Red Sox Offseason Primer: A Talented Infield Group Loaded With Question Marks

[Ryan Salvaggio]

For the past 88 years, baseball fans have been looking for answers to the questions posed by Costello to Abbott all the way back in 1938 when their heated discussion first reached radio audiences.

"Who’s on first? What’s on second? I don’t know’s on third. I don’t give a darn’s our shortstop! Today’s our catcher."

In the current day and age, this sequence isn’t all that far-fetched of a way for fans to look at the construction of their favorite teams as they head into the MLB offseason, and they try to determine what positions need the most attention in order to improve their clubs. Luckily for the Boston Red Sox and their fans, it would appear that at least two of these discussion points have definitive answers, with the hope of a third quickly coming down the pipeline. 

“Who’s On First and I Don’t Know’s On Third”

Thanks to a proactive 2025-26 offseason, the Red Sox seemingly have concrete answers to these two positions in Willson Contreras and Caleb Durbin. In his first year in Boston, Contreras was arguably their best all-around hitter, putting up career highs in home runs, RBIs, OBP, wOBA, OPS, wRC+, and isolated power. Naturally, all of those career highs helped the Red Sox finish with the third-best team WAR for first basemen in MLB, an improvement from their 21st-place finish in 2025. 

	1B WAR	1B Offense	1B Defense
2026 Rank	5.0 MLB - 3rd AL - 2nd	25.3 MLB - 6th AL - 3rd	-7.3 MLB - 3rd AL - 2nd
2025 Rank	0.7 MLB - 21st AL - 12th	-9.7 MLB - 25th AL - 13th	-17.0 MLB - 17th AL - 11th

In the case of Durbin, the task was tall, asking him to fill the shoes worn by Alex Bregman for a year. As to be expected, the offensive output from third took a hit, as the Sox fell from a 7.9 rating, per FanGraphs—good for 9th- and 5th-place finishes in MLB and the AL, respectively—to a 1.3 rating, securing 12th- and 8th-place finishes. As for the defensive metrics however, those were nearly identical with the Red Sox finishing 2026 with a 8.0 rating, good for 3rd in the AL for a second straight season as well as a Gold Glove for Durbin.

	3B WAR	3B Offense	3B Defense
2026 Rank	3.1 MLB - 14th AL - 9th	1.3 MLB - 12th AL - 8th	8.0 MLB - 6th AL - 3rd
2025 Rank	4.3 MLB - 7th AL - 6th	7.9 MLB - 9th AL - 5th	5.8 MLB - 5th AL - 3rd

Contreras heads into 2027 with a $17 million hit to Boston’s payroll, with a $20 million club option for 2028. As for Durbin, he won’t reach his arbitration eligibility until 2028 and free agency until 2032. 

Depth isn’t a concern either, as the Sox have set themselves up with plenty of options to fill in at either spot if needed with the likes of Nick Sogard, Andruw Monasterio, Curtis Mead, and the possibly forgotten Triston Casas once he’s battled back from injury.

“What’s On Second?” 

If there is one area of the legendary schtick that truly sums up the Red Sox infield outlook heading into the offseason, it’s without a doubt: What’s on second? It’s a question fans have been looking for an answer to since Dustin Pedroia’s retirement in 2021. Since then, a whopping 35 players have appeared at the position in some capacity and none have felt like a long-term fixture. Unsurprisingly, the lack of a true second baseman once again hurt the Sox in 2026, finishing with the 15th-best WAR at the position across MLB, but good for 6th in the American League if you’re looking for a positive.

	2B WAR	2B Offense	2B Defense
2026 Rank	2.5 MLB - 15th AL - 6th	-14.0 MLB - 22nd AL - 11th	5.1 MLB - 12th AL - 4th
2025 Rank	1.6 MLB - 18th AL - 9th	-2.5 MLB - 12th AL - 6th	-9.8 MLB - 26th AL - 11th

It will be interesting to see how the Red Sox choose to attack second base, as the position presents itself with not only the most in-house options to choose from, but perhaps the deepest free-agent class in an otherwise lackluster class as a whole. As of now, the obvious on-paper choice is Curtis Mead.

From an offensive production standpoint, Mead was acquired from the Nationals with a .500 slugging percentage and .852 OPS to go along with 17 homers and 48 RBIs. On the defensive side, though, his acquisition the feeling of them once again trying to fit a square peg into a round hole; in the 240 games played at the big-league level, Mead had only appeared in 49 at the keystone.

Other in-house options include the likes of Nick Sogard, Andruw Monasterio, and Anthony Seigler, all of whom had their own times in the sun in 2026, but wouldn’t provide the needed offensive upgrade the Sox have desperately lacked. Enter in the 2026-27 free-agent class; if DiamondCentric’s rankings of the top free agents for 2026-2027 class, five of the Top-25 could all be on Boston’s radar. Those include: Brandon Lowe (#2), Luis Arraez (#9), Jazz Chisholm Jr. (#17), Gleyber Torres (#21), and Mauricio Dubón (#22).

“I Don’t Give A Darn’s Our Shortstop” 

Unlike the second base aspect of Abbott and Costello’s gag, which painted a very accurate picture of the situation, Red Sox fans should very well and do “give a darn” about who’s at shortstop heading into 2027. As of now, the position still looks like it belongs to Trevor Story, who, despite another injury-plagued season, is still owed $25 million this upcoming year, and the potential for another $25 million if the club picks up his 2028 option. 

	SS WAR	SS Offense	SS Defense
2026 Rank	0.7 MLB - 26th AL - 13th	-31.3 MLB - 30th AL - 15th	0.3 MLB - 23rd AL - 12th
2025 Rank	3.2 MLB - 16th AL - 7th	9.7 MLB - 10th AL - 5th	-1.4 MLB - 27th AL - 12th

The leash may be short for Story, however, with the Sox finishing 26th in WAR and a league worst -31.3 offensive rating for shortstops in 2026. Top prospect Franklin Arias is looking to kick down the door to the big leagues as soon as next season as well.

Those who closely followed the number two prospect in all of baseball know that, whether it was at Double-A Portland or Triple-A Worcester, he flat out raked, slashing .323/.400/.557/.957 with 25 homers and 91 RBI in 117 games. If there were thoughts Arias might join the major-league roster last September to aid Boston’s playoff push, it stands to reason he’ll undoubtedly have his shot to make the big-league club in the spring. Now, whether that’s at short, or a possible move to second for a season to accommodate a final year of Story, remains to be seen. 

There is of course the possibility that the Red Sox may want to go with a more concrete option at short and explore the trade market like they did prior to this past year’s deadline. If they choose to go that route, expect the usual suspects to pop up in rumors like Jeremy Peña, Zach Neto, and Elly De La Cruz, but also expect that if any one of those names are coming in, Arias is likely the biggest name going back out.

“The Catcher’s Name Is Today”

Akin to the Red Sox using the 2025-26 offseason to satisfy their first and third base needs, they used the 2026 trade deadline to secure their backstop of the foreseeable future in Adley Rutschman… hopefully. Along with looking for answers on how to improve the offense, arguably just as high on the priority list for Boston’s front office should be getting an extension done with Rutschman as soon as possible. With as astronomical of a haul that it was the Sox had to give up to get the backstop, it will be borderline inexcusable if Craig Breslow and co. can’t get something done to keep him around for the long haul.

While his tenure in Boston didn’t get off to the greatest of starts, a strong September that saw Rutschman slash .266/.299/.547/.845 with four homers, nine RBIs, and a 129 wRC+ gave fans a glimpse of what could be in store with a full season under his belt. Add in an 85th percentile finish in blocking, a 93rd percentile finish in framing, and a 96th percentile finish in caught stealing above average, and Rutschman brings a complete skillset that Boston’s backstops were severely lacking in 2026. 

	C WAR	C Offense	C Defense
2026 Rank	1.3 MLB - 23rd AL - 11th	-14.5 MLB - 21st AL - 9th	-0.6 MLB - 26th AL - 13th
2025 Rank	1.8 MLB - 20th AL - 11th	-19.8 MLB - 20th AL - 10th	15.2 MLB - 8th AL - 4th

While it may not be as big of a priority as extending Rutschman, there is the possibility that Boston could look to upgrade his backup. Connor Wong has seemingly run his course after yet another lackluster offensive season which featured -0.2 WAR, a .656 OPS, and an 84 wRC+. Even more alarming was his pretty terrible defensive showing too; Wong finished 2026 in the 23rd percentile in CSAA and the fourth percentile in framing.

Mickey Gasper brings more upside in terms of offense, coming off a career year that featured an .823 OPS, and 130 wRC+ to go along with 10 homers and 24 RBIs, but doesn’t provide all that different of a showing behind the plate compared to Wong. Boston’s answer could come in the form of the newly acquired Riley Adams, who was signed to a minor-league deal and could provide a little bit more of a best of both worlds approach behind the plate after his 2025 stint with the Nationals resulted in just a .560 OPS with career highs in homers (eight) and RBIs (24), as well as some above-average defensive metrics.

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