Red Sox Reportedly Surprisingly High On These Roster Members

The Boston Red Sox have been tied to plenty of external free agents, but let’s not forget about all the internal free agents they’ll be having conversations with over the coming weeks and months…

Alex Bregman, Rob Refsnyder, Lucas Giolito, Dustin May, Justin Wilson and Steven Matz are among the most notable names, with the latter having already departed this offseason while the former two reportedly have healthy markets.

Boston has internal options that might help bridge the gap, however.

MassLive’s Chris Cotillo reported that the club is “higher than he would have guessed” on outfielder Nate Eaton and left-handed pitcher Jovani Morán — signaling that they could possibly help replace the likes of Matz and Refsnyder.

Eaton, 28, has what everyone is looking for off the bench, providing defensive versatility and elite speed. Refsnyder’s value against left-handed pitcher can’t be overstated, but retaining both Eaton and Romy Gonzalez allows you to have two good bench options from that side of the batter’s box while also improving defensively and on the base paths.

Morán, 28, has never found consistency at the big league level, though underlying metrics have hinted that he could be used as a bullpen weapon against right-handed batters.

The Red Sox obviously have some pretty decent-sized fish to fry, but knowing they’re comfortable leaning on that duo might point us toward the things they are/aren’t looking for.