3 priorities for the Red Sox entering the 2026 offseason

The 2026 Red Sox were a roller-coaster ride — with Boston reviving its season with a 32-5 surge in the summer and ultimately punching a ticket back to the postseason for the second year in a row.

But that optimism waned as the temperatures started to dip this fall, culminating in an embarrassing two-game sweep at the hands of the Yankees in the Wild Card round.

For all of the silver linings drawn from a 2025 campaign where the Red Sox returned to the postseason and a youth movement appeared to be underway, those positives might be in shorter supply this winter.

Beyond the looming threat of a seemingly inevitable lockout, the Red Sox have some serious questions to ask themselves when it comes to roster construction and how this team overcomes critical flaws that have thwarted two abbreviated playoff runs.

Here are three priorities for Craig Breslow and his staff this winter:

Add a power bat

Without question, this should be the top offseason objective for the Red Sox.

Ironically, it was the most pressing need last year as well — when Boston hit just .198 with six runs scored and a whopping 30 strikeouts over a three-game series against the Yankees during the 2025 Wild Card Series.

This year was even worse — with Boston outscored, 18-2, and outhit, 26-7, in what was an uncompetitive two-game set in the Bronx.

Dating back to last season’s Wild Card Series against New York, the Red Sox went 26.2 innings without scoring a run. Fittingly, that drought was snapped by a solo home run from Willson Contreras, with Boston’s only other run coming off a homer from Nick Sogard.

In a roster-building move that is seemingly validated every single fall, teams that boast several hitters with some pop at the plate can seemingly counter the elevated pitching — and slimmer margins — that are commonplace in the postseason.​

In playoff games and series where just one swing of the bat could end a season, eliminate a deficit, or spark a rally, the 2026 Red Sox didn’t feature many boppers.

Yes, injuries loomed large over potential impact bats like Roman Anthony and Curtis Mead. But Boston was at its best this year with a small-ball approach that doesn’t exactly lend itself to October baseball.

The Red Sox closed out the 2026 season ranking 23rd in baseball in runs scored (689) and 26th in home runs (163).

Trading for Contreras (27 home runs) might have at least covered for the offseason departure of Alex Bregman (28 home runs), but Boston didn’t actively replace the lost production found at the DH spot vacated by Rafael Devers — who eventually swatted 37 home runs and drove in 98 runs with the Giants.

Losing out to the Orioles in a bid to sign Pete Alonso now looks like a brutal miscalculation, given the veteran’s steady pop (43 home runs), production (115 RBI), and durability (161 games played).

Beyond hoping for a bounce-back year from Anthony and Mead, the Red Sox desperately need to add a power bat that can pepper the Green Monster and also push players further down the lineup in the resulting domino effect.

Unfortunately, there isn’t exactly a no-brainer option like a right-handed DH/1B in Alonso out on the open market this season.​

Boston could target someone like second baseman Brandon Lowe (35 home runs, 1.138 OPS at Fenway Park) or Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki (26 home runs, 86 RBI) in free agency, although both players are already 32 years old.

The Red Sox could try to swing a blockbuster trade for a franchise bat who is younger (CJ Abrams? Hunter Goodman?), but the Sox also siphoned off several trade chips from their farm system this summer when they dealt several pitchers to bring in Adley Rutschman from Baltimore.

Whatever the move is, the Red Sox do need to add some legit power to their lineup — rather than try to beat teams by way of a thousand paper cuts or bank on players with clear injury concerns.

Declutter the roster

One of the potential hindrances last year when it came to signing Alonso (at least, along with Contreras) was the fact that Boston already had a logjam of players on its roster, including multiple candidates at the DH position.

Since the days of David Ortiz, J.D. Martinez, and Kyle Schwarber, the Red Sox have utilized the DH position as more of a revolving door — or a convenient segment of the lineup where a spare outfielder or platoon bat can be placed.

Boston needs to get back to allocating that spot in the order for a legitimate impact bat — but that only becomes tangible if the Red Sox clear off some redundant or lackluster talent from this roster.

The return might be minimal — a painful result given that his value was seemingly sky-high just a few years ago — but Boston should trade away Jarren Duran after a disastrous year at the plate, while moving Trevor Story could also open the door to call up top prospect Franklin Arias.

Boston might have to eat a lot of money to either find a taker or outright DFA Masataka Yoshida. But Yoshida — a solid contact hitter — doesn’t move the needle at the DH spot, especially when it comes to power.

Find another proven starter 

The Red Sox seem to like what they have in their rotation moving forward with a healthy Garrett Crochet, Ranger Suarez, and a pair of promising youngsters in Payton Tolle and Jake Bennett.

But Boston should also steel itself against either regression from younger arms or the sting of the injury bug — with the presence of Sonny Gray (18-5, 2.72) bailing out a Red Sox team that should have been doomed with Crochet sidelined for most of the season.

For now, it seems unlikely that Gray will return to the Red Sox in 2027.

Beyond the potential scenario of the 36-year-old righty outright hanging up his spikes, Gray didn’t exactly end his tenure in Boston on a cheery note after getting pulled early in the Red Sox’ season-ending loss to the Yankees.

If Gray retires or opts to pitch elsewhere in 2027, Boston can ill afford to just run back the same rotation — not without adding another proven arm.

Smoothing over things with a legitimate Cy Young Award candidate like Gray should be the first order of business for Boston.

But if that doesn’t work, Boston needs to pivot to another top arm out on the free-agent market like New England product Michael King (12-10, 3.21 ERA) or Joe Ryan (7-10, 3.79 ERA) to give this rotation another stabilizing arm and bolster one of the top rotations in baseball.

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.