There are just a few weeks left to go in the 2026 postseason and then everything will be completely up in the air across Major League Baseball.
For the Boston Red Sox, they have some work to do if they want to be among the top American League contenders in 2026. Boston has the talent to do so, but it needs to add a few more pieces, like a potential starting pitcher and designated hitter. That’s going to be difficult enough, but the looming lockout will only add to the difficulty. The collective bargaining agreement will expire in December, while likely will shut things down for a bit, at least.
It’s going to be a tricky offseason, to say the least, but Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has shown he isn’t afraid to be aggressive. Despite the difficulties of the CBA, expect to see Boston make some moves. The Red Sox clearly have work to do after being knocked out by the New York Yankees for the second straight year in the American League wild-card series.
Here are three predictions for the offseason.
Adley Rutschman Signs An Extension To Stay In Boston
While this wouldn’t be some sort of massive splash in free agency, it would essentially act like that. Rutschman has just one year of team control left. He’ll be a free agent after the 2027 season if he doesn’t ink a new contract. When asked about the All-Star backstop’s future, Breslow didn’t go into detail and acknowledged that the conversations would be between him, Rutschman and his representatives. MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo reported that there is a “bullish organizational belief” that Rutschman will be closer to a 4-5 WAR player, rather than a 2-3 WAR player.
Boston paid a pretty penny to bring him to town because the organization obviously views him highly. There’s money coming off the books after the 2027 season and the free agent class this year is fairly weak, for the most part. Investing in Rutschman now would lock up another star for years to come and the timing makes a lot of sense.
Red Sox Lose Sonny Gray
Gray was awesome in 2026, but he has a big mutual option and is likely to hit free agency. If the money works, it would make a lot of sense to bring Gray back. But he should cash in. With a handful of rotation options already and more getting healthier, like Tanner Houck and Kutter Crawford, there’s a real chance the money doesn’t align in the end.
Boston Trades Jarren Duran, Adds A DH
Duran has been talked about as a trade chip for years at this point. If the Red Sox are confident in Roman Anthony later in the offseason, no player would make more sense as a trade chip than Duran. If the Red Sox were to flip him in a package, it would open up the DH spot. Boston could simply roll with Anthony, Wilyer Abreu and Ceddanne Rafaela in the outfield with Eli White as the fourth outfielder and go out and make a splash to add more at DH.
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