After the 2025 season, many experts and fans believed the Boston Red Sox would prioritize a reunion with Alex Bregman. The third baseman offered guidance to their top prospects, excellent defense and playoff experience to a relatively young squad.
Soon enough, Pete Alonso's name entered the rumor mill, and he and Bregman seemed like the ideal corner infield tandem for a Boston team otherwise lacking in veteran leadership and home run power. As the offseason rolled forward toward the Winter Meetings, the Red Sox's crowd of infield targets grew even more.
Middle infielders Bo Bichette and Ketel Marte have also been thrown into the mix of Red Sox infield targets. Bichette's underwhelming defense may prevent him from playing shortstop at his future home (which very well could be outside of Toronto, given the Blue Jays' affinity for Kyle Tucker) but the Red Sox have expressed interest in a free agent or trade candidate at every single infield position — even at catcher with J.T. Realmuto.
A year ago at this time when the Red Sox had something of an infield logjam on their roster, it would've been hard to believe that they'd take interest in this group of players. Triston Casas started the season as the primary first baseman, Rafael Devers and Bregman headed up the conversation for third base, and Trevor Story, Kristian Campbell, Marcelo Mayer, and maybe even Vaughn Grissom and David Hamilton in need of infield jobs. Now, Casas could be on the outs, Devers is gone, Campbell is likely to be moved to the outfield, and all the infield positions besides shortstop feel uncertain.
Red Sox express interest in infielders Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso, Ketel Marte and Bo Bichette
The Red Sox could be (and likely are) using all these infielders as leverage against one another to get the best possible deal for one or two of them. Boston traded away all its leverage against another deal with Bregman after the Devers deal. Bregman has expressed interest in a reunion with the Sox, but they've shown no willingness to meet his contract demands after signing him to a bridge deal last season — expressing interest in Bichette as a third baseman could convince Bregman to sign sooner and for cheaper, and vice versa.
The latest rumors on Marte (via Rob Bradford of WEEI) suggest the Red Sox haven't made any progress on a potential deal with the Diamondbacks, heightening the possibility that the Sox are using him as leverage. Still, Marte would be a great fit at second base in Boston, as he has years of experience, he's a talented hitter with 20-30 home runs in him in a good year, and he's a top-tier defender. Craig Breslow has swung crazier trades at the Winter Meetings before.
So be wary, Red Sox fans, of some of the rumors you year this week. Wether or not Boston is really interested in all of Bregman, Bichette, Marte and Alonso, it won't end up with all of them, and it will be hard to land even two of them. Which infielder the Red Sox truly prefer could be hard to determine until the move(s) are made.