The Boston Red Sox certainly seem destined to end up with a bat in free agency.
But who? The list of rumors already has included Pete Alonso, Bo Bichette, Kyle Schwarber, Alex Bregman and J.T. Realmuto.
That's essentially all the top-tier hitters available aside from the priciest, Kyle Tucker.
MLB.com's Thomas Harrigan broke down how things look among all these players in a new article this weekend.
"The Red Sox haven’t ruled out a reunion with Bregman, and they’ve also been linked to Kyle Schwarber, Bo Bichette and J.T. Realmuto in free agency," Harrigan writes. "But for a team that needs home run pop, is looking for a right-handed hitter and hasn’t been able to figure out first base for a while, Alonso appears to be the perfect fit."
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The Red Sox being consistently linked to Alonso does raise the question of what happens eventually with first baseman Triston Casas, who will be coming back from a long injury absence.
But if you can get a proven slugger like Alonso, you figure out the pieces around him.
Alonso could also slot into the DH spot, which Rafael Devers was supposed to occupy before he was traded to the San Francisco Giants.
There are a lot of teams after all the players that the Red Sox are after, which will make things potentially more complicated. But it could also simplify if a few others sign elsewhere and just leave one obvious remaining target for Boston to make sure it signs.
Harrigan thinks Alonso is the answer. That does seem to be the most common link here, so maybe that indeed will end up being what happens.
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