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 suggestive the team would be better without him. However, as October rolled around, it became clear that these comments contained some obvious inaccuracies. The Red Sox were eliminated 1-2 by the New York Yankees in the wild card round.

For Boston, the time for reflection is over. Red Sox head baseball officer Craig Breslow has expressed his intention to find a mid-range bat.

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

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

Munetaka Murakami

Signed 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 triple batting crown in 2022 while hitting an NPB record 56 home runs.

Murakami hit .273/.379/.663 with 22 home runs this year in an injury-plagued season. Although he only played 56 matches, Murakami still put up some of Japan’s best numbers. Predicting how his talent will translate to the MLB may not be feasible, but his high strikeout rates, high on-base percentages and dazzling power should keep things interesting.

Pete Alonso

Unlike Murakami, Alonso’s strength has been proven in the MLB. This past season, the Polar Bear hit .272/.347/.524 with 38 home runs and 41 doubles in the NL with the Mets, posting the second-highest OPS of his career (.871). Combined 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. Furthermore, Alonso did not receive a qualifying bid, making him a prime target.

Cody Bellinger

As a lefty, Bellinger fit in well in the Bronx, hitting .272/.334/.480 with 29 home runs. But while his swing played well on the short porch at Yankee Stadium, left field was a graveyard for almost every ball he hit in the air. However, the Green Monster should negate many of its opposing problems. He loves every ball hit the air, Bellinger hit the opposite field 21.7 percent of the time and pulled the ball 24.7 percent of the time. He was also one of the most adept at limiting strikeouts, doing so 13.7 percent of the time.

Primarily an outfielder, Bellinger also plays first base, giving his team plenty of flexibility. As a plus defender, he recorded seven zeros above average last season.