Sunday brought news that Eugenio Suárez, for weeks linked to the Boston Red Sox, had agreed to sign a one-year, $15 million deal with the Cincinnati Reds.
Plenty of Red Sox fans were upset to see a powerful righty bat such as Suárez's land elsewhere. Emotions ran even higher once MassLive's Chris Cotillo revealed that Boston never made an offer to Suárez.
Meanwhile, this revelation immediately unearthed another one about Marcelo Mayer: Boston envisions Mayer as its starting third baseman in 2026.
As Sunday wore on, Cotillo's ongoing reporting specified the Suárez-Red Sox dynamic even further; there wasn't much of a dynamic at all. Cotillo wrote that Boston wasn't involved in his market, and that it was mainly the Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates competing for the slugger's services.
The Red Sox's non-interest in Eugenio Suárez revealed their plan for third base
Eugenio Suárez was between the Reds and Pirates at the end, source says, with the Red Sox not playing a meaningful role in his market.
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) February 1, 2026
In the end, most of the Suárez-Sox noise was a mirage, propped up by wistful Red Sox fans during moments of extreme offseason boredom.
It's telling that Boston wasn't ever that in on Suárez, in that it shows the club's plans to have Mayer operating as its everyday third baseman in 2026, where Mayer played well in 2025 while Alex Bregman was injured. This is a notable development for fans to learn about, seeing as Mayer at second base has been a narrative all offseason long, especially when Bregman's return felt inevitable.
The Suárez intel from Cotillo suddenly gives clarity to Mayer's defensive role and also further contextualizes recent buzz that Boston renewed Kristian Campbell's second base training in Fort Myers in January. Poor Campbell; he keeps having his developmental program adjusted to fit the ever-changing needs of the Red Sox's major-league defensive alignment.
If Boston's suffered from a logjam in its outfield, then its infield is something akin to musical chairs. Bregman's assumed return meant Mayer at second base, and all was clear. And then Bregman became a Chicago Cub.
Romy González made 32 starts at second base for the Red Sox in 2025, and most people assume he'll be there on Opening Day 2026. Boston has its usual slew of depth options at the position in the form of Nick Sogard, David Hamilton, and Ceddanne Rafaela, although Alex Cora did say this offseason that he wants to keep the Gold Glover Rafaela in center field (wisely).
There was even a time when Red Sox fans toyed with the idea of shifting the aging Trevor Story over to second base (or third!), thus allowing Mayer to get started at the position (shortstop) where he'll presumably spend the bulk of his career in Boston.
Story's outstanding defense in 2025, despite a slight dip towards the end of the campaign, earned him another year of starting shortstop duties, however. Boston's infield alignment feels set. For now.