Red Sox Insider Sparks Hope In Alex Bregman Sweepstakes

What should give Red Sox fans solace not only the fact that The Athletic's Jen McCaffrey confirmed the reporting that there's an offer out there for Bregman from Boston, but also that she noted that Craig Breslow may be utilizing the same strategy he didn last year to bring Bregman to town.

"Breslow may be employing a similar strategy this time around," McCaffrey wrote. "Last year, even with signing Bregman as a priority after missing out on Juan Soto, talks stretched from November through February as Breslow added to the rest of the roster. It’s also worth remembering that all of those moves came with a degree of uncertainty. Garrett Crochet, though a prized trade acquisition, was coming off his first full year starting and workload management remained a question. Carlos Narvaez was an unproven rookie catcher who’d appeared in six big-league games to that point. Aroldis Chapman was competing for the closer’s job, coming off a mediocre season with a high walk rate. Bregman did not officially sign until Feb. 15.

"Currently, the Red Sox have added (Willson Contreras), a solid hitter, to man first base, while trading for two starters in Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo and another rotation candidate in pitching prospect Jake Bennett. Each carries their own set of questions. All that to say, for as much uncertainty as there is surrounding the Red Sox offseason right now, there was just as much uncertainty last year at this time. The Red Sox held their ground then and figure to do the same this year."

It's easy to get caught up in the noise of the offseason, but when you take a step back and look at the team from that perspective, it does look a bit different. You can look at the 2025 Red Sox and say all fo the moves were home runs, for the most part. The Crochet deal was great, Chapman was the best reliever in baseball, and Narvaez surprised. But when the actual moves happened -- aside from the Crochet deal -- there wasn't as much positivity. The moves happened to work out and yet Bregman still signed after a marathon of a few months.

This offseason, the Red Sox are in a better place than they were at this point last year. They should be even more appealing than they were when they won the Bregman sweepstakes. This offseason, they are coming off an 89-win season and have Roman Anthony fully ready to go after debuting in 2025. It's hard to picture another team in a better position in the race.