The Red Sox had a successful season in 2025, making it to the playoffs for the first time since 2021. This didn’t last long however, as going into the Wild Card series, they suffered multiple major injuries and lost to their rival in the New York Yankees. Despite making the playoffs, there were some clear issues to fix with this team. Going into the offseason, Craig Breslow had a lot of work to do.
The key point was pitching upgrades. Some would say he overachieved there with Ranger Suarez signing and trading for Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo. There was also acquiring right-handed bats to even out this leftie-heavy lineup. This was also accomplished with the acquisitions of guys like Willson Contreras and Caleb Durbin. Recently, a big need was more experience in left handed bullpen pitchers. With the recent signing of veteran pitcher Danny Coulombe, that is at least filled for the short-term success. But there are still some major needs to be filled.
Three Biggest Needs For The Red Sox Going Into 2026
1. Backup Catcher
This isn’t seen as a major need, as there’s plenty of options, but it’s still a valid question. It’s been determined since last season that barring injury, Carlos Narvaez is the starter. But what about the back up? Due to performance reasons from last year, it’s fair enough to open up a real conversation.
The Probable: Connor Wong
Being the remaining piece from the Mookie Betts trade in 2020, the Red Sox have made Wong a staple in the organization. Even with Narvaez, he still started at least once every rotation cycle, mainly serving as Brayan Bello’s guy. Despite being an above-average hitter in 2024, he had arguably his worst offensive season of his career in 2025. Batting .190, Wong did not get an extra base hit until late July against his former team in the Los Angeles Dodgers. His first multi hit game didn’t come till July 30th. To say he struggled offensively would be an understatement.
Defensively, he’s never really been great. He’s had seasons that are relatively better than others, but with a career DRS of -4, it’s hard to claim what’s good when being a below average catcher. In 2024, he had a -14 DRS, second worst among all catchers that year. He was just outside the top 25 in framing runs, but he had 0 catcher framing runs compared to Narvaez’s 5. He might be the backup, but it’s worth having a discussion of whether he should be.
The Backup: Matt Thaiss
Thaiss is a journeyman that’s split time with several teams, including the Chicago White Sox and Tampa Bay Rays last year. He’s also had trouble with his batting average. But unlike Wong, Thaiss has had a great eye, and a great walk rate. With a 15.3% last season and a 13.1% career BB%. The 15.3 crushes Wong and Narvaez’s walk rates by almost seven percent.
Defensively, while he didn’t have as many games to qualify, He did have five framing runs, tying him with Narvaez. His blocking is just outside the top ten with five blocks above average (Narvaez is ninth with six.). But his pop time is about average at two seconds flat. If Boston really wants him, they need to make a decision fast. Thaiss has an upward mobility clause that allows him to sign with another team if not on the 40 man roster by March 21st. The decision must be made soon.
The Underrated: Mickey Gasper
The former Red Sox rejoined in February, being claimed off waivers. In his first stint with Boston, he did not do well, going 0-16 with four walks and being hit by a pitch once. He was later traded to the Minnesota Twins, where he only did slightly better hitting wise, but he had ten walks. While he may not be good for a full time backup, with his ability to draw walks, he might be worth a spot on the 40 man or just outside. Gasper killed it in Worcester when he was last with them, batting .402 with eight homers in 40 games. The decrease in hitting is what makes choosing him as a backup wary, but he’s having a great Spring Training and just got called to team Italy for the WBC. If he can continue even 60% of this success, he’d be a good backup option.
2. Power Hitter
The obvious major need going into this offseason that wasn’t addressed immediately was the need for a power hitter. After controversially letting go of Rafael Devers midseason last year, the Red Sox got rid of their yearly 30 homer-100 RBI threat. So the big question loomed: where does the production come from now?
The Probable: In House Production
Despite names like Kyle Schwarber and Pete Alonso being on the free agent market, the Red Sox stuck with what they had and didn’t acquire any big name power guys. And honestly, there’s a case to be made that it might be a good decision.
Before mentioning this, this is by no means a declaration that Boston will get anywhere close to the most home runs in a season. This is just showing that big contracts don’t need to be handed out to find production. The 2019 Minnesota Twins are tied for the most home runs by a team in a single season with 307. Here are the hitters they signed/traded for that offseason, along with their contract valuation and home run total:
- Marwin Gonzalez: Two Years/21 Mill, 15 HRs
- Nelson Cruz: One Year/14.5 Mill, 41 HRs
- Jonathan Schoop: One Year/7.5 Mill, 23 HRs
- C.J. Cron: Off Waivers, 4.8 Mill, 25 HRs
For those counting, that’s 104 of the 307 right there. It’s a lot of production, with almost a third of the homers coming from outside help. Here’s the Red Sox’s additions this offseason for comparison
- Durbin: Traded, 796K for 2026, 11 HRs
- Contreras: Traded, 18 Mill for 2026, 20 HRs
- Isiah Kiner-Falefa: One year/Six mill, two HRs
- Andruw Monasterio: One year/820K, four HRs
This is 37 homers. But the Red Sox did have six players who hit 15+ homers in 2025, with Trevor Story and Wilyer Abreu hitting 20+. If Roman Anthony can replace Alex Bregman’s offensive production there, and maybe a surprise leap or two, Boston could have close to ten guys in the 12-15+ range. It’s not great, but it’s progress.
The Backup/The Underrated: Rowdy Tellez or Triston Casas
Looking at the free agent market for hitters remaining, there’s not a lot of great options. Rowdy Tellez is the best available, who hit 17 last year. The question would solely rest on how healthy Triston Casas is. If he produces fine as a backup, there’s no need to search the market. However, if he struggles or gets injured again, it might be best to give out a one year contract to Tellez. He won’t get the playing time that he has in the past, but his bat would be useful.
3. Second Base
The biggest discussion in Spring Training has been who will start at second and third. With Alex Cora announcing recently that Durbin will start at third base, leaving the conversations for second to begin. While there is no clear favorite yet, one can assume Kiner-Falefa won’t be a starter and instead more of a utility guy like Romy Gonzalez. So that leaves three names.
The Predicted Starter: Andruw Monasterio
Acquired in the Durbin trade in early February, Monasterio had a good season in a short role, batting .270 in 68 games as well as a fielding percentage of 1.000 at second. This Spring training he’s got a slash of .348/.448/.522 and has received major praise from Cora. It appears that he’ll make the Opening Day roster regardless, due to Gonzalez’s injury. But there’s a high chance he’ll start at second base by that time too.
The Homegrown Options: Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell
Mayer and Campbell have been mainstays in the Red Sox minor league system the past couple years, being hailed as the “big three” along with Anthony. Campbell was the first of them to make his major league debut to fill the hole at second. He started out really good, hitting winning AL Rookie of the Month in April and hitting .301 by the end of the month. However, throughout May, his average started to slip consistently, as low as .220 in June. Campbell also wasn’t good defensively, committing seven errors at second base. While they do plan to keep Campbell in any capacity, including possibly new positions, it’s probably best for him to take at least part of this season in the minors.
As for Mayer, when Bregman went down, he took some time at third. Drafted as a shortstop, it was the same side of the infield, and he did okay. He had an average DRS at 0, but also only committed one error at third. At second base, where the main focus is, he didn’t commit any errors and has a fielding percentage of 1.000. The issue isn’t his glove. It’s his bat. He batted .228 last year with a strikeout to walk ratio of just over 5/1. Mayer has been the discussion as the biggest name for the Sox possibly being left off of the Opening Day roster. They also haven’t committed to a long term deal with him. Mayer’s time with the team in 2026 is uncertain as of now.
While the Red Sox on paper have fixed many of their holes, there’s still some major positions to fix. And given injury or poor performance, there could be more. But as of now, these are the three to figure out before or slightly after Opening Day.
Main Photo Credits: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
