If the Red Sox want to make a real leap in 2027, the cleanest path might be the simplest one: add another middle-of-the-order bat.
Boston’s roster doesn’t have many obvious holes to patch this winter, even after the noise that followed the early playoff exit against the New York Yankees. The bigger issue is power, and the easiest place to find it would be at designated hitter.
With the roster built the way it is, that role is likely to be occupied by one of the outfielders, probably Jarren Duran or Roman Anthony. If the Red Sox moved Duran in an offseason trade and brought in a major bat, the entire look of the lineup would change.
That’s why Bryce Harper keeps coming up as the dream fit.
The Philadelphia Phillies star has already generated some buzz this offseason, though there’s no indication that a move is likely right now. Harper has a no-trade clause, and it’s not even clear the Phillies would put him on the market.
Even if they did, the biggest question would be whether Harper would agree to go. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal made clear that getting him to waive the clause would not be easy.
"For Harper to join, say, the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox or in a long shot, the Athletics, who will play one more season in West Sacramento before moving to his hometown of Las Vegas in 2028, he likely would require a contract extension," Rosenthal wrote. "Interested teams could view Harper as either a first baseman or right fielder."
Harper has five years left on the 13-year, $330 million deal he signed. He’ll make just over $27 million in each of the next two seasons, then just over $23 million in each of the following three years through the 2031 campaign. He’s 34 now and will be 38 during that final season, which means any new extension would almost certainly carry him beyond his age-38 year.
On paper, the current deal is a bargain. Plenty of players around the league are making more than $30 million per season, and Harper remains a star while taking in less than $30 million over the next five years. But if a team is serious about convincing him to move, an extension would likely have to carry into at least his age-40 season.
That’s the gamble. Harper is still the kind of player who can change a lineup overnight, and if the Phillies were willing to listen and he needed an extension, he’d be worth the call.
The long-term shape of the contract might not hold up perfectly, but right now he looks like the missing piece. And if that missing piece helped bring Boston a few championships, the math would look a lot different.
In Other News...
Former Red Sox Are Suddenly At The Center Of This World Series
A World Series with no familiar champion has also turned into a reunion of sorts for Red Sox followers. The Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays, both still chasing their first title, are carrying several former Boston players into the sports biggest stage, with names that once cycled through the Red Sox system now surfacing on rosters that have made October a little more interesting from New Englands perspective.
Among the former Red Sox in the mix are Kyle Harrison, Shane Drohan, David Hamilton, Dustin May and Cam Booser, each arriving there by a different path and with a different role in the postseason. Some have already made real contributions in October, while others have seen more limited action, but the common thread is clear enough for Boston fans: a series that should be about two long-suffering franchises has unexpectedly put a handful of ex-Red Sox right at the center of it. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox May Have A Cost Problem In This Free Agent Market
The early read on this winters free-agent class is that the top names could push the market into uncomfortable territory, and that is hardly ideal for a Red Sox club that may be shopping with a ceiling in mind. Tarik Skubal, Michael King, Sonny Gray and Randy Arozarena are among the players expected to draw real money, while the mix of talent is only getting deeper with free agents coming over from Nippon Professional Baseball.
For Boston, the concern is not just competition from other bidders, but timing. An impending lockout and the possibility of salary cap changes could force front offices to move faster than usual, which means any pursuit the Red Sox have in mind may not linger for long. In a market already shaping up to be expensive, patience could come with a price. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox Still Have One Winter Need They Can't Ignore
The Red Sox are entering the winter with a familiar kind of confidence, one built on back-to-back playoff trips after three straight Octobers at home. With most of the core expected to carry over into 2027, Boston does not look like a club in need of a full reset so much as one trying to sharpen the edges of a roster that already belongs in the postseason conversation. Curtis Mead is one possible addition to the mix, but the bigger picture is that the lineup could look a lot like last seasons when Opening Day arrives.
Still, one area keeps looming over the offseason plan: power. Bostons front office has to weigh the likely departure of Sonny Gray, along with free-agent decisions on Patrick Sandoval and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, while also sorting out where the next impact bat comes from. Whether it comes via free agency or a trade, the Red Sox seem to know the same thing every contender eventually does - a good roster can always use another source of thump, and that need has a way of becoming impossible to ignore once the market starts moving. [Read more 🡒]