The Boston Red Sox were not overly active in the offseason when it came to building a lineup that could compete with the American League champion Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees. Shortly after the Los Angeles Dodgers pulled out their second consecutive World Series title, it was expected that the Red Sox would make a run at Mets slugging 1st baseman Pete Alonso.
Instead, Alonso signed with the Baltimore Orioles and then the Red Sox lost 3rd baseman Alex Bregman to the Chicago Cubs. The Red Sox were able to trade for Willson Contreras and he will play 1st base, but the Red Sox don't appear to be a team that can slug with their top competition.
That's not to say the Red Sox didn't make some key moves. They have built what looks to be a dynamic starting pitching staff. They signed Ranger Suarez in free agency and traded for Sonny Gray, and they will fit in after staff ace Garrett Crochet and just ahead of Brayan Bello. Johan Oviedo appears to be the No. 5 starter. Manager Alex Cora's starting pitchers should be one of the major strengths of this team.
If the starters live up to expectations and stay healthy, the bullpen should be effective. Aroldis Chapman was one of the best closers in the major leagues last year and Garrett Whitlock is an excellent setup man.
Red Sox need more than pitching
Even though they failed to sign Alonso or retain Bregman, the Red Sox have some excellent weapons. The Red Sox are hoping that Roman Anthony becomes one of the top offensive forces in the American League and that Contreras can provide significant right-handed power while playing 1st base.
Shortly before the Red Sox brought up Anthony last season, they promoted Marcelo Mayer. He has also been touted as another future star, and he did flash some talent before he suffered a right wrist injury that required surgery in August and ended his season.
Mayer did an outstanding defensive job at 3rd base when Bregman was out for about 25 percent of the season with a quad injury. He also flashed some talent and power at the plate, but he was not consistent. The Red Sox are counting on Mayer turning into a reliable and productive bat while keeping up his defensive prowess.
He may not be at 3rd base this season as the Red Sox acquired Caleb Durbin from the Milwaukee Brewers before the start of spring training. Durbin can also play 3rd base, so Cora will have to decide whether Mayer plays 3rd base and Durbin plays 2nd, or the other way around.
Through the early part of spring training, Durbin has been taking ground balls at 3rd base. Cora has advised Mayer to get as comfortable as possible when turning the double play. That would seem to indicate that the Red Sox are most interested in Durbin playing 3rd base while Mayer shows he is a 2nd baseman, but nothing is assured.
Shortstop Trevor Story had a strong bounce-back season and he is the leader of the infield after staying healthy last season and bashing 25 home runs and driving in 96 runs. He likes what he has seen so far from Mayer at 2nd base.
“I’d like to see us establish somebody [at second],” Story said, per Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe. “That helps everybody. It’s early, but Marcello looks good there. I think we have some good choices. Marcelo is going to be good, and Durbin will be, too. Willson Contreras is a good first baseman. The defense will be better. We need to get some chemistry going on the infield. That’s a real thing. It matters.”
Mayer must show more at the plate in 2026
Mayer was the No. 4 overall selection in the 2021 MLB draft and the Red Sox have faith that he will turn into a consistent player at the big-league level from this point forward. However, it's all about production.
Mayer was drafted as a shortstop and there is every confidence that he can get the job done as a defensive player at 2nd base, shortstop or 3rd base.
He has to show more at the plate than he did last year. He had 136 plate appearances in 44 games and he slashed .228/.272/.402 with 4 home runs and 10 runs batted in. Prior to his promotion to the Red Sox, Mayer had 9 home runs and 43 RBI with Worcester at the Triple-A level. The Red Sox clearly want to see the kind of power he displayed with the WooSox at Fenway Park.
The pressure is clearly on Mayer in spring training and it will be even heavier when the team goes north and the regular season starts.
