The Red Sox added Isiah Kiner-Falefa to their infield group last night on a one-year deal, and they’ve also been poking around the market for right-handed hitting outfielders, per Katie Woo and Will Sammon of The Athletic. Colleague Jen McCaffrey writes in a separate piece that the Red Sox are interested in someone to fill a role similar to the one held by Rob Refsnyder (who signed with the Mariners in free agency) in recent seasons.
The free agent market has been largely picked over but still has some options that could fit the bill. Randal Grichuk, Austin Slater, Mark Canha, Connor Joe and old friends Hunter Renfroe and Tommy Pham all remain unsigned. Some from that group could probably be had on a minor league deal with a spring training invite. The trade market generally isn’t bursting with names this time of year, though Houston’s Jake Meyers has reportedly been available for much of the offseason and there are some obvious salary dump candidates (Tyler O’Neill, Nick Castellanos) if the Red Sox want to just pay a bit of cash without giving up much of anything in the way of prospects.
Ceddanne Rafaela is Boston’s only righty-swinging outfielder. He’ll be in the outfield every day, given that he’s arguably the game’s best defender there, but he doesn’t offer huge production at the plate. The rest of the Red Sox’ outfielders — Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, Masataka Yoshida — hit from the left side of the plate. The Sox have suggested Abreu might get more run against lefties this year, but he’s a career .205/.271/.318 hitter in left-on-left matchups. Yoshida is a .237/.310/.340 hitter against southpaws. Duran held his own against lefties in 2023-24 but fell off again in 2025 and now sits on a lifetime .232/.284/.336 line against them. Anthony hit well against pitchers of either handedness in his debut last year but was better against righties.
Beyond the more obvious names listed above, spring training is sure to present plenty of outfield options for Boston to consider, whether it be via a waiver claim or small trade for a player who’s been designated for assignment or a veteran who signed a minor league deal elsewhere but returns to the market after not making his club’s roster. Chas McCormick, Dylan Moore and Stuart Fairchild are among the veteran righty-swinging outfielders who’ll be in camp with other teams this spring.
It’s not clear just how much more budget space Red Sox ownership is giving chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and his staff. RosterResource’s projections have the Sox about $20MM over the tax threshold. Any subsequent additions will thus be taxed at a 42% clip.
