(Photo courtesy of Charles Krupa) “Manager Alex Cora (left) speaks to the media, while CBO Craig Breslow (middle) and CEO Sam Kennedy (right) listen on.”

Jake Messer

Connector Editor

The Red Sox season may have come to a disappointing end, with errors and poor play abound. However, it is not the end of the world that they lost to the dreaded New York Yankees. In fact, this is just the beginning for the Red Sox as they are looking to rise into the ranks of the top tier contenders next season. 

This core of players the Red Sox have brought together is special, as players like infielder Marcelo Mayer, outfielder Roman Anthony and pitcher Garrett Crochet are or will be franchise leaders for the team and some of the best players in the entire sport of baseball. However, these players won’t be able to do it on their own, the front office will need to make the right moves in order to build upon this season.

The Red Sox front office, headed by Craig Breslow, the Chief Baseball Office of the team, has a proverbial list of things that need to be checked off in order for the team to have a very successful offseason.

With the utmost priority, the Red Sox will look to re-sign third baseman Alex Bregman, as he is going to opt out of his three year, $120 million contract as soon as free agency starts in the winter.

This will be crucial for the team, as his decision will greatly impact what else the team will be able to do moving forward with the rest of the offseason. Bregman, who is looking for more money, batted .273, while hitting 18 home runs and 62 RBIs in 114 games last season. These are good numbers, but it begs the question, is Bregman on the decline, or is he really worth more than $40 million a year? 

If the Red Sox, who are unlikely to fork over that kind of money, do indeed let Bregman walk, it will leave the door open for outfielder Jarren Duran to be re-signed, who has been riding short term deals for the past few seasons at this point. The number is very variable based on the report, but one thing is for sure, the Red Sox must sign Duran, not necessarily for the player, but for the leader he has become in the clubhouse. 

Since Rafael Devers was traded back in June, Duran has risen up to become the de-facto leader of the team. The team’s celebration last year came from Duran, he is an outspoken voice and it shows with the teams turnaround. The Red Sox got better after Devers was traded and Duran deserves credit for contributing towards the success, even declining a trade involving Duran around the deadline that would have sent him to San Diego. 

“I’m trying to find the leader for this organization,” Manager Alex Cora said last year. “He’s going to help us not only this year, but he’s going to help everyone in the future. He loves it and he understands it… Having a guy, when those top prospects make it here, they have someone to look up to.”

Indeed they did, as each callup of Mayer and Anthony made the team better and essentially saved the team’s season from mediocrity. It is proven that Duran is essential to this team, but it is up to Breslow to find a number for a leader that hit .256, while knocking 16 home runs and 84 RBI’s in 157 games.

In a much broader sense, there are two crucial positions the Red Sox need to add talent to in order to be a contender. They need to get a first baseman. 

Ever since Triston Casas ruptured his patella tendon back in May, the team has been in desperation mode to find someone who can play first, and play it well. Throughout the season, they never really found a good replacement, and now they will target Pete Alonso and Kyle Schwarber to be the team’s first baseman.

The team, who has been cheap in recent years, will have to fork over a lump sum to win the bidding war for either of these players, but this will only happen if they do not get Bregman back in a Red Sox uniform. The number might be too much, but this is a chance for the franchise to right some of their wrongs and return to their former winning ways and it seems they are going to make an effort too.

“But right now, we’ll kind of zoom out a little bit and take stock of where we are,” Breslow said. “We’ll be open to all possible pathways to improving the team [this winter].”