Boston Red Sox

Boston Red Sox

Good morning! Yet another infield option is off the board, as the Seattle Mariners acquired All-Star Brendan Donavan in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals yesterday. Perhaps you're still holding out hope for an Isaac Paredes deal, but it's looking increasingly likely that the Red Sox will head into Opening Day with Marcelo Mayer at third and a second base platoon of David Hamilton and Romy Gonzalez.

Nittoli is now on the 12th organization of a decade-long professional career. The 35-year-old righty has gotten to the major league level with five of those clubs. His career high in MLB appearances with one team is seven, as he threw eight innings for the Athletics in 2024. Nittoli has had cups of coffee with the Mariners, Phillies, Mets and Orioles as well. He has logged 18 2/3 major league innings, striking out 13 against five walks while allowing five runs.

The 30-year-old was a first-round pick out of the University of Virginia in 2016 by the Angels. He debuted for them in 2019, batting .211/.293/.422 with an 86 wRC+ and a .211 ISO in 164 plate appearances that year. Thaiss has continued to post mid-80s wRC+ values throughout his career. After not getting much playing time from 2020-22, he got an extended look in 2023, making 307 PA in 95 games for the Halos.

We are, as of today, January 29, 2026, 55 days away from Opening Day. It's a little early for countdowns, but in this weird period between building the team and heading to Spring Training, let's go ahead and do one anyway, taking a look at the Red Sox players who have worn number 55. 55 isn't the most popular uniform number but also isn't the least. Just 9 players for Boston have donned it versus 61 players for number 28, the most worn number.

Yes, the man that many Red Sox fans have been shipping out the door in imaginary trade scenarios all offseason is, according to MLB Network, the best left fielder in the game. Of course, the reason why so many fans are keen to ship him out is because of the guy that MLB has at number two on the list - not to mention a couple other guys who will end up on the center and right field lists to be published in a few days.

Guerrero returns to affiliated ball after spending the 2025 season in Japan. The hulking 6'8″ righty signed with the Chiba Lotte Marines last offseason. It was his second stint with the club, as Guerrero also pitched for the Marines back in 2022. His first stint went better than last year's, as he allowed a 6.41 ERA over 19 2/3 NPB innings. He spent the majority of the season with their minor league affiliate as a result.

Good morning! MLB Network just completed its annual exercise in ranking the top-100 players in Major League Baseball. You already know who number 1 is, and he doesn't play for the Red Sox. But Garrett Crochet does, and he led the way for the Sox by coming in as the 12th-best player in the game. Rounding out the rankings for the Sox were Roman Anthony (41), Jarren Duran (58), Ranger Suárez (79), and Aroldis Chapman (81).

Some of that can surely be attributed to age, as teams are often hesitant about how strikeout-heavy sluggers like Suarez will age as they enter their mid-thirties. A tough stretch run in Seattle where Suarez hit just .189/.255/.428 across 53 games following a midseason trade might also raise some eyebrows. Even so, the upside Suarez demonstrated last year is tremendous and could be a game changer for a lineup in need of a boost.

BOSTON (AP) - Left-hander Ranger Suárez and the Boston Red Sox finalized their $130 million, five-year contract on Wednesday. Suárez gets a $3 million signing bonus, payable within 30 days of the deal's approval by Major League Baseball, and salaries of $7 million this year, $15 million in 2027, $30 million in each of the following two seasons and $35 million in 2030. The deal includes a $35 million mutual option for 2031 with a $10 million buyout.

The Baseball Hall of Fame will have two new members in a few months, as Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones were officially elected yesterday. The two Red Sox legends on the ballot, Dustin Pedroia and Manny Ramirez, failed to hit the 75% vote threshold. Pedroia, though, is only in his second year on the ballot and saw his vote percentage jump from 11.9 to 20.7, which bodes well for his campaign going forward.

Good morning! Boston saw its first significant snow storm of 2026 yesterday, and it's well below freezing today. In other words, it very much does not feel like baseball season here. But baseball is being played all around the world, including in the Dominican, where a spot in the LIDOM championship series was decided by a walkoff walk: Game 1 of the championship series is on Wednesday and you can stream it on MLB.TV.

I mean, Drake's gotta hold on to the ball better going forward. Even against Jarrett Stidham, we can't afford to put the ball on the turf four or five times against a tough Denver defense on the road. I'm gonna need more help from the left side of the O-line, too-Will Campbell, I still believe in you, but come on dude. The defense has been hummin', though, and I can't imagine Stidham will play a 100% clean game. Go chase after him, make him poop his pants, and go win us a conference title.

Those efforts shouldn't be taken as a knock against Carlos Narvaez, who turned in an impressive 2025 season that earned him a sixth-place finish in AL Rookie of the Year voting thanks to a combination of league average offense at the plate and elite defense behind it. It seems likely that Narvaez would remain the primary catcher in Boston even if they were to find another backstop to bring into the mix.

"Roman Anthony ... is closer to No. 1 than Cody Bellinger and Byron Buxton," Greg Amsinger said upon the ranking reveal.

Bo Bichette agreed to a three-year, $126 million contract to join the Mets on Friday, according to multiple reports. The Red Sox had been linked to the former Blue Jays shortstop in recent weeks, with rumors about Boston potentially landing Bichette heating up in the aftermath of Alex Bregman's departure. But with Bichette off the board and Bregman now with the Cubs, the Red Sox' options to improve their infield are starting to become more and more limited.

Good morning! Kyle Tucker signed a massive free agent deal with the Dodgers last night. Don't waste your breath arguing that this is bad for baseball. It isn't. There is no evidence whatsoever that the Dodgers are causing fans to lose interest in the sport. In fact, the evidence suggests that they are increasing interest on both the national and international scale.

In his last scouting report for Baseball America, entering the 2022 season, Sweet's fastball sat at 92-94 MPH but his changeup was considered a plus-plus pitch, one that "dies late to get foolish swings and misses out front even when batters are looking for it." In fact, it was featured by BA as one of the best changeups in the minor leagues for prospects beyond the Top-100. If the nWo were still relevant, they'd call his changeup " Just too Sweet!"

Marc asks: Well, Tom Ricketts proved me wrong. I never thought he'd pony up for a high dollar FA again. So, what now? I see all the rumors about Nico Hoerner but I think the Edward Cabrera trade and Alex Bregman signing are "all in" moves and moving Hoerner would weaken them (I think). Is there another move you think they could/ should still make? I was surprised as well.

Brendan Donovan is a utility player (primarily second baseman) who plays for the St. Louis Cardinals. About to turn 29 on January 16, he was born in Germany while his father was stationed there, and grew up an Army brat, moving around. He's credited that upbringing for forging his team-first mentality, his desire to always do the right thing, and his willingness to work hard.

After making his MLB debut in the form of a single inning of work for the Rockies during the 2022 season, Davis has now played in each of the last four Major League seasons, albeit with not a ton more playing time than that initial cup-of-coffee appearance. Davis has 27 games and 62 1/3 innings under his belt, with a 9.53 ERA, 18.5% strikeout rate, and 9.2% walk rate.