Second base remains the lone remaining roster hole for the Boston Red Sox to fill this offseason, assuming Marcelo Mayer is ready to take over for Rafael Devers and Alex Bregman at the hot corner.
The free-agent market doesn't have many inspiring options to offer, with 36-year-old Jose Iglesias and utility man Isiah Kiner-Falefa representing the best capable second baseman out there. There is far more optimism to be found on the trade block, but the price for any of Nico Hoerner, Brendan Donovan or Ketel Marte could prove to be prohibitive.
As such, there is a plausible scenario where the Red Sox enter camp as currently constructed and hold a competition for the second base job. Romy González figures to factor into the equation at the keystone in some way, but he's far more valuable as a versatile bench bat who gets deployed against left-handed pitchers.
Unless Nate Eaton or Nick Sogard explode at the plate in spring training, that puts Alex Cora in a bind. González shores up the weak side of the platoon, but in a lineup full of left-handed batters, none are capable of handling second base besides Mayer and Ceddanne Rafaela (who will be locked into center field). In other words, maybe it's time to bust out Plan Z.
Connor Wong can play second base, but Red Sox would need a third catcher in that doomsday scenario
Connor Wong has been more frequently mentioned as a trade candidate than a roster lock this offseason, which makes sense considering how disastrous his 2025 campaign was. The 29-year-old backstop hit .190/.262/.238 (39 wRC+) while supplying his putrid-as-usual defensive metrics from behind the plate; he ranked in just the sixth percentile in blocks above average.
But, fans with a steel trap memory will remember that Wong isn't only a catcher, at least technically. He's played nearly 100 career innings in the infield, including 29 frames at the keystone. That's a small sample size — especially on defense — but he's actually been passable in that time, accruing -1 Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average apiece.
Wong has always run reverse splits throughout his career (his OPS and wRC+ are 28 and five points higher, respectively, against righties compared to lefties), which would make him a nice platoon partner for González.
This isn't to suggest moving Wong to second base on a full-time basis. Merely, it'd get his bat — which was above average as recently as 2024 — in the lineup more often while limiting the amount of reps he has to play behind the plate. This would force the Sox to add a third catcher to the roster in some form, but they could always promote non-roster invitee Jason Delay in a real emergency.
Obviously, this is not the ideal outcome. Heck, it might not even be a less-than-ideal one. But, if the alternative at second base is shifting Rafaela out of center field or signing Iglesias... well, it couldn't hurt to try, right?