Most of the top free agents this Major League Baseball offseason have found homes, leaving the Boston Red Sox, among others, with very few impact options to consider before spring training.
The Athletic’s Jim Bowden, a former MLB general manager, on Thursday highlighted his top 12 remaining free agents, complete with “best fits” for each. And he mentioned the Red Sox in connection with six players, including a few who could help fill Boston’s middle-infield void in wake of Trevor Story’s elbow injury.
Here are the six players (along with Bowden’s top-12 rank):
Michael Wacha, RHP (1)
Elvis Andrus, SS (3)
Adam Duvall, OF (7)
Josh Harrison, IF/OF (8)
José Iglesias, IF (9)
Gary Sánchez, C (10)
Of course, it’s important to note this list is speculative, focused on an assessment of Boston’s (and every other team’s) needs rather than hard reporting. But it speaks to the holes the Red Sox still might look to plug in the coming weeks and months. Boston could use an infielder, an outfielder, a catcher and/or pitching, and it’s on chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and company to round out the roster in a way that makes the Red Sox competitive in 2023 and beyond.
The Red Sox took an important step toward solidifying their long-term core this week, signing Rafael Devers to a 10-year contract extension that runs through 2033. Boston recently lost shortstop Xander Bogaerts in free agency, though. And while some new additions — including Masataka Yoshida, Justin Turner, Corey Kluber, Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin — should help as the Red Sox try to bounce back from a disappointing 2022, it’s clear there’s still work to be done before Opening Day.
The other six names to appear on Bowden’s list, whom the Red Sox weren’t mentioned among the “best fits” for: Jurickson Profar (2), Zack Greinke (4), Trey Mancini (5), Andrew McCutchen (6), David Peralta, (11) and Tommy Pham (12). (McCutchen since reportedly has agreed to a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates.)
See, we told you it was slim pickings.
