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With how the 2025 season unfolded, it's hard to picture any Boston Red Sox team for the remainder of the 2020s not having third baseman Alex Bregman on it.
Even with the injury and subsequent struggles upon returning, the All-Star slashed .273/.360/.462 with a 125 wRC+ and 3.5 fWAR in 114 games. He also had a .462 on-base percentage in the team's three-game Wild Card series against the New York Yankees and hit an RBI double to seal Game 1.
He made the decision to opt out of his current contract earlier this month, at least temporarily removing himself from the equation in Boston. Therefore, for the second offseason in a row, the team covets a middle-of-the-order righty bat... or two. Many assume (hope?) that the team will add a righty bopper in addition to Bregman. That pairing may have worked on the field, and the group loved him behind the scenes, but does it really make sense for the Red Sox to commit to him for six additional years on top of adding another high-priced player to the mix?
The free agent market for impact right-handed bats is top-heavy, meaning the market cultivated by each player may need to act more desperate to land said player. Even when factoring in the trade market, there's just not a lot of noise surrounding impact righty hitters right now. That said, Jim Bowden of The Athletic ran a list of contract predictions. In his predictions, he has Bregman receiving a six-year deal worth $182 million -- a $30.3 million average annual value.
That's the same contract he predicted New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso gets in free agency. Both would be risks at their age, yes, but the upside is also unquestionable. Yet, the contract that caught my attention was that for Toronto Blue Jays infielder Bo Bichette.
Bowden predicts Bichette will get seven years at $189 million total value ($27 mil AAV). Despite 2026 being his age-28 season, and coming off a 2025 in which he was better than Bregman at the plate, he has to get a full extra year to obtain just $7 million in total value. It's worth mentioning that these are simply predictions from Bowden (who is far from the most infallible source), so it's hardly a perfect indicator of the contract any of these players receive. For reference, ESPN's Jeff Passan predicted in September Bichette would sign a deal in the ballpark of what fellow shortstops Trea Turner and Xander Bogaerts got.
Regardless, if the final contracts are close between Bregman and Bichette, and signing both is unfeasible, the Red Sox should target the services of Bichette.
For starters, there's the aging curve of the two players. Bregman is already 32 years old and coming off of a season in which he dealt with a significant quad injury. Assuming it heals with rest, that shouldn't impact his play moving forward. but it serves as a reminder that he's getting older and with that comes injuries. On the other hand, Bichette will be 28 years old next season, meaning he's still got the prime of his career ahead of him. Not only that, but he's become a lock for 60 or so extra-base hits a year. Though his walk numbers aren't spectacular, he hits the ball hard and doesn't strike out. Yes, some BABIP luck is required since he's not a 30-plus-homer guy. But he only outperformed his expected batting average by four points in 2025 -- the dude mashes.
That said, shortstop isn't the position Bichette sticks at long term, if one were to guess. Perhaps that's the reason Bowden is so low on his contract value. Calling him a butcher at the position feels harsh, but apropos to his defensive production. In 2025, he posted -13 DRS and -12 OAA, bringing his career totals to -19 and -32, respectively. Moving to second base seems like the obvious solution. In fact, Bichette is already playing there in the World Series for Toronto, albeit mostly due to physical limitations caused by a knee injury. While still not moving well, he's made some nice plays so far in this series at the position.
There's one issue with signing Bichette to play second base, however. The Red Sox theoretically have two already on the roster, with the other playing short, between Trevor Story and Marcelo Mayer. As a result, they have three middle infielders and no third baseman to replace Bregman.
The logical solution would be to situate Mayer at third base. However, the team must also navigate the possibility of Story's defensive regression being permanent and not some one-off. Thus, I've begun wondering about the upside of sticking Story at third base for the final two years of his contract.
It seems extreme, seeing as there are clear limitations to Story's arm. Not only that, but he posted 10 OAA in 2022 at second base. That said, the veteran infielder posted zero OAA moving to his left and -2 ranging in—it was to his right that really tanked his defensive metrics.
With third base not being the rangiest position on the field, it could do him some good not having to cover as much ground, which wouldn't be the case at the keystone whether he's playing alongside Triston Casas, Nathaniel Lowe or Pete Alonso in 2026. The Red Sox wouldn't be the first team to spam shortstops with a hypothetical Bichette signing. The San Diego Padres, as recent as 2024, had done the same. Their entire infield was comprised of shortstops: Bogaerts, Ha-Seong Kim, Manny Machado, and Jake Cronenworth.
Deploying three shortstops and an offensive-minded first baseman could give the Red Sox a much more dynamic infield while not suffering at the plate, and Bichette's cleaner fit with the timeline of their current core could make him a de facto leader going forward, much like how George Springer has taken these current Blue Jays under his wing.
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