The most interesting position group to watch on the Boston Red Sox throughout the rest of the offseason is surely going to be the outfield.

With things starting to really heat up around the team — as shown by Boston’s acquisition of three-time All-Star Willson Contreras from the St. Louis Cardinals — there is still seemingly a surplus of talent for the club.

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As things stand right now, Boston has Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran, and Masataka Yoshida. Kristian Campbell also has been getting time in the outfield while playing winter ball over in Puerto Rico. Beyond these guys, the Red Sox also have depth pieces like Nick Sogard and Nate Eaton.

The Red Sox have a lot of outfielders for a few spots

Last season, the Red Sox opted against trading from their surplus, and it worked out. There was a time when things were tight. Rafaela — who won the American League Gold Glove Award in center field — moved to second base for a time when Marcelo Mayer got hurt. But Anthony and Abreu also got hurt, which made the plethora of outfielders a necessity. There are plenty of decisions that still need to be made, but Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow made it a point to mention on Monday that the team wants Rafaela in center field, as transcribed by 7News Boston WHDH’s Ari Alexander.

“We’re a better team with Cedanne in CF, and we’ll try to keep (him) there,” Breslow said, as transcribed by Alexander.

Boston has a hole in the infield right now with Alex Bregman in free agency. Mayer is expected to play a significant role — whether that means second base or third base, depending on how free agency shakes out.

But keeping Rafaela in the outfield is the right move. He’s arguably the best defensive center fielder in the game. If you firmly plant him in the outfield and Anthony is guaranteed his spot, then what do you do? Keeping Rafaela in center is the right call, but now there are two spots seemingly guaranteed and a lot of mouths to feed for the third spot. Now, if the Red Sox rotate the DH spot, that would make things easier. But, there’s clearly a log jam here and it’s going to be fascinating to see if Boston clears it this winter.

As the 2025 season wrapped, reports surfaced pointing to Boston wanting to add pitching via the trade market. The Red Sox have done that twice now this offseason, but neither deal included Duran or Abreu. Could there be another trade coming, or will Boston just try to make it work?

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