The Boston Red Sox never used to have to worry about the second base position. Now, they can’t seem to solve it.
For about a decade, former American League Most Valuable Player Dustin Pedroia locked down second base in Boston with his trademark dirt dog mentality. But since Manny Machado slid into Pedroia’s knee in 2017, no Red Sox player has lasted more than a season or two at the position.
Second base was once again the Red Sox’s biggest hole in 2024, and though there are exciting young options at the position moving forward, there’s no guarantee that Boston can fix the issue. That could lead to a surprise signing if one Red Sox insider’s suggestion comes to fruition.
Alex Bregman, the longtime third baseman of the Houston Astros, is reportedly willing to switch positions to second base depending on the results of his free agency. On Sunday, Chris Cotillo of MassLive hinted that the Red Sox may be interested in bringing in Bregman as their new second baseman.
“It’s a crowded mix, but Bregman could intrigue Boston as a certainty at the position. The two-time All-Star and World Series champion is coming off a 4.1-WAR season in which he hit .260 with 26 homers and won his first career Gold Glove. At 30 (31 in March), he’s still valuable on both sides of the ball,” Cotillo said.
“Bregman is very familiar to Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who developed a very close relationship to Bregman during his year in Houston before things turned frosty between the pair in the wake of the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal going public. It appears, based on Cora’s complimentary comments about Bregman over the past year-plus, that those issues have been resolved.”
It would be fairly surprising to see the Red Sox invest significant money in a second baseman when they seemingly have two young players jockeying for playing time there in Kristian Campbell and Vaughn Grissom, but there can be no denying that Bregman is more of a sure thing than either at this point.
What Red Sox fans want most of all at this point is a plan that involves Boston spending money. Bregman might not be all of those fans’ first choices, but it’s a heck of a lot better than doing nothing.
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