BOSTON -- While mammoth snowbanks still lined every street corner of Boston, an annual rite of spring took place earlier this week as the Red Sox’s equipment truck exited Fenway Park and headed to Fort Myers, Fla., where the team’s 2026 squad will begin to take shape next week.
After another eventful offseason for chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, there are several compelling storylines to keep an eye on as the official opening of Spring Training is now less than a week away.
Here are three that come to mind.
Which infielder will be acquired?
The Red Sox have a recent history of making key acquisitions once Spring Training has already started. And barring something unexpected over these next few days leading into the opening of camp, that should again be the case.
In 2018, J.D. Martinez and his big free-agent bat strolled into camp on Feb. 26, setting the wheels in motion for the World Series title that would follow eight months later. Four years later, it was Trevor Story signing a six-year deal on March 23. And everyone remembers the big celebration when Alex Bregman signed his three-year deal on the eve of position players report day last season.
Given the excitement on that day, it’s hard to believe Bregman is already gone. But that is life in the world of opt-outs, and Bregman exercised his in November, leaving the current opening in the infield.
Pete Alonso and Bregman himself were two of Breslow’s top targets this winter, but they both slipped away. Brendan Donovan, a rumored trade candidate, went from the Cardinals to the Mariners on Monday. Eugenio Suárez and all of his home runs are off to Cincinnati, his subpar defense a turnoff for Boston. Perhaps the best fit of all via the trade market -- Arizona second baseman Ketel Marte -- was pulled off the market weeks ago.
So where does that leave Breslow? Two names that continue to come up both play for the Cubs in Nico Hoerner and Matt Shaw. The reason Breslow might be able to pry one of them loose is the fact Bregman chose the Cubs over the Red Sox.
Stay tuned.
Rotation overflow
You often hear about teams coming to Spring Training with an overflow of starting pitching and an injury or two winds up sorting out the situation.
However, the Red Sox really do seem to have a legitimate excess of pitchers capable of taking the ball every fifth day, and it’s going to be interesting to see if it leads to a trade to fill that vacant infield position.
Garrett Crochet will lead the staff, with new additions Sonny Gray and Ranger Suárez filling out the 2-3 spots in whichever order. Brayan Bello and another new acquisition -- righty Johan Oviedo -- seem like the front-runners for the 4-5 spots.
And manager Alex Cora still has Kutter Crawford (his innings leader from two seasons ago) and two young lefties who showed plenty of promise late last season in Payton Tolle and Connelly Early. Then there is another established MLB starting pitcher healthy again after missing last season in lefty Patrick Sandoval. And yet another southpaw in Kyle Harrison, who was once a top prospect for the Giants and hasn’t had much of an opportunity to show the Red Sox what he can do since he was dealt over in June as part of the Rafael Devers trade.
Given that most teams don’t have such a stacked inventory of capable starters, it’s hard to imagine Breslow not at least packaging one of these arms to fill another hole.
Casas-Yoshida dilemma
First baseman Triston Casas was supposed to hold down that position for years in Boston and hit 30-plus homers annually while doing so. But the big left-handed hitter suffered major injuries in each of the last two seasons, leading the Sox to trade for a solid right-handed-hitting first baseman in Willson Contreras.
Casas likely won’t be a full go until May 1 or so as he recovers from a ruptured left patellar tendon. That might allow the Sox to slow play his situation. It seems likely he will take his first at-bats while on a 20-day Minor League rehab assignment. He also has options remaining, so the Sox could extend his stay in Triple-A Worcester to help Casas regain his timing. But once he is ready, the Sox will need a place to put him. Designated hitter is one place he could go.
But then what about Masataka Yoshida, who hasn’t yet put it together for a full season but has shown flashes when healthy? Yoshida has two years left on the five-year contract he was signed to when Chaim Bloom was running Boston’s front office.
The other issue is that the Sox have four strong outfielders (Jarren Duran, Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu) for three starting spots, and DH is a good place to rotate the extra guy through. But how is that possible if Casas or Yoshida are occupying that spot?
You get the feeling Breslow’s offseason isn’t even close to over given some of the redundancies on the roster and the one significant hole that remains.