Campbell’s top position “kind of depends on the moment in time,” Breslow said. He described his second-base play in the minors in 2024 as “above-average.” But he rated very poorly there over two-plus months in the majors in 2025.
Upon being demoted to Triple A Worcester in mid-June, Campbell began playing first base, a continuation of an experiment that began in the majors, but it didn’t quite stick. He mostly manned the outfield over the final month of the season.
That might be the answer.
“If you think about where his athleticism may play in the short-term, I think in the outfield, he feels pretty comfortable as a chance to just let the instincts take over,” Breslow said.
The Red Sox are particularly motivated to help Campbell, 23, figure it out because they signed him to an eight-year, $60 million contract in April.
For a few weeks, it looked like a stroke of genius. Then Campbell’s hot bat went cold, and his struggles in the field mounted. He never returned to the majors upon being demoted and finished his rookie year with a .223/.319/.345 slash line.
With Worcester, much of what plagued him — a slower bat, diminished strength and weight — persisted.
Still, Breslow described Campbell as having “tremendous upside.”
“I don’t think that has changed,” he said.
Last week, Campbell spent a couple of days at the Sox’ facility in Fort Myers, Fla., working with the hitting staff.
“He looks big and strong and is back to the size and frame he was last year. He’s swinging the bat fast again,” Breslow said. “I think the offseason, to have both a mental and physical reset, has been really valuable for him.
“He is incredibly athletic. Sometimes the way he goes about the swing or defense is a bit unorthodox in terms of the optics, but he has been a good defender in the upper levels of the minor leagues, and whether that ultimately is in the infield or the outfield, we’ll figure it out.”
Alex Cora placed fourth in American League Manager of the Year voting, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America announced Tuesday. The Guardians’ Stephen Vogt won for a second year in a row.
It was Cora’s highest finish since he was second in 2018. He also was fifth in 2021 and seventh in 2024.
Mark down the Pirates and general manager Ben Cherington as an on-paper trade match for the Red Sox.
Pittsburgh would like to add a bat, with a preference for a lefthander. The Sox have a pair of lefty-swinging outfielders amid their outfield glut in Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu. Cherington said he and Sox officials — some of them former colleagues — have joked about how the clubs may as well line up for a deal at some point.
“We are more righthanded than lefthanded as it stands right now,” Cherington said. “And in our ballpark, if you’re going to be tilted one way or the other, you’d rather be tilted lefthanded. Some desire to get more lefthanded.”
As for the Paul Skenes trade speculation, amid the Sox’ search for another top starter?
“The question gets asked. It’s always respectful. Teams have to ask the question, right?” Cherington said. “I suspect that won’t end. But the answer has been consistent. They’re short conversations.”
Dave Dombrowski and the Phillies, meanwhile, would like to add an outfielder, perhaps a centerfielder, but prefer he hit righthanded.
A position-player wild card
If none of the Sox’ top corner-infield options sort out, a wild card and a reminder from last offseason: Nolan Arenado is available via trade with the Cardinals.
Arenado is good friends with Trevor Story, and the Red Sox were close on a deal with St. Louis in February before Alex Bregman signed. And Arenado is more than willing to move off third base — where he has won 10 Gold Gloves — to first base or elsewhere, a league source said.
The tougher part of the sell: Arenado, 35 next year, is coming off the worst offensive season of his career. He had career-lows in average (.237), OBP (.289), and slugging percentage (.377).
“In some sense, the numbers speak for themselves,” said Chaim Bloom, the Cardinals’ new president of baseball operations. “I would not look past the fact that he played hurt for a lot of that year. You talk about guys posting and the value of that, and he battled through a lot of things.
“So I do think there were some mitigating factors. But there’s no doubt — he’d be the first to tell you — it wasn’t up to the standard he set over the years.”
Arenado is owed $42 million ($5 million paid by the Rockies) over the next two seasons.
“We’ll work on [a trade], and we’ll work on that with him,” Bloom said. “If and when that will happen, I don’t know. But it’s something that he’s been a total pro about.”
Count Bloom among those proud to see Story’s career revival of a season in 2025.
“This is the type of player that we knew he was, that he’s shown he was in the past, a guy who can impact the game in every facet,” said Bloom, who was the Red Sox’ chief baseball officer when Story signed a six-year, $140 million contract prior to 2022. “[It was] really cool to see him have that comfort level it seemed — not just to be healthy, but to be comfortable really stepping up and taking a leadership role on that team.”
Catchers Carlos Narváez (left knee) and Connor Wong (right hand) are recovering well from their respective surgeries and should have no issues entering 2026, Breslow said. He added that he is comfortable with Wong as the backup catcher. “Still believe in the player that he is,” Breslow said. “Having completely healthy catchers is a really good place to start” … Luis Perales will remain a starting pitcher heading into next year, per Breslow, who was “not overly concerned” with the pitching prospect walking 11 batters in 11⅓ innings in the Arizona Fall League. He also struck out 19.
Tim Healey can be reached at timothy.healey@globe.com. Follow him @timbhealey.