The Boston Red Sox had been transparent about their desire to add a starting pitcher this winter. The team made a move to acquire Sonny Gray from the St. Louis Cardinals, and Craig Breslow sent a message on what the Red Sox’s next move would be.
“We had been pretty transparent about our desire to add to the rotation,” Breslow said on Tuesday, according to MassLive’s Sean McAdam, “and our desire to add a bat to the position player side. It’s impossible to know what the order of operations will be, so we’ll continue to look for opportunities to improve the team.
“I wouldn’t say we’re going to exclusively focus on one thing at the expense of the other. We want to be open-minded. So I don’t think this is a close-off-all-opportunities and look exclusively at position players. But I also think there’s a chance that comes into focus in the next couple of weeks.”
Breslow did not shut the door on more pitching additions, but it would not be a surprise to see the Red Sox add a bat in the coming weeks. Adding power could be a priority for Breslow. The Red Sox ranked 15th in home runs last season, but struggled down the stretch. Boston hit the third fewest home runs in baseball after Aug. 1.
This free agency class has no shortage of power hitters for the Red Sox to pursue. Kyle Schwarber, Pete Alonso and Eugenio Suárez are all available and could be great additions for the Red Sox.
Story continues below advertisement
However, the Red Sox could also find a slugger through trade. The Red Sox have not been scared to dip into the farm system in the past, but they just dealt away Brandon Clarke, who was their No. 5 prospect. Breslow will not hesitate to make another trade, but adding through free agency may be more likely.
Boston wanted to improve the starting rotation, and Breslow did not wait around to do it. With a position player on his wish list, he could continue to be aggressive. The Red Sox could be linked to many star hitters in the coming weeks.