After losing Alex Bregman to the Chicago Cubs, the Boston Red Sox bounced back in a big way by signing their first free agent of the winter, longtime Philadelphia Phillies lefty, Ranger Suárez (subscription required). He's a great addition to the rotation and the true No. 2 starter chief baseball officer Craig Breslow claimed to be looking for at the beginning of the offseason, but he doesn't address the holes in their lineup.
Bregman was one of the few right-handers on the Sox's 2025 squad, he's a veteran and one of the best defensive third basemen in the league. Replacing all of those qualities on the free agent market won't be easy or cheap, and Boston's recent pitching decisions sent one of those needs to the forefront of its checklist.
Suárez excels at limiting hard contact and he's a ground ball pitcher. In 2025, his hard-hit rate and ground ball rate ranked in the 98th and 76th percentile, respectively. Brayan Bello is also a ground ball pitcher with a ground ball percentage in the 84th percentile last season, meaning the baseball will be rolling through Boston's infield quite a bit more next season.
Last year, the Red Sox posted disastrous, league-worst defense with 116 errors. The vast majority of them came from the infield, as Trevor Story regressed defensively and the first and second base positions have been inconsistent in Boston for quite some time. Losing Bregman will only make the defense worse.
Red Sox's signing of Ranger Suárez could take them out of Bo Bichette and Eugenio Suárez markets due to high ground ball rates and questionable defense
The free agent infield options the Red Sox are reportedly coveting won't help improve the infield defense, and it won't be anywhere near the level it was with Bregman manning the hot corner (and the defense was horrendous even then). Eugenio Suárez and Bo Bichette are both poor defenders and it could be hard to justify fielding them behind Bello and Ranger Suárez.
Bichette was the worst defensive shortstop in the league last season and Eugenio Suárez wasn't far behind in terms of the third baseman with eighth percentile range. The Red Sox's outfield defense projects to be rock-solid with Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu backing the infield up, but their stiff infield gave away so many free runs last season that they can't run it back again.
Of course, the Red Sox should've considered that before they made an utterly embarrassing run at re-signing Bregman, but they need to look forward now. Their offense absolutely needs an upgrade, but Eugenio Suárez and Bichette could be too much of a liability on defense to consider. As many of the recent rumors suggest, the trade market seems to be the path for Boston to up its infield game.