The Boston Red Sox have a hunt for home run power on their offseason checklist, but this year's free agent class presents precious few good options. Among them is Seiya Suzuki.
Suzuki is a right-handed slugger who is entering traditional MLB free agency for the first time after five years with the Chicago Cubs. According to Chris Cotillo of MassLive, Suzuki "has big fans" in the Red Sox organization (Craig Breslow was an assistant general manager in the Cubs' front office at the time of his signing), which might mean a free agent pursuit is coming.
Suzuki makes sense for the Red Sox's offensive needs, but his position and the Sox's roster issues could lead to some hangups. But Suzuki is the type of player the team should make changes for.
The 32-year-old was mostly a right fielder with the Cubs and Boston certainly doesn't need another outfielder. The right field spot is also occupied by Wilyer Abreu, a soon-to-be three-time Gold Glove winner in the hardest outfield spot in the league. Suzuki is a great defender wth five outs above average for 89th percentile range in 2026, but he's no Abreu. He could slot well into left field if the Sox can open the job.
Red Sox will have to make a few lineup changes to accommodate Seiya Suzuki this offseason, if they go that route
The Sox have long neded to clear up their logjam and 2027 could be the year they finally do it — Jarren Duran has regressed so much that they can't justify playing him every day next season and Masataka Yoshida's fit in the outfield group has always been questionable.
Cotillo notes that a Duran trade is "squarely in play" and that the Red Sox could try again to trade Yoshida. Despite his offensive regression and other drama, Duran still has trade value as a 20 homer bat, a talented defender and a threat on the base paths. Yoshida has been freqently injured, but he's a consistent hitter with a keen eye when healthy.
Boston should make an effort to clear its outfield traffic jam, but it doesn't have to fit Suzuki there. The Sox have used a rotating designated hitter strategy when crafting their lineups over the last few seasons. The rotation allegedly gives them more lineup flexibility, but they haven't had consistent production out of the DH spot (2025 is an outlier since Roman Anthony and Rafael Devers hit out of the DH spot that year). Roman Anthony has flashed some quality defense during his short time in the big leagues. The Red Sox can justify keeping him in left field to use Suzuki as their DH.
The race to sign Suzuki won't be an easy one, as he's one of the top home run hitting talents in an underwhelming free agent group. But if the Red Sox free up some payroll space by trading an outfielder or two, signing Suzuki is an easy call.
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