With days to spare before pitchers and catchers officially report to spring training, the Boston Red Sox are finally making some headway toward finishing their roster. One of their last additions was unexpected, to say the least, based on the front office's alleged priorities in the fall.
Boston signed former division rival infielder and near-2025 World Series hero Isiah Kiner-Falefa to a one-year, $6 million deal (which is, frankly, too much). While he meets the team's latest priorities defensively, he doesn't move the needle offensively.
Multiple reports have stated that the Red Sox aren't done adding to their roster after landing IKF (subscription required). The remaining free agent options are the lower-tier ones, left to scramble to find their 2026 squads. Boston remains connected to many trade candidates and could make another swap on the home stretch.
But Kiner-Falefa and a less-than-desirable free agent or risky trade candidate isn't what Red Sox fans had in mind for the team's final offensive addition this winter. Boston's power outage remains unaddressed and a veteran has been lost in Alex Bregman.
Red Sox's tumble from Alex Bregman to Isiah Kiner-Falefa should be embarrassing
The front office has pivoted from Bregman to Ketel Marte to Nico Hoerner, Matt Shaw or Isaac Paredes, then to Kiner-Falefa. It did so without making a competitive offer to Pete Alonso, citing his age (despite him being younger than Bregman) and not offering anything at all to Kyle Schwarber and Eugenio Suárez.
After Bregman signed with the Chicago Cubs, there were no perfect fits for the Red Sox on the free agent market — before they made him a pathetic offer, they likely knew this. Another great fit wasn't going to materialize out of thin air, and the Red Sox should've capitalized on a top-tier option while they had the chance. Their lack of a competitive offer to Alonso and ignorance of sluggers Schwarber and Suárez look worse by the day.
There's no world in which Kiner-Falefa should be Boston's starting second baseman the year after it made the playoffs for the first time in four seasons, and thankfully, it doesn't sound like he will be. But the problem is that there's room for assumption. The Red Sox's contending window is wide open, though it will close faster than they can imagine — Roman Anthony, Garrett Crochet, Brayan Bello and Ceddanne Rafaela are all under contract for the next four-to-six years, but they'll pass quickly.
The Red Sox don't have time to not try to make a deep run in the playoffs. A dramatic shift in priorities from Bregman to IKF shouldn't happen again as long as Anthony and Crochet are signed.