The Boston Red Sox are just weeks from Alex Bregman's likely contract opt out. The third baseman could look to re-sign with the Red Sox, but if they refuse to meet his asking price, he could turn elsewhere.
That would be disastrous for the Sox, who traded away Rafael Devers, their only other long-term option at third base, in June. Bregman is the best option in the 2025-26 class of free agent third basemen — Eugenio Suárez, Max Muncy (who has a club option on his contract), Gio Urshela, Josh Rojas, Jon Berti, Yoán Moncada and Luis Urías are the other impending free agents.
Boston could trade for a third baseman with its surplus of top prospect talent. MLB Network insider Jon Morosi reported that Nolan Arenado could be on the move this winter and that the Sox could be a good fit. The veteran was cheered off the field by Cardinals fans before their September 21 game against the Brewers, which could be his final game as a Cardinal at Busch Stadium.
"This felt like goodbye for Nolan Arenado to the great city of St. Louis yesterday. Rare that you see a player removed before the game even begins," Morosi said on MLB Central. "There's still a lot left in the tank... A great career that still does not have a World Series appearance, and that, I think, is what's driving Nolan Arenado now."
MLB insider Jon Morosi names Red Sox as an ideal trade suitor for Nolan Arenado if Alex Bregman opts out of his contract
Nolan Arenado received a standing ovation in the Cardinals final home game of the season yesterday.@jonmorosi mentions the Mariners, Tigers and Red Sox as potential suitors to trade for the 8x All-Star. pic.twitter.com/FleAvoW5wG
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) September 22, 2025
Morosi named the Red Sox among the potential fits for Arenado, but he'd be a less-than-ideal replacement for Bregman in Sox fans' minds. Boston was among the trade suitors for Arenado last season, alongside the Mariners, Tigers and Astros. He rejected a trade to the Astros early last winter and remained with the Cardinals for another year.
Arenado posted a down season at the plate, with a .236/.290/.365 slash line and .655 OPS, the lowest offensive metrics of his career so far, over 103 games. In fairness, he usually posts 140-150 games per year across his 13 seasons in MLB, but it'd be hard to argue that his bat plays as well as it used to — Arenado is slashing .282/.339/.507 with an .846 OPS in his career.
Arenado remains an excellent defender, with three outs above average and an 84th-percentile range in his age-34 season. Bregman also posted three outs above average at third base this season, but with an 82nd-percentile rage, a negligible difference.
The Red Sox's run to the Wild Card shows they need as much offensive help they can get, and they already have Bregman, a far superior bat to Arenado, on the team. After trading Devers, Boston can't afford to take another offensive hit, even if it hopes to have Roman Anthony on the roster all of next season, which it can't guarantee.
The impending class of free agent and trade candidate third basemen is underwhelming, and the Red Sox must hold onto Bregman to field a an equal or better team to this year's squad. Arenado's bat would probably play better at Fenway Park than it did at Busch Stadium this year, but that isn't a risk Boston should be willing to take.