Last season, the Boston Red Sox ended up #3 in the AL Central Division with a 89-73 record. Following the end of the season, they lost a significant part of their offense with Alex Bregman. While the team has made some additions like Willson Contreras, Sonny Gray, and Johan Oviedo, the gap in the 2B/3B might turn into a harsh reality. Jim Bowden explains.

The Boston Red Sox are projected to finish 4th in the AL Central Division this season, according to Jim Bowden of The Athletic.

“The Red Sox failed in their attempt to bring back Alex Bregman and were unable to sign Bo Bichette as his replacement. However, they did upgrade at first base with the trade for Willson Contreras, and they improved their rotation significantly with the pick-ups of Ranger Suárez and Sonny Gray, as well as depth options like Johan Oviedo and Jake Bennett,” Bowden stated.

With A-Breg, the Red Sox lost an impressive slugger (.273 batting average) and a third baseman to the Chicago Cubs. Last May, he recorded his 200th career home run against the Texas Rangers, helping the Red Sox win 6-4. In 114 games last season, he recorded 18 home runs and 62 RBIs.

As a third baseman for his former team, Breggy made a dominant defense last August against the Houston Astros. Garrett Whitlock threw an 83.8 mph pitch to Yainer Diaz, which had an exit velocity of 76.5 mph. Bregman executed his signature bare-handed play with his right hand to field a slow-rolling grounder to Romy Gonzalez, retiring Diaz. While the magnificent move awed the crowd, A-Breg was all but composed, returning to third base like it was nothing unusual. While Boston was defeated (6-7), that play remains imprinted.

Coming back to the offseason, as if losing one star wasn’t enough for the Sox! They even lost their 2B option when Bo Bichette signed with the New York Mets. This one has shown his skills throughout the season, recording 18 homers and 94 RBIs across 139 games. Remember his May 31 game against the Oakland Athletics?

Focused on the 92.0 mph sinker from Gunnar Hoglund, Bichette blasted a 390-foot home run (111.1 mph exit velocity) to left field in the bottom of the 2nd inning. The ball bounced off the wall, marking his 100th career home run, and becoming the first Blue Jays shortstop with the record. Bo was welcomed to the dugout with the team’s famous home run jacket.

Boston’s 2B hopes with Nico Hoerner may also not become successful.

Hoerner is known for his impressive contact-hitting and elite defensive skills. Last July, he hit an 86.0 mph slider from Quinn Priester into a 379-foot home run with an exit velocity of 99.6 mph to left field.

In the NLDS Game 3 against the Milwaukee Brewers, Hoerner helped the Chicago Cubs win 4-3 and force a Game 4. He ended last season with 7 home runs and 61 RBIs in 156 games.

Nico Hoerner could clearly be a valuable addition to the Red Sox’s second base alongside Cedanne Rafaela, Romy Gonzalez, David Hamilton, and Nick Sogard. However, the Cubs may be eyeing Red Sox pitchers Payton Tolle and Connelly Early for the trade, which they may not agree with.

In his MLB debut last August, Tolle struck out 8 batters of the Pittsburgh Pirates while allowing only 2 runs. He recorded 19 strikeouts in 7 games throughout the season. Early also had a historic MLB debut last September, when he struck out 11 batters of the Athletics in 5 innings. In 4 games last season, he gained 29 strikeouts with a 2.22 ERA.

Given their pitching skills, the Red Sox would be losing two potential big names if they traded them.

But that doesn’t mean there’s no upside, at all!

The Boston Red Sox recently acquired Willson Contreras from the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Hunter Dobbins, Blake Aita, and Yhoiker Farajho. They upgraded their first base with a defensive player.

Last June, his confident demeanor helped him to turn a 95.9 mph four-seam fastball from Jeff Hoffman into a 432-foot home run to center field with an exit velocity of 110.7 mph. High-fiving with his mates, Contreras marked the 8th home run of the season. In 135 games, he recorded 20 homers and 80 RBIs.

Besides Contreras, the Red Sox also added significant pitchers like Sonny Gray, Johan Oviedo, Ranger Suarez, and prospect Jake Bennett.  Last June, Gray showed his dominant pitching skills by striking out 11 Cleveland Guardians batters with an 89-pitch shutout, while allowing only 1 run. In 32 games last season, he recorded 201 strikeouts and a 4.28 ERA. As for Johan Oviedo, he struck out seven batters of the Cincinnati Reds over 4 2/3 innings as the starting pitcher for the Pirates last September. Despite playing only 9 games last season, he achieved 42 strikeouts alongside a 3.57 ERA.

Plus, Ranger Suarez, the Red Sox’s latest member (5-year $130 million deal), is also coming off an impressive last season.

He shut down the New York Mets with a career-high 12 strikeouts in six scoreless innings last September. He ended the season with 151 strikeouts and a 3.20 ERA in 26 games.

Despite still being in the minor league, Jake Bennett doesn’t seem to be any less of a pitcher than Gray and Oviedo.

He delivered 5 hitless innings for the Scottsdale Scorpions against the Peoria Javelinas last October. Bennett recorded 25 strikeouts in 5 games with a 4.50 ERA. Now, he will look to continue his impressive pitching skills once he gets called up to the majors.

However, the Boston Red Sox lineup seems a little unbalanced.

They have more outfielders like Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, Roman Anthony, and Cedanne Rafaela. But they have fewer infielders (of course, after losing Bregman and Bichette), like David Hamilton, Romy Gonzalez, and Nick Sogard. Unless the Red Sox get more infielders, this unbalanced lineup might harm their contending chances.

They may look to trade for Ketel Marte for their infield.

Gaining Marte will help the team get a power hitter. Last June, he casually homered multiple times against Spencer Strider of the Atlanta Braves. His first home run was in the 1st inning, followed by another two-run homer in the 3rd inning, helping the Diamondbacks beat the Braves 8-3. Marte ended his season with 28 home runs and 72 RBIs in 126 games.

All that said, we cannot help but think of their one mistake of not signing Eugenio Suarez for the infield.

The Boston Red Sox missed out on Eugenio Suarez

The Boston Red Sox have made a crucial mistake this season by not signing Eugenio Suarez. Lauren Campbell of MassLive has reported that the team did not even make a former offer to Suarez.

Eugenio Suarez joining the Boston Red Sox could have added an impressive power hitter.

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Last April, he hit an 83.8 mph splitter from Mark Leiter Jr. of the Athletics into a 376-foot go-ahead grand slam over the left-field wall with an exit velocity of 109.2 mph during the 8th inning. In 159 games, he recorded 49 home runs and 118 RBIs.

With the Boston Red Sox, Suarez could’ve gotten along at third base alongside Marcelo Mayer, Nick Sogard, and Nate Eaton.

But now that he’s gone, it will be interesting to watch how Boston spends the remainder of the offseason. Upgrades and additions are required, at least if they don’t want to end up #4 in their division! What’s your prediction, though?