One of the most exciting World Series ever played only concluded a week and a half ago, but the MLB offseason officially kicked into gear this week with the GM meetings taking place in Las Vegas.
While the GM meetings don’t lead to as much direct action as the winter meetings later in the offseason (Dec. 7 in Orlando this year), they are an obvious opportunity for executives and agents to begin the work that will shape rosters for the 2026 season and beyond.
And whenever people start talking, rumors are sure to follow.
With that, here’s what’s come out regarding the Red Sox this week out of Vegas.
Joe Ryan still makes sense as a trade target
This one’s not a rumor so much as it’s some informed speculation from ESPN’s Jeff Passan, who noted that the Red Sox “believed they were close to landing” Twins starting pitcher Joe Ryan at the deadline this year. As such, Passan tabbed Ryan as the perfect offseason move for the Red Sox to make.
“As long as Red Sox ownership keeps the financial clamps on chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, he’ll need to get creative in improving a Red Sox team that’s already quite good,” Passan wrote. “Revisiting what he missed at the deadline is the simplest way to do so.”
While nobody in Boston wants to hear about “financial clamps” being placed on Breslow, Ryan would be a wise addition for any team, whether they were on a spending spree or trying to be frugal.
A bit of a late bloomer, Ryan made his first All-Star team last season, finishing the year with a 3.42 ERA and 1.035 WHIP in 30 starts. He posted a 0.985 WHIP in 135 innings in 2024.
With two seasons left under team control, Ryan is the perfect candidate to receive a pre-free agency contract extension, much like how the Red Sox handled Garrett Crochet after acquiring him via trade last season.
Certainly, the prospect of having Crochet (signed through 2031), Brayan Bello (signed through 2029 with a 2030 option) and Ryan at the top of the rotation for years to come makes such an acquisition awfully enticing for the Boston front office.
According to The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey, the Red Sox were unwilling to part with either Jarren Duran or Wilyer Abreu at the deadline when they talked with Minnesota about Ryan. With four starting-caliber outfielders on the current roster (Duran, Abreu, Ceddanne Rafaela, Roman Anthony), there should be no such hold-up this time when engaging the Twins in trade talks for Ryan.
Red Sox an ‘interesting fit’ to trade for Freddy Peralta
The Milwaukee Brewers are coming off their best regular season ever, winning 97 games and a division crown in 2025. So they might not be supremely motivated to offload talent.
However … MLB Network’s Jon Morosi noted that the Brewers did trade away pitchers Corbin Burnes and Devin Williams when they were a year away from free agency, noting that listening to offers on free-agents-to-be is “in their DNA.”
With that in mind, Morosi singled out the Red Sox as a team that may come calling for Freddy Peralta.
“The Red Sox, when you think about Garrett Crochet, and you consider what they’ve been able to build there with the Red Sox being able to get back to the playoffs in 2025, they’re — I think — one starting pitcher away from making a real run at this,” Morosi said. “And we know they’ve got an excellent farm system. They even have some position players they could move from the major league club if they had to with Duran and Abreu. So I think that’s an interesting fit to watch going forward.”
Peralta, 29, is the same age as Joe Ryan (they were born one day apart) and is also coming off an All-Star season in 2025, when he went 17-6 with a 2.70 ERA and 1.075 WHIP, striking out 204 batters in 176.2 innings. Peralta previously made an All-Star team in 2021, when he posted a 2.81 ERA and 0.970 WHIP in a breakout season for Milwaukee.
If Breslow does have “the financial clamps” limiting him this offseason, Peralta may make the most sense as a Plan B for Boston. With one fewer year of team control and significantly more MLB experience, Peralta will be due a bigger payday than Ryan.
On the other hand, a lesser package could potentially land Peralta, which would at the very least provide a major boost to the rotation in the short term.
Breslow wants an impactful middle-of-the-lineup bat
Here’s a quote that might inspire some baseball fans in Boston to pull out their hair, smash their face off a table, and/or chew on a handful of broken glass (per The Boston Globe’s Tim Healey):
“There is just something about a bat in the middle of the lineup that forces another team to game plan against it that has a compounding effect on the rest of the roster. So we didn’t slug nearly as much as I think we can, or we will, and we’ll pursue opportunities to improve that.”
Using so many words to say “it’s helpful to have a power hitter in the middle of the lineup” is certainly verbose, but this isn’t a rant on Craig Breslow’s diction.
It is, however, a note that the Boston Red Sox did indeed have one of the best power bats in all of baseball in Rafael Devers but butchered their relationship with him so badly that they felt the need to trade him away last June. The Red Sox received a 20-year-old pitcher, an outfield prospect (subsequently traded), a bad relief pitcher and a potential back-of-the-rotation starter in return.
Unsurprisingly, the team didn’t slug nearly as much as Breslow thought they could.
As for who could fill that need?
Pete Alonso fits the bill, and could help fill the first base black hole that’s plagued the Red Sox since Mitch Moreland left following the 2019 season.
Kyle Schwarber was a fan favorite in Boston during his brief 2021 stint, but locking in on a designated hitter at top dollar for a roster that already has an extra outfielder and a DH that cannot play the field doesn’t seem like the likeliest path.
Free-agent shortstop Bo Bichette primarily batted leadoff for the AL-champion Blue Jays, but he did mash in his 40 starts in the cleanup spot, batting .372 with a 1.008 OPS. Even though Trevor Story opted in to his deal, he has already spent a year at second base with Boston and could do so again if the Red Sox opted to pursue Bichette.
But speaking of that Red Sox infield …
All quiet on the Alex Bregman front
If you’re looking for an update on Alex Bregman’s status, you’re out of luck.
After he opted out of his deal last week, not much at all has percolated in terms of teams that may pursue him in free agency. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel projected Bregman to land a five-year, $160 million deal, despite the fact that he’ll be 32 on Opening Day and missed significant time last year with a quad injury that never truly healed. (Bregman opted out of two years at $40 million per season.)
Much like last year, it would seem as though Bregman’s market may take a while to crystallize. And as he proved last spring, he’s willing to wait until the last minute to make up his mind.
Considering Breslow’s comment about the need for impactful middle-of-the-order bats, the Red Sox would seemingly be very interested in keeping Bregman in the fold. He batted .299 with a .938 OPS in 51 games before suffering the injury, hitting 17 doubles and 11 home runs with 35 RBIs. That dropped to a .250 average and .724 OPS in 63 games after returning from the injury.
Assuming the quad heals in the offseason, Bregman could be part of Boston’s solution in the middle of the order. The price, though, will likely have to drop significantly for that relationship to continue.
Morosi also offered up this potential wrinkle: Teams have expressed interest in moving Bichette to third.
If Bichette is open to a position change (the Red Sox learned last season that some players are not), and if Bichette actually wants to leave Toronto, the Red Sox could “replace” Bregman with the younger Bichette at a similar cost. For now, that looks like it would go in the “surprise” category of any potential offseason moves.
Royals eyeing Red Sox outfielders
The Royals have one of the best all-around players in baseball in Bobby Witt Jr. They also have an elite, young third baseman in Maikel Garcia.
After that, though, the lineup is lacking, so the team is reportedly looking to add to its outfield via trade. (Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger are free agents but are likely too expensive for Kansas City.) And according to Morosi — who’s full of all of the early-offseason information — the Red Sox are a potential partner.
While the Red Sox do have an abundance of outfielders, they also can only really afford to trade one of them away. As such, they’ll be selective when it comes to maximizing the return out of whoever it is they opt to send away. (The guess here: Jarren Duran.)
Morosi didn’t detail which players the Royals might be willing to part with, but the Red Sox’ priority in trading away an outfielder would most likely be in landing a frontline starter like Joe Ryan. Any potential Royals deal would likely be placed on the backburner for now.
Red Sox believe Jarren Duran needs ‘a fresh start’
Perhaps the most concrete evidence that Jarren Duran will be the odd man out of the outfield picture came from USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, who wrote that Duran is indeed on the trade block.
“The Red Sox believe that they need an upgrade over Duran, and that he needs a fresh start,” Nightengale wrote. “It would a huge surprise if he’s in Fort Myers, Fla., come spring training.”
Duran was an All-Star in 2024, leading the league in doubles (48) and triples (14) while posting an .834 OPS. He was named MVP of the All-Star Game and finished eighth in AL MVP voting. He understandably took a step backward in 2025, though was still a productive player with a .774 OPS and an AL-leading 13 triples.
At 29 years old, he’s still in his prime, thus making him an appealing addition for a team in need of a corner outfielder and a lefty bat. Yet with Rafaela (25 years old), Abreu (26) and Anthony (21) in Boston’s outfield, the team is fairly set for the future in the outfield without Duran.
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