To date, the few free agents to sign so far this offseason didn't impact the Red Sox much. Of the handful of starters and relievers who've changed teams, none was connected to the Red Sox.
That may have changed Monday with the news that veteran slugger Jose Abreu had agreed to a three-year deal with the Houston Astros worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $60 million.
It's unclear whether Abreu was ever on the Red Sox' radar, but if he wasn't, he should have been. Abreu has been one of the game's top run producers for a number of seasons and would have made sense as someone to mostly fill the DH role while also providing insurance at first base behind Triston Casas.
The Sox currently have Eric Hosmer as a fallback option for Casas, but he, like Casas, is lefthanded. And his production has been nowhere near that of Abreu, who in nine big league seasons since immigrating from Cuba, has an OPS+ of 134. Since 2014, when he made his debut, Abreu is second in MLB in RBI with 863. He was the AL MVP in 2020.
Abreu will join the defending world champions and replace Yuli Gurriel, a fellow Cuban, as the Astros' primary first baseman. He'll join a lineup that is already one of the strongest in either league. The AAV of $20 million was higher than expected for someone who is 36, as was the length of the deal.
The Red Sox have shown little interest in retaining J.D. Martinez, who is also a free agent. Martinez served as the team's primary DH since 2018 and proved to be a good signing. But his 2022 season was his worst full-season in almost a decade, and at 35, there was a feeling that Martinez's bat was beginning to slow.
Internally, beyond the potential of Hosmer serving there, the Sox don't have any viable DH candidates. Bobby Dalbec has shown flashes of power, but has been nowhere near consistent enough to claim the role full-time.
On the current market, a couple of other options exist for the Red Sox, including Josh Bell and Trey Mancini.
It's also possible the Sox could follow an industry-wise trend and rotate a number of position players through the DH spot, providing the opportunity to get a few veteran position players some occasional time off from playing in the field.
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The Red Sox have yet to make the news public or official, but Ramon Vazquez is their choice to serve as bench coach for 2023.
The team had a vacancy on the staff after Will Venable, who served as bench coach in 2022, left to become associate manager with the Texas Rangers.
Vazquez is close with manager Alex Cora and the two have a strong working relationship. Vazquez had been managing in winter ball in his native Puerto Rico and has managed in both winter ball and in the minor leagues.
Cora has identified Vazquez as a potential future major league manager. As a bench coach, Vazquez will help Cora with in-game strategy, serve as Cora's liason with the players and also be in charge of running spring training. It will be Vazquez's job to plan drills and areas of emphasis when spring training gets underway in February.
Vazquez's promotion, which is expected to be announced sometime this week, will create an opening for a new first base coach. The Sox could either promote someone from the current staff. Major league field coordinator Andy Fox, who spent all of last year with the major league staff, would seem to be obvious candidate.
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Mancini was named the winner of the 2021 Tony Conigliaro Award by the Red Sox, with Jose Cuas of the Kansas City Royals was named the recipient for 2022. (The Red Sox delayed the 2021 award because of the pandemic). The award is given annually by the Red Sox to the "major leaguer who has overcome adversity through the attributes of spirit, determination and courage that were trademarks of (Conigliaro).''
Mancini overcame colon cancer in 2020 to return to the Orioles in 2021 and was named American League Comeback Player of the Year. In 2022, he began the year with Baltimore before being traded to Houston as the deadline.
Cuas was drafted as an infielder by the Brewers before converting to pitching in 2018. Released by the Brewers, he hooked on with an independent league team before a stint with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He finally reached the big leagues in 2022 with Kansas City and went 4-2 with a 3.58 ERA in 47 appearances.