Three first basemen who can fill the Red Sox power vacuum

In mid-June, the Boston Red Sox made a puzzling decision to send the face of their franchise, Rafael Devers, to the San Francisco Giants. After the trade, management assured fans that the Red Sox did not need Devers, even suggesting the team would be better without him. However, when October came, it became clear that those comments contained a few obvious fallacies. The Red Sox were eliminated by the New York Yankees in the wild-card round, 1-2.

For Boston, the time to reflect is over. Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has stated an intention to find a middle-of-order bat.

“There is just something about a bat in the middle of the lineup that forces another team to game plan against it that has a compounding effect on the rest of the roster,” Breslow said via Tim Healey of The Boston Globe. “So, we didn’t slug nearly as much as I think we can, or we will, and we’ll pursue opportunities to improve that.”

There aren’t too many sluggers on the market who can replace Devers. And assuming Boston re-signs Alex Bregman, the only hole in the lineup is at first base. With this in mind, here are three free agent first basemen who can potentially fill the void.

Munetaka Murakami 

Having been posted by the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s NPB, Murakami has quickly become one of the hottest free agents on the market. The famed Japanese slugger won the batting triple crown in 2022 while hitting an NPB record of 56 home runs.

Murakami hit .273/.379/.663 with 22 home runs in an injury-plagued season this year. Though he only played 56 games, Murakami still posted some of Japan’s best numbers. Predicting how his talent will translate to MLB might not be doable, but his high strikeout rates, high on-base percentages and staggering power should keep things interesting.

Pete Alonso 

Unlike Murakami, Alonso’s power is MLB-proven. This past season, the Polar Bear hit .272/.347/.524 with 38 home runs and an NL-leading 41 doubles with the Mets, posting the second-highest OPS of his career (.871). When coupled with the Green Monster, Alonso’s power could be even more transformative for the Red Sox. 

Alonso’s postseason heroics should also be a clear selling point, something the Red Sox should strongly consider given their early exit. In addition, Alonso did not receive a qualifying offer, making him a prime target.

Cody Bellinger 

As a lefty, Bellinger was a fine fit in the Bronx, hitting .272/.334/.480 with 29 home runs. But while his swing played well with the short porch in Yankee Stadium, left field was a graveyard for nearly every ball he hit in the air. However, the Green Monster should negate a lot of his opposite-field woes. Of every ball he hit in the air, Bellinger hit to the opposite field 21.7 percent of the time, pulling the ball 24.7 percent of the time. He was also among the most proficient in limiting strikeouts, doing so 13.7 percent of the time.

Primarily an outfielder, Bellinger also plays first base, providing his team with plenty of flexibility. A plus defender, he recorded seven outs above average this past season.