For the second year in a row, the Boston Red Sox are waiting until the last minute to add a final infielder to their roster. Alex Bregman signed with them during spring training 2025 to bring some star power back to their roster, but he isn't there to save them this time.
Clubs around MLB are taking their offseason trade candidates off the board as they get ready to construct their own rosters. The remaining options are insanely expensive, less-than-ideal fits for Boston, or both.
The free agent market hasn't looked much better since Bregman and Bo Bichette signed with the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets, respectively. Eugenio Suárez is still available and he could fill the gap in the Sox's infield at an affordable price, according to MLB insider Jim Bowden.
"Boston and Pittsburgh are the best fits. But there's not a market for him and it's puzzling after 49 home runs," Bowden said on January 26 on the "Foul Territory" podcast.
Red Sox should capitalize on small market for Eugenio Suárez before another team does
Bowden also noted that he spoke to a GM of a non-contending team and asked why Suárez hasn't been signed. The unnamed GM listed off concerns that Boston is especially focused on, like poor defense and a high strikeout rate.
But Suárez's 49 home runs don't lie, and one of the Red Sox's biggest deficiencies in 2025 was power. Rafael Devers notched 35 homers on the season between Boston and the San Francisco Giants, meanwhile no Red Sox player hit more than 25. The Red Sox ranked 10th in the league with 122 home runs before the All-Star break, then fell to 27th place with 64 homers after.
If Bowden's assertion that there is no market for Suárez is true, the Red Sox might be able to get him to sign on a very favorable deal, which could be preferable to a trade at this stage. Top defensive trade candidates Ketel Marte and Nico Hoerner aren't likely to be moved, Isaac Paredes (like Suárez) isn't a good defender and Brendan Donovan is left-handed. Hoerner also has one year remaining on his contract before he hits free agency, and it would make more sense to sign Suárez to an inexpensive deal over that time than it would to meet Chicago's expensive trade price.
The Red Sox are running out of time to make their final roster additions as spring training closes in. Trading for Sonny Gray to shore up their rotation is a "win-now" move, and signing Suárez, as opposed to running with Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell or Nick Sogard in the infield, would be on the same level.