With a brutal loss in the Wild Card series after leading 1-0, the Sox have to do some serious reflection, and face some issues this offseason. They need to make sure they have a team next year that can make a deeper run into the postseason, with a better chance to make the World Series.
Here are three things the Red Sox must do in order to be considered contenders for 2026:
Re-sign Alex Bregman
This should be the Sox’s priority this offseason. He’s been invaluable to the team, and is one of the biggest reasons they even made the playoffs. He’s key to the young core’s development, and the Sox need to try every and any way to keep him.
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Trade for Minnesota Twins ace Joe Ryan using outfield depth
Ryan was the biggest name at the deadline the Sox failed to get. The news surrounding the two parties was so chaotic that major outlets were reporting that he was indeed on his way to Boston, which turned out not to be true.
Now is a chance to fix that. The Sox have four quality outfielders that they can use to headline a trade, with Jarren Duran probably being the most likely to go. He’s not in the same timeline as the others, and could help the Twins jumpstart their rebuild.
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Sign New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso
The final thing the Sox need to do is get another consistent righty bat in the lineup. Pete Alonso is the top first baseman on the market, and he’s also a righty who consistently hits near 40 homers a season.
With the Triston Casas experiment pretty much a failure, the Sox need to go out and get Alonso. Then they can use Casas as a backup, or find a suitor for him.
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