Brock Holt isn’t ready for the ride to end.
Holt, who joined the Red Sox via trade in December 2012, can test free agency after the 2019 season, but the veteran utility man is all about staying in Boston if the opportunity presents itself.
“I would love to play here forever. That’s what I want to do,” Holt told WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford on Friday at Red Sox spring training in Fort Myers, Fla. “If something like that comes up and we can work something out, that would be the best-case scenario. But there are a lot of guys in here who are coming free here soon, so there are a lot of decisions to make. They’ll make the right ones. I’m glad we’re here all at the time, though.”
The Red Sox acquired Holt from the Pittsburgh Pirates before the 2013 season as part of the trade that brought closer Joel Hanrahan to Boston. He’s had some ups and downs over the last six years but is coming off a strong 2018 campaign in which he played an important role in Boston’s World Series run. The 30-year-old also has become a pillar in the Red Sox’s clubhouse and in the community.
The Red Sox have several key free agency decisions to make in the coming months, with Chris Sale, Rick Porcello, Xander Bogaerts and J.D. Martinez all able to test the open market next winter. But Holt has been a very useful player for the Red Sox when healthy, thanks in large to his tremendous versatility, so perhaps Boston will explore re-signing the 2015 All-Star.
Holt appeared in 109 regular-season games in 2018, batting .277 with seven home runs, 46 RBIs and a .774 OPS. He then appeared in eight playoff games, even hitting for the first cycle in Major League Baseball postseason history as the Red Sox defeated the New York Yankees 16-1 in Game 3 of the American League Division Series.
