on a one-year contract, pending a physical. ALIGND Sports Agency client salary terms remain unreported. Boston’s 40-man roster will be strong after the signing, so no corresponding moves are needed.
Kiner-Falefa will obviously be the Sox’s answer in second place after the loss Alex Bregman in free agency. Boston started the biggest opportunities in the trade and free agent markets (eg Ketel Marte, Brendan Donovan, Isaac Paredes, Bo Bichette) but couldn’t get the deal they wanted. It is said that they prefer to keep Marcelo Mayer at third base and were looking for a quality defensive player they could plug into a key role.
A former Glove winner, Kiner-Falefa qualifies for that. He took home the defensive award at third base as a member of the Rangers in 2020. He is a versatile outfielder at either second base, third base or shortstop. He has more experience on the left side of the infield but holds strong marks from Defensive Runs Saved (+12) and Statcast (+2 Outs Above Average) in nearly 600 career innings as a second baseman.
The flip side is that Kiner-Falefa won’t offer much at the plate. He puts the ball in play but has slow exit speed. He never reached double digits in home runs in a season, and never had a .700 OPS in any of his eight years in the majors. Kiner-Falefa is hitting .262/.297/.334 in 459 plate appearances between the Pirates and Blue Jays. He is .262/.311/.349 with over 3300 trips to the dish during his career. He is a solid baserunner despite average speed, scoring double-digit steals each of the past five years.
Second base was a weak point for the Red Sox last year. Kristian Campbell faded after a monster April and returned to Triple-A at the end of June. He has put in dangerous defensive marks and is no longer an option in this position. Baseball executive Craig Breslow has suggested several times that they look at Campbell as an outfielder. He’s a good enough athlete to be promising as a grass linebacker, but Boston’s crowded field won’t give him many opportunities until someone gets hurt.
The Sox are used Romy Gonzalez, Ceddanne Rafaela, David Hamilton again Nick Sogard there in the second half and hit just .242/.292/.333 down the stretch. Rafaela is an elite defensive player that the Red Sox prefer to play in center field. Gonzalez hits lefties well but profiles as the team’s shortstop. Hamilton and Sogard are useful players on a team that expects to compete. Kiner-Falefa probably should be, but there hasn’t been much in the way of free agency at this stage of the offseason.
Kiner-Falefa is a right-handed hitter whose offensive profile remains consistent regardless of the pitcher’s hand. Gonzalez should still take the majority of at-bats against left-handed pitching. Kiner-Falefa could drop to third in those days if the Sox want to protect Mayer in the same race. They may also prioritize having him on the field behind the ground ball hitters Brian Bello again Guard Suárez while connecting Gonzalez with more charges in the days there Garrett Crochet or Sonny Gray take the mound.
It appears the Sox are close to their financial comfort zone after signing Suárez and trading Gray and Wilson Contreras. According to RosterResource, Boston had approximately $257MM in luxury tax obligations prior to this deal. A few days removed from giving a middle-tier starting pitch prospect, David Sandlinthrowing away $16MM of the remaining $24MM in Jordan Hicks contract with the White Sox. (Boston also took the league’s youngest pitcher Gage Ziehl in that trade.) If the cash considerations are spread evenly, they save $8MM in 2026 payroll, some of which they are now reassigning to Kiner-Falefa.
The Sox are over the $244MM starting tax threshold. They are second rate taxpayers paying 30% tax on their first $20MM in excess, so they are currently set for a lower tax rate. That was the case last year, as they paid $1.5MM in cash for going nearly $8MM over the line. The tax rate rises to 42% on spending between $264MM and $284MM. There are no draft penalties associated with entering the second penalty phase, so that would usually be a stopgap if that’s where ownership budgets.
MassLive’s Chris Cotillo first reported that the Red Sox and Kiner-Falefa are nearing a one-year deal. ESPN’s Jeff Passan confirmed that a deal is in place.
Photo courtesy of Stephen Brashear, Imagn Images.
