The Boston Red Sox have had a very busy offseason, adding talent all across the roster. But there are two positions that the Red Sox focused on and are looking to land massive upgrades at.
Craig Breslow and company made a flurry of trades to go with their blockbuster free-agent signing. Those moves have been for Johan Oviedo, Sonny Gray, Ranger Suarez, and Willson Contreras.
Thomas Harrigan of MLB.com noted that the Red Sox had two of MLB’s biggest upgrades. Boston upgraded two of the most important positions in baseball, getting major upgrades in the rotation and at first base this offseason.
Red Sox had two of MLB’s biggest positional upgrades at two key spots
Harrigan notes that the Red Sox make massive upgrades at first base and in the starting rotation. When looking at where those positions were last year and what they look like now, it’s not a major surprise that these are two of MLB’s biggest upgrades this offseason.
First, the upgrade at first base is a massive one. Triston Casas suffered an unfortunate season-ending injury in May, leading the Red Sox to trot out a shaky rotation of first basemen.
Rafael Devers wasn’t an option, although he would’ve been ideal. Instead, the Red Sox used Abraham Toro and late-season acquisition Nathaniel Lowe at first base following Casas’ injury.
But now, Contreras is the new first baseman after a big trade with the St. Louis Cardinals. He’s a great slugger, putting up a .791 OPS in 2025. Compared to the production at first base last year for Boston, Contreras will be a massive addition for the Red Sox this season.
Arguably, the bigger upgrade was in the rotation. Garrett Crochet is a great starter, but the offseason moves the Red Sox made to address the rotation have revamped the starters for 2026.
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Suarez on a $130 million deal, Gray in a trade with the Cardinals, and Oveido in a deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates have the new-look rotation 10-men deep.
Last year’s rotation of Crochet, Bryan Bello, and Lucas Giolito was the core three. But with Walker Buehler, Tanner Houck, and others making up the rest of the starts, the rotation was a red flag last year.
But now, the rotation has Crochet, Suarez, Gray, Oviedo, and Bello as the top-five starters. That doesn’t even include their great depth with Peyton Tolle, Connelly Early, Kutter Krawford, Patrick Sandoval, and Kyle Harrison.
Compared to their starting rotation and first-base room from 2025, the new-look Red Sox lineup and rotation are much improved, and in Harrigan’s opinion, they’re two of the biggest positional upgrades in all of Major League Baseball this offseason.
