Donovan, 29 next month, is among the most talked about trade candidates in baseball this winter. Not only is Donovan a capable defender all over the infield and outfield, but he also has a career 119 wRC+ and has delivered 6.0 fWAR (5.3 bWAR) in just 271 games over the past two seasons. As a left-handed hitter, Donovan wouldn’t be as effective at balancing a heavily left-handed Red Sox lineup as the right-handed Bregman, Bichette and Paredes (or even the switch-hitting Marte), but he does come with two years of affordable team control.
Chaim Bloom, the Cardinals’ new president of baseball operations, is certainly familiar with Boston’s farm system at this point, both because of the trades involving Contreras and Sonny Gray earlier this season and because of the years he spent as chief baseball officer for the Red Sox prior to Craig Breslow’s tenure at the helm. It is notable that competition for Donovan’s services is fierce. Seattle and San Francisco were previously reported as frontrunners for the utilities earlier this month, while the Royals, Guardians, Astros and Pirates are among the other teams tied to Donovan.
10:26 am: It has long been known that the Red Sox were looking for a right-handed bat to add to their infield mix, and they found one when they made a trade with the Cardinals to Willson Contreras. Contreras wants to settle into an everyday role at the club between first base and DH, but even with the veteran slugger in the fold Alex Speier of the Boston Globe notes that the Red Sox remain in the market for another big bat for their infield. Speier specifically highlights four potential targets for the Red Sox: free agents Alex Bregman And Bo BichetteAstros third baseman Isaac Paredesand Diamondbacks second baseman Kettle Marte. While Speier acknowledges that alternatives to that group exist, both in the open sector and on the trade market, these four names appear to be the focus of Boston’s efforts at the moment.
The specific names themselves aren’t exactly new information. Bregman was, of course, an impact player for the Red Sox this past season after signing a three-year, opt-out deal with the club last offseason. After slashing .273/.360/.462 through 114 games and earning his third career All-Star appearance, Bregman opted out of the final two years of that deal and returned to free agency. A reunion with Boston has long seemed like the obvious choice for Bregman, and the team’s interest in a reunion is well established. That said, the Red Sox are known to be hesitant about offering long-term deals in free agency; Bregman’s three-year pact with the Red Sox last year was the longest free agent contract Craig Breslow has handed out during his tenure as Chief Baseball Officer. Now that it’s known that Bregman is looking for a longer-term deal this winter, it’s unclear whether the Red Sox would be willing to break with their established preference for shorter-term contracts to sign Bregman to a five- or six-year deal that could take him into his age-36 or age-37 campaign.
As for Bichette, the Red Sox reportedly held a video meeting with him earlier this month. Bichette is the best infielder available in free agency this winter, coming off a season in which he slashed .311/.357/.483 for the Blue Jays in 139 games. Bichette isn’t as positionally suited for the Red Sox as Bregman would be. A reunion with Bregman would make this possible Trevor story And Marcelo Mayer to remain at their current positions in center, while Bichette is a shortstop who has shown a willingness to play second base but may not feel the same way about the hot corner. That said, most of Mayer’s time in the Majors last year came at third while Bregman was injured. Perhaps Bichette could be a better addition to Bregman. While he would need a contract as long as (or maybe even longer than) Bregman, Bichette is four years younger than Bregman. As a result, even an eight-year contract for Bichette wouldn’t carry as many years of expected decline as a five-year contract for Bregman.
As far as the trade market goes, Marte has matched the Cardinals utility man Brendan Donovan as the most popular name available on the market this winter. While the Diamondbacks have made it clear they are not actively shopping Marte and expect to retain their second baseman, the three-time All-Star has slashed .288/.374/.539 over the past two seasons with a wRC+ of 149, 10.9 fWAR and 11.2 bWAR in 262 games. That’s the kind of production that forces teams to check a player if there’s a chance he could be available, and the Red Sox are among the teams doing it this offseason. Marte would be on Boston’s books until the end of his age-37 campaign if acquired, although that deal’s $102.5 million guaranteed is very affordable compared to the going rate for star players.
Perhaps the biggest obstacle to the Marte acquisition is the acquisition costs; while the Red Sox are known to be open to trading from their controllable pitching depth, which free agents trade for Merrill Kelly And Michael Soroka have helped fill out the Diamondbacks’ rotation so well that the team may prefer to bring back some positional talent to fill the void left by Marte’s departure. Trading an elite prospect talent like Mayer or Kristian Campbell would be a tough pill to swallow for the Red Sox, especially if it comes with a controllable rotational arm Connelly asked or Payton Tolle.
That could make another player in the trading market more attractive. While Paredes isn’t a star on the level of Marte, Bichette or even Bregman, he would still make an impact on Boston’s infield. The 26-year-old slashed .254/.352/.458 (128 wRC+) in 102 games for the Astros last year and has slashed .239/.341/.442 (124 wRC+) since the start of the 2022 campaign. Paredes offers a consistent, bat-first profile at third base, which should be attractive to the Red Sox, especially given the slugger’s relative affordability. Paredes is scheduled to make his penultimate trip through arbitration this season, and with two years of affordable team control in the age-27 and age-28 seasons, the Red Sox don’t need to commit to him long-term or be on the hook for the years beyond his prime.
As for his availability, Houston GM Dana Brown has publicly suggested the team has no desire to trade Paredes, but he has still attracted interest from the Red Sox. The presence of is striking Carlos Correa And Christian Walker on the infield corners (not to mention Jordan Alvarez at DH) limits Paredes’ ability to play in Houston, which could make a trade more feasible. The Astros have already been brought in Mike Burrows to help fill out their rotation, but could certainly benefit from additional young pitching, which the Red Sox are more than capable of. Previous reports have indicated that Early and Tolle are both players the Astros are interested in, and moving one of those arms out as the centerpiece of a Paredes deal could make a lot of sense.
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