Besides Willson Contreras, all of the Boston Red Sox's infield targets have landed elsewhere this offseason. Even after the club's equipment truck has departed for Fort Myers, signaling the (un)official start of spring, Boston still has to put finishing touches on its roster.
The majority of the Sox's offseason acquisitions have come through trade, but the market seems to have slowed significantly as Opening Day comes into view. Boston has been connected to Houston Astros infielder Isaac Paredes and Chicago Cubs teammates Matt Shaw and Nico Hoerner in the final weeks of the offseason, but movement toward a deal seems minimal.
The free agent market isn't looking much better after Eugenio Suárez signed with the Cincinnati Reds on February 1. But all hope is not lost, as an under-the-radar infield candidate remains (and, at this stage in the offseason, he could sign for quite cheap).
Longtime Los Angeles Angels infielder Luis Rengifo is a free agent this winter, but there's been little to no smoke about him fielding interest from teams. The soon-to-be 29 year old is primarily a second baseman but also has experience at third base and shortstop.
Red Sox could sign longtime Angels infielder Luis Rengifo to complete their roster (for cheap)
His market may have been hurt by a down season in 2025. Rengifo batted .238/.287/.335 with 16 doubles, three triples and nine home runs over 147 games. His defense has historically not been great, and he posted four outs below average, mostly between second and third base, last season.
Rengifo is just one year removed from the best season of his career, when he was often mentioned as a top trade deadline candidate. He batted .300/.347/.417 with a .763 OPS and 30 RBI over 78 games, an unfortunately short sample size. Rengifo fell injured with a wrist issue in early August of 2024, so any club that considered trading for him actually lucked out
Rengifo isn't a perfect fit for the Red Sox, but if they always planned to insist on a perfect fit, they should've met Alex Bregman's demands when they had the chance. Rengifo is a switch-hitter who has had more success from the right side of the plate in his career and he can play second base while Marcelo Mayer slides over to third. If the Red Sox aren't that confident in Rengifo's defensive skills, they could platoon him with Romy Gonzalez instead of David Hamilton.
The Red Sox have already made so many trades this winter that sacrificing more prospect capital for a desperation move seems less than ideal. Trading Jordan Hicks freed up enough money to sign Rengifo to a one-year deal to finally finish up Boston's infield. Again, he's not a perfect fit, but the Red Sox missed their chance to sign one about a month ago.