{"id":514251,"date":"2026-01-11T01:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T01:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/514251\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T01:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T01:10:09","slug":"red-sox-notes-bregman-outfield-injuries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/514251\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Sox Notes: Bregman, Outfield, Injuries"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fenway Fest is in full swing. The fan event has yielded plenty of interesting tidbits through interviews with various players and executives. Here\u2019s a rundown of some of the highlights, including a show of support for Alex Bregman<\/a> from a former teammate and impressive candor from an infielder with an uncertain future.<\/p>\n

A Bregman update, of course<\/p>\n

President of baseball operations Craig Breslow<\/a> can\u2019t seem to go a day without answering questions about the free agent third baseman. \u201cWe\u2019re going to do everything we possibly can to add more offense,\u201d Breslow told reporters, including Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald<\/a>. \u201cWe saw the impact Alex (Bregman) had last year, on the field, in the clubhouse, in the community, someone that fits our team really well. He\u2019s still out there, which means we have a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

ESPN\u2019s Buster Olney reported<\/a> last weekend that the club has made an \u201caggressive\u201d offer to Bregman. The Diamondbacks, Cubs, and Tigers have also been connected to the 31-year-old free agent. Bregman opted out of the three-year, $120MM deal he signed with the Red Sox last offseason in pursuit of a more lucrative deal.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just the front office looking to reunite with Bregman. Outfielder Roman Anthony<\/a> expressed support, highlighting the work Bregman did with the young players. \u201cI would love to have him back,\u201d Anthony told reporters, including Starr<\/a>. \u201cHe was \u2026 a huge part of my success. And a lot of the young guys, and not only the young guys, but many of the guys in the clubhouse \u2026 we\u2019re all on the same page as to where we stand with him and what we hope happens.\u201d Anthony specifically cited Bregman\u2019s insights into preparation and offensive approach as beneficial to him in his rookie season.<\/p>\n

Injuries limited Bregman to 114 games in his lone season in Boston, but he was quite productive when available. He slashed .273\/.360\/.462 with 18 home runs across 495 plate appearances. Bregman delivered his typical strong work with the glove at the hot corner. He earned his third All-Star selection.<\/p>\n

Outfield trade sounds doubtful<\/p>\n

Boston seemingly has four outfielders for three spots heading into the season. Anthony, Jarren Duran<\/a>, Wilyer Abreu<\/a>, and Ceddanne Rafaela<\/a> have all shown enough to earn everyday roles. One of them could slot in at DH, but that would limit the playing time for Masataka Yoshida<\/a> and Triston Casas<\/a>. Despite the apparent glut at the position, along with rumors that Duran was drawing interest, Breslow shot down the notion that a trade was on the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was never likely in my mind,\u201d Breslow told reporters, including Chris Cotillo of MassLive<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019ve got really talented outfielders. When teams call, that\u2019s what other executives point to. They\u2019re young, they\u2019re controllable, they\u2019re dynamic, they\u2019re talented, and can impact games in multiple ways. It\u2019s really nice to be able to say they\u2019re also members of the Boston Red Sox.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manager Alex Cora<\/a> also provided additional context on the outfield plan, telling reporters he preferred Rafaela in center field and Abreu in right field, even against left-handed pitching. Breslow has previously expressed a desire to keep Rafaela in center field. He\u2019s spent time at second base and shortstop over the past two seasons. Rafaela is a tremendous outfielder, earning Gold Glove honors for his efforts in center field this past season. Abreu also secured a Gold Glove in 2025, his second time receiving the award. He\u2019ll likely be in the field when he plays. It\u2019s the same-handed pitching remark that is interesting. The lefty-swinging Abreu had just 68 plate appearances against southpaws last season. He\u2019s hit just .205 vs. lefties in his career.<\/p>\n

If Cora gets his wish, with both Rafaela and Abreu regularly manning the outfield, Anthony and Duran would handle left field and DH. It\u2019s hard to imagine former top prospect Anthony losing much playing time outside of the occasional rest day. Duran is coming off a modest 2025, but he was one of the top offensive forces in the league in 2024. It\u2019ll be a lot for Cora to juggle next season without a roster move.<\/p>\n

Injury updates<\/p>\n

Casas is coming back from a ruptured patellar tendon in his right knee. He told reporters, including Christopher Smith of MassLive<\/a>, that he\u2019s uncertain if he\u2019ll be ready for the start of the 2026 campaign. \u201cAs of right now, not too sure. Not trying to get ahead of myself, but I do see myself progressing well enough to maybe get into some spring training games. We\u2019ll see how that goes because that\u2019s a benchmark as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boston traded for Willson Contreras<\/a> to handle first base, which leaves Casas\u2019 role in question once he gets healthy. The aforementioned logjam in the outfield doesn\u2019t help matters. Casas seems to be taking the Contreras addition in stride, though. \u201cHe\u2019s a better player than me and has been for his entire career. To upgrade at a position that has been deficient for the last two years is exactly what the team needed.\u201d (relayed by Cotillo<\/a>)<\/p>\n

A few more quick-hitters in the health department\u2026<\/p>\n

Marcelo Mayer<\/a> expects to be fully ready for Spring Training. His 2025 season was cut short by a wrist injury in August. \u201cI\u2019m pretty much doing full baseball activity, like a normal ramp-up, as I would for a regular season going into spring training,\u201d Mayer said.
\nAnthony is also expected to be good to go for the spring. An oblique injury cost him most of September and all of the postseason. The team believed he might have been able to return for the ALCS, but they were knocked out in the ALDS.
\nKutter Crawford<\/a> is on track to return to action for the first time since 2024. He missed all of last season with knee and wrist issues. \u201cAt this point, it\u2019s just normal progression,\u201d Crawford said. \u201cI got off the slope yesterday, and it felt good. And now we just build up the mound progression.\u201d
\nCarlos Narvaez<\/a> had knee surgery at the start of the offseason, but told reporters (including Smith<\/a>) he would be a full go come springtime.<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of \u00a0John E. Sokolowski, Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fenway Fest is in full swing. The fan event has yielded plenty of interesting tidbits through interviews with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":514252,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[72,5,604,791,4,1946],"class_list":["post-514251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-alex-bregman","tag-baseball","tag-jarren-duran","tag-kutter-crawford","tag-mlb","tag-triston-casas"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115873803505206666","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=514251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/514252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}