Red Sox
“I have certainly made a pitch all over the place for him to come to Boston.”
Walker Buehler has only been a Red Sox for about a week, but he’s already taken on the role of recruiter for Boston.
During his virtual introductory press conference on Friday, he told reporters that he’s ‘made a pitch’ to his friend and free agent third baseman Alex Bregman to play together on the Red Sox.
“I have certainly made a pitch all over the place for him to come to Boston,” Buehler said. “He and I have been buddies for a long time. We played on Team USA together, a little bit in college.”
The pair also own a horse together, Buehler explained, named March of Time. The horse recently won a race at San Anita Park in California.
Bregman has been linked to the Red Sox this offseason. Most recently, The Athletic‘s Ken Rosenthal said on Thursday that he envisions Boston signing Bregman, but it’s a guess.
The club has been public about its pursuit of a right-handed bat to help balance out its lefty-heavy lineup. The 30-year-old Bregman, a two-time World Series champion with the Astros, would make sense in Boston as its roster currently stands.
Although he’s historically a third baseman, it’s been reported that Bregman would be open to playing second base. But if he were to play third base for the Red Sox, the team’s current 3B, Rafael Devers, would have to move positions.
However, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said last month that Boston is committed to Devers playing third.
If Bregman were to play second base for the Red Sox, though, that would presumably keep Devers at third and finally solidify 2B for Boston, a position that essentially hasn’t had a set starter since Dustin Pedroia.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora heaped praise on Bregman at last month’s Winter Meetings, insinuating that he wants his club to land the player.
“Alex is a good player, man. He’s a complete player,” Cora said. “He’s been on winning teams his whole career. Good defender. Offensively, he’s really good. He’s a guy a lot of people are talking about. I do believe he can impact a big league team, a championship-caliber team. He’s that type of player.”
However, MassLive’s Sean McAdam reported last month that while Cora and team president Sam Kennedy were in the camp of signing Bregman, Breslow and other executives were hesitant.
Whether Boston’s brass will agree to add Bregman or not remains to be seen. The player remains one of the few premier free agents left on the market. It doesn’t appear that a reunion in Houston is on the table, and that he could end up deciding on either the Red Sox or the Tigers.
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