Reacting to the Red Sox/White Sox trade
Run prevention.
Since the Red Sox missed out on signing their Plan A, Alex Bregman, those two words have been top-of-mind for this team's front office and the narrative any time the plan for a pivot was sought out.
First, there was Ranger Suarez. Now there is Isiah Kiner-Falefa.
As was first reported by Jeff Passan, sources confirm that the Red Sox have agreed to a one-year, $6 million deal with Kiner-Falefa. (Chris Cotillo of Masslive was first with the terms of the deal.) The agreement is pending a physical.
The 30-year-old infielder is perceived as a defensive-first option, with the ability to play second and third base, along with shortstop. In 2025, Kiner-Falefa spent the majority of the season playing shortstop for the Pirates before being scooped off on waivers by the Blue Jays at the end of August.
The righty hitter primarily filled in for an injured Bo Bichette at second base during the Jays run to the World Series. Between Toronto and Pittsburgh, Kiner-Falefa totaled a combined .631 OPS, slightly below his career average of .660.
While second base is a spot he has played in significantly fewer games at than shortstop and third base, it figures to be his primarly landing spot when it comes to finding a fit with the Red Sox. Unless another move is made, the other candidates to incorporate themselves at second and third include Marcelo Mayer, Romy Gonzalez, Nick Sogard and David Hamilton.
Kiner-Falefa immediately serves as the primary backup to shortstop Trevor Story. He also protects the team at key positions while introducing a player who is fresh off being a key contributor in a World Series run.
But while the Red Sox's newest aquisition serves the purpose of fortifying an infield defense that will be relied on due to the current group of pitchers' propensity to induce grounders, it doesn't fix another glaring issue for this club: finding some offensive punch.
While Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow remains on the lookout for solutions to the problem he identified early in the offseason - that of the team's need for more homers - is still unfufilled.
The Red Sox did add Willson Contreras, who has hit 20, 15 and 20 home runs, respectively, the last three seasons, but subtracted Alex Bregman. Triston Casas doesn't figure to be an option until at least a month into the season, and then will likely begin in Triple-A Worcester. And while Alex Cora's plan is to clearly play Wilyer Abreu regularly, allowing for the team's second-leading home run hitter to play against lefties and righties, the Sox are still currently juggling four outfielders (Abreu, Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran and Ceddanne Rafaela) for three spots.
In his only full big league season, starting designated hitter Masa Yoshida managed 15 home runs.
It should be noted, that the Blue Jays did make it to Game 7 of the World Series having finished with five more regular-season home runs than the Red Sox. But they were also MLB's most elite team when it came to putting the ball in play and went through the postseason with an impressive one home run per 23 at-bat ratio (which would have been third-best in the regular season).
There is no doubt that the likes of Anthony, Abreu, Duran and a few others could take steps forward offensively when it comes to supplying punch. But the Hot Stove mission statement presented by Breslow at the GM meetings is hard to ignore.
While the offseason isn't over, and the Red Sox have made some potentially impactful moves (Sonny Gray, Contreras, Suarez, Kiner-Falefa), this seems far from a "mission accomplished" kind of situation.