{"id":529129,"date":"2026-01-20T14:22:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T14:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/529129\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T14:22:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T14:22:15","slug":"resetting-red-soxs-post-alex-bregman-trade-free-agent-options-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/529129\/","title":{"rendered":"Resetting Red Sox\u2019s Post-Alex Bregman Trade, Free Agent Options"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s back to the drawing board for Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow<\/a> after watching third baseman Alex Bregman<\/a> bolt for the Chicago Cubs and a five-year, $175 million contract.<\/a><\/p>\n

So where can Breslow turn in his quest to upgrade the lineup and fill the hole at the hot corner?<\/p>\n

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Would the Arizona Diamondbacks re-think their decision to take second baseman Ketel Marte <\/a>off the trade market?<\/p>\n

Keep in mind that decision was made before the Red Sox signed former Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Ranger Suarez<\/a> to a five-year, $130 million contract<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As a result, The Athletic\u2019s Jen McCaffrey<\/a> notes Boston now has \u201cmore flexibility to trade a starter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Red Sox could entice Arizona with a bigger trade package,\u201d McCaffrey notes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Red Sox also could try to work a deal with the Chicago Cubs for Nico Hoerner<\/a>,\u201d McCaffrey continues.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not a power bat, but he hit .297 and posted a 6.2 bWAR last year and was one of the best defensive second basemen in the league. Adding Hoerner would go a long way in strengthening the infield.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThough he\u2019ll be a free agent next year, the Red Sox could sign him to an extension (a la Garrett Crochet<\/a>) as a way to offset whatever they lose in a trade,\u201d McCaffrey reports.<\/p>\n

Another trade option is St. Louis Cardinals All-Star infielder Brendan Donovan<\/a>. Working in the Red Sox\u2019s favor is Breslow\u2019s relationship with former Boston head honcho\u00a0Chaim Bloom<\/a>, now the Cardinals\u2019 president of baseball operations.<\/p>\n

Twice this offseason Breslow and Bloom have\u00a0completed deals<\/a>, with the Red Sox acquiring right-hander\u00a0Sonny Gray<\/a>\u00a0and first baseman\u00a0Willson Contreras<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Should the Red Sox explore the free-agent market, third baseman Eugenio Suarez<\/a> is an option, and perhaps not too shabby one at that.<\/p>\n

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The 34-year-old tied his career high in 2025 with 49 home runs<\/a> and would certainly add some thunder to the lineup. But he also hit just .228 last season with 196 strikeouts, so he\u2019s not exactly the ideal candidate.<\/p>\n

After that, it\u2019s slim pickings for infielders on the free-agent market<\/a>, although some do have Boston roots. One interesting name is former Red Sox infielder and three-time World Series champion Kike\u2019 Hernandez<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Another former Red Sox infielder on the market is Yoan Moncada<\/a>, who Boston traded in 2016 to the Chicago White Sox as part of the Chris Sale<\/a> deal.<\/p>\n

One-time All-Star Jose Iglesias<\/a> is available as well. But at 36 years old, it\u2019s fair to wonder how much tread is left on his tires.<\/p>\n

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Iglesias made his MLB debut with the Red Sox in 2011. Boston traded him to the Detroit Tigers in 2013 as part of the three-team deal which landed Jake Peavy<\/a>. In 2021, Iglesias returned to Boston as a free agent for the club\u2019s stretch run.<\/p>\n

If the Red Sox look for internal solutions to the infield problem, Boston has a pair of former prospects who could make sense: Marcelo Mayer<\/a> and Kristian Campbell<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cA source within the team recently noted a preference for Mayer at third over second base (barring a trade or signing at third),\u201d McCaffrey reports.<\/p>\n

Mayer hit .228 with four home runs in 44 games<\/a> last year before being shut down with a wrist injury.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Campbell, who broke spring training in 2025 with the Red Sox, hit .223 with six home runs in 67 games.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cA team source noted the long-term plan is still for Campbell to maintain his defensive versatility in the future at second and in the outfield, but they want him to get right offensively first,\u201d McCaffrey adds.<\/p>\n

More Red Sox:<\/p>\n

Red Sox Interested In Trade With Dodgers For Young Backup <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s back to the drawing board for Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow after watching third…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":529130,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2375],"tags":[72,22,5,141,48,2542,4492,24,49,919,6930,53,92,922,17347,1534,729,715,1248,57116,4,33,25,90,89,2543,1587,67,409,3511],"class_list":["post-529129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boston-red-sox","tag-alex-bregman","tag-arizona-diamondbacks","tag-baseball","tag-boston","tag-boston-red-sox","tag-bostonredsox","tag-brendan-donovan","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-chicago-white-sox","tag-chris-sale","tag-craig-breslow","tag-detroit-tigers","tag-eugenio-suarez","tag-garrett-crochet","tag-jake-peavy","tag-jose-iglesias","tag-ketel-marte","tag-kristian-campbell","tag-marcelo-mayer","tag-mccaffrey","tag-mlb","tag-nico-hoerner","tag-philadelphia-phillies","tag-ranger-suarez","tag-red-sox","tag-redsox","tag-sonny-gray","tag-st-louis-cardinals","tag-willson-contreras","tag-yoan-moncada"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115927878461507497","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529129","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=529129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/529130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=529129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=529129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=529129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}