Boston Red Sox

Boston Red Sox

I've been vocal about my love for Triston Casas, and my hopes for his emergence as a key part of the Red Sox roster for years to come. These hopes and dreams once seemed quite reasonable, based on early returns, but they've been dashed by significant injuries and questions about whether he can ever meet the physical demands of playing every day at an elite level.

ESPN's David Schoenfield gave Boston a positive grade for addressing an area of need at first base - especially at a lower cost than what it would take to sign a free agent like Pete Alonso. While Alonso signed a five-year, $155 million contract with the Orioles earlier this month, Contreras is under contract for the next two seasons at $36.5 million - with Boston also holding a $17.5 million club option for the 2028 campaign.

In 2025, the Boston condo market has shifted toward a more balanced state, with an overall increase in Days on Market (DOM) that provides buyers with more leverage than in previous years. Increased Buyer Leverage: The median DOM for Boston condos has climbed to approximately 28-32 days, a significant increase from roughly 20 days in 2023. Negotiation Power: Homes sitting on the market for 14+ days are increasingly seeing price drops and seller concessions, with roughly 30% of listings seeing price reductions

It's hard to ever really know what the Rays are planning. Are they thinking two steps ahead, and this is all lining up for them to move three prospects to bring in an even better, more cost-controlled major leaguer than the ones they sent out? Did they look around the division and see the entire AL East* loading up, realize that they have absolutely no chance of competing in 2026, and therefore punt to 2027?

After the 2024 season Rob Refsnyder considered retiring. But he didn't, explaining: "Really it was just the conversation, last year was my last guaranteed deal with here," Refsnyder said. "...I didn't really know the future. If no one has interest then yeah, I'd go on and do the next thing. I'm happy I'm here and this is my last year here that I guaranteed so we'll see what happens."

He's Luis Arraez. He's the first player in MLB history to win three consecutive batting titles playing for three different teams (2022-2024). Most recently, he was with the Padres on a one-year deal to avoid arbitration after playing in San Diego for most of 2024 . Before that, he was in Miami, where he recorded a seemingly unreal .354 batting average. The utility infielder, who turns 29 shortly after Opening Day 2026, spent the first portion of his career with Minnesota.

Phillips joined the Dodgers organization in August 2021, when he was claimed off waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays, and since then, he became one of the top relievers in baseball. Since the start of the 2022 season, Phillips has posted a 2.14 ERA and 0.92 WHIP in 184.2 innings for the Dodgers, striking out 10.33 hitters per nine innings while walking just 2.29 per nine.

Framber Valdez is a 32-year-old left-handed pitcher who signed as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic. He's spent his career with the Houston Astros, though he declined their qualifying offer to enter free agency.

According to Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic, the Red Sox are one of the teams "in on" Brewers ace Freddy Peralta, who could be available this offseason. "The Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants and Houston Astros are among the teams in on Peralta, according to people familiar with the Brewers' discussion," Rosenthal and Sammon wrote, later adding that "no deal appears close."

He's Ryan Watson, a right-handed pitcher. He was acquired yesterday in a trade with the Athletics, who had just selected him from the San Francisco Giants in the Rule 5 Draft. He was born in Auburn, Alabama, and pitched for the Auburn Tigers in college. He went undrafted in the shortened 2020 draft and signed with the Baltimore Orioles, reaching Triple A before being traded to the Giants midway through 2024.

Kyle Tucker was selected fifth overall by the Houston Astros in 2015. He got a taste of the majors in 50 games across 2018 and 2019 before playing a "full season" of 58 games in 2020. But that was his real welcome to the major leagues. From the start of 2020 onward he would slash .276/.362/.513 while averaging 24 home runs and 19 steal per season.

He was one of the very best in the game... about a decade ago as a member of the Diamondbacks. At the age of 36, he's still a durable starter good for 5-inning starts and generating ground balls. He has almost no velocity to speak of anymore and has been very hittable. He ranks in the lowest 30th percentile in strikeouts, which is actually the highest he's ranked since the pandemic.

As the Red Sox look to add power to their lineup, they've talked internally about the possibility of signing Eugenio Suárez and held some talks with his camp, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reports. The team's interest in Suárez is all the more notable with the market's top slugger, Kyle Schwarber, off the board on a five-year that'll keep in Philadelphia. The Red Sox were known to have interest in Schwarber.

Coming off the heels of a fantastic 2024-25 campaign that resulted in another Premier League title (at the expense of my beloved Arsenal), Liverpool have recently hit a run of horrible form. They've won just two of their last 10 domestic games and they were recently spanked at their historic home of Anfield in the Champions League. In the Premier League, they are as close to the top spot in the table as they are to the relegation zone.

He's Vinny Capra. The 29-year-old actually already has ties to New England/Boston. He was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 20th round of the 2018 MLB Draft and spent some playing time for Manchester, New Hampshire's Fisher Cats. After making his Major League debut with Toronto, he was traded alongside Tyler Heineman, who himself spent some time in the Red Sox system.

Boston Red Sox The Red Sox still have some needs to address in the field and in the bullpen this offseason after swinging a pair of trades for starting pitchers. Ahead of this week's Winter Meetings, much of the free-agent rumors surrounding the Red Sox have been focused on Alex Bregman, Kyle Schwarber, and Pete Alonso. Bo Bichette's name has also joined that group as Boston seeks to add an impactful bat this offseason.

2007 - Andruw Jones leaves the Braves for a two-year, $36 million deal with the Dodgers. Jones will hit .158 with just three home runs and will be released at the end of the season. 1914 - An indoor baseball game is played in Chicago to raise money for the family of recently deceased Cubs third baseman Jim Doyle. 1937 - Ford Frick was reelected as President of the National League for a three-year term.

Munetaka Murakami is a left-handed hitting 25-year-old who has been playing in Japan's NPB-and absolutely tearing it up offensively-since he was a teenager. Recently posted by the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, he's about to become a big leaguer in MLB. He has until December 22 at 5 p.m. ET to pass a physical and sign on the dotted line. He played third base in Japan and spent a bit of time at first base too.

I think I just learned a lot about my everyday routine. You know, watching the veteran guys we have, the way that they go about their business, and the guys who have stuck around and made such an impact on this game. I think that was the biggest part, to take care of myself on a day-to-day basis with the schedule and the travel.