The Boston Red Sox entered the off-season with one big problem—too many questions and not enough answers. Sure, some pitching has been dealt with now, but the real question is the outfield logjam and an unsettled infield. Plus, a Bo Bichette market that feels out of the Red Sox’s control as of now.

Craig Breslow has kept his options open. Earlier this winter, the Boston Red Sox’s chief baseball officer stressed that a trade could be in the mix while also leaving the door open to carrying all of the Red Sox’s outfielders into the next season. This uncertainty has pushed the fans and even analysts to a bold idea—moving Ceddane Rafaela to second base.

Now, Breslow has said that the team wasn’t having Rafaela in center field as much as possible. Alex Cora echoed the same sentiment. He called Rafael an elite and a game-changer defensively. And honestly, the numbers back him up.

Rafela posted 21 outs above average, ranked in the 99th percentile for range, and logged 21 defensive runs saved last season. So Boston doesn’t have many players who can erase the mistakes as he does. But this is also where Mookie Betts enters the conversation.

As Lou Merloni put it, “For those people who don’t even want to consider it, I’ve got two words for you: Mookie Betts.” The Dodgers, too, didn’t want to move Mookie Betts off right field because he, after all, had already won five Gold Gloves.

But they did it anyway and slid him in the infield, ate some discomfort but Teoscar Hernández’s bat made the lineup better overall. And that is a masterpiece that Breslow is being told to study. Not because Rafaela should be moved, but because sometimes the roster demands such uncomfortable choices to be made. Rafaela has more than 200 innings at second base in both the majors and minors. He is athletic enough to handle it, and if Boston lands a bat like Bregman while keeping Duran in the center, then the lineup looks dangerous.

No doubt there is a risk, though. Rafaela’s bat when he played second base last year hit just .116/.150/.126 in that role. So after another season of league-worst defense, the Boston Red Sox can’t afford to weaken their defensive assets, hoping that everything sorts itself out.

Red Sox get great Alex Bregman free agency update

If you thought that the Bregman drama was over, then you are so wrong. Bregman is one of the biggest names still in the open market, and when he opted out of his contract with Boston, the thought was that he would land a bigger deal was elsewhere. That could be true, but according to a new prediction from CBS Sports, that “somewhere else” might look very familiar.

CBS Sports writer R.J. Anderson recently took the free agency projections. “Despite missing nearly two months on account of a strained quad, Bregman had a strong enough showing with the Red Sox to opt out of his three-year contract,” Anderson wrote.

He also mentioned that Bregman is linked to the same teams from last offseason, including the Red Sox, Cubs, and Tigers, and of course, a surprise intent with Toronto to Arizona. But in Anderson’s view, momentum matters.

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Inertia is the most powerful force, making Boston the pick here.

That word “inertia” sums up why this prediction should catch Boston fans’ attention. Bregman knows this city and the expectations, and that familiarity can carry the real weight when the contact numbers are close, and then the long-term comfort becomes part of the equation.

But even then, the Detroit Tigers remain the biggest threat. They were aggressive the last time Bregman hit the market, and it would not be shocking to see them go for it again. The Chicago Cubs just added Murakami, and they seem ready to spend big. Still, the fact that Boston is firm on the conversation after a year out of Bregman still seems significant.