Red Sox’s Next Move After Ranger Suarez Deal Likely Won’t Be All-Star Infielder

Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow isn’t one to rest on his laurels. So that makes what he had to say during the press conference to introduce newly-signed pitcher Ranger Suarez so interesting.

Masslive.com’s Christopher Smith reported “The Red Sox are still looking to add an infielder. How much of a priority is getting one who plays plus defense, especially with the pitching staff that the front office has put together?”

“Defense is a significant contributor to run prevention. Right. We tend to get caught up in the pitching side of this. But there are other key components as well,” Breslow said, according to Smith.

“Deep defense being the most obvious. And so it’s really important that we improve our defense, particularly our infield defense. You know, I would argue we have the best defensive outfield in baseball, but we led the league in errors last year and, you know, our out conversion needs to be improved.

“I think there are some things that we’ve already started to do internally to reprioritize that, but also, you know, any additions that we may make, we’ll be very mindful of the. The defensive skill set,” Breslow added, per Smith.

Well, we know that person won’t be former Red Sox infielder Yoan Moncada, who is returning to the Los Angeles Angels on a one-year, $4 million contract.

Could the mystery infielder be Eugenio Suarez? He is the biggest bat still on the free-agent market after tying his career high last season with 49 home runs.

Problem is, the Red Sox aren’t alone in shopping for infield help.

“With (Nolan) Arenado out of the picture, the A’s currently intend to use Max Muncy at third base, with Brett Harris and Darell Hernaiz also in the mix. They possibly could pursue a free agent such as Eugenio Suárez,” The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported Tuesday.

But wait, there’s more from Rosenthal.

“The Pirates bolstered their offense by signing free-agent first baseman Ryan O’Hearn and adding second baseman Brandon Lowe and others in trades,” Rosenthal noted.

“They still could land a free agent such as Suárez to play third base. But Suárez, like others the Pirates have pursued on the open market, might prefer to sign with a team more likely to contend,” Rosenthal added.

“Suárez is the biggest bat left on the market, and the Pirates, Tigers and Reds would all make sense as they look to add some pop to their respective lineups,” MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports.

“A return to Seattle would also be a natural fit for Suárez, though the team that could now make a push for him is the Red Sox, who lost Alex Bregman and missed out on Bo Bichette, leaving a hole in the infield. Suárez could play third base, shifting Marcelo Mayer back to second base,” Feinsand adds.

However any team signing the 34-year-old Suarez knows he has holes in his game. The two-time All-Star hit just .228 last season with 196 strikeouts, so he’s not exactly the ideal candidate.

In addition, Suarez isn’t exactly the game’s best fielder at the hot corner. He led the majors in errors at third base in 2016, committing 23 for the Cincinnati Reds. Suarez led the National League in errors at third base again in 2018 (19) and 2019 (17).

Will Suarez’s power potential be enough for Breslow to overlook the fielding deficiencies? Or will the Red Sox look elsewhere, perhaps to the St. Louis Cardinals for All-Star infielder Brendan Donovan?

We should have our answer within a matter of weeks, with pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training on Feb. 10.