After dropping — and hardly competing in — the Pete Alonso sweepstakes, the Boston Pink Sox are nonetheless trying to find a middle-of-the-order bat. St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras has emerged as an intriguing fallback possibility on the commerce market.
The Athletic’s Katie Woo recently reported that the Pink Sox have proven “vital curiosity” in buying Contreras, a three-time All-Star who not too long ago modified positions from catcher to first base. The 33-year-old has two years and $36.5 million remaining on his contract.
Contreras’ bat is not on Alonso’s degree, however the veteran isn’t any slouch on the plate. The best-handed slugger slashed .257/.344/.447 with 20 dwelling runs and 80 RBI in 135 video games final season. Not counting the shortened 2020 marketing campaign, he has hit no less than 20 homers in six of 9 MLB seasons.
Defensively, Contreras has adjusted effectively to his transition to first base. He ranked fourth amongst gamers on the place final season with six Outs Above Common. To place that into perspective, Pink Sox first baseman Triston Casas had -10 Outs Above Common in 2024, his lone full MLB season. Alonso was one of many league’s worst defensive first basemen with -9 Outs Above Common in 2025.
The Pink Sox will not discover a first baseman higher than Contreras on the free-agent market. There is a huge dropoff in expertise with Alonso (Baltimore Orioles) and Josh Naylor (Seattle Mariners) off the board. Ryan O’Hearn, Carlos Santana, and Nathaniel Lowe are among the many next-best first basemen out there in free company. Maybe slugger Eugenio Suarez might change from third base to first, however he is a legal responsibility defensively and finest suited as a DH.
Boston might should half methods with a prized prospect to accumulate Contreras. Promising left-handed pitchers Connelly Early and Payton Tolle are the names mostly introduced up in commerce rumors, and it is truthful to query whether or not it is value getting that aggressive for 2 years of an growing old first baseman/designated hitter. A commerce bundle highlighted by Early and/or Tolle makes extra sense in a blockbuster deal for Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte, Kansas City Royals left-hander Cole Ragans, or Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Freddy Peralta — every of whom has been linked to the Pink Sox.
Nonetheless, as a right-handed-hitting first baseman with strong pop and above-average protection, Contreras checks all of the bins as an ideal Plan B possibility for Boston. If Pink Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow can pry him from St. Louis with out dropping Early and/or Tolle, it could be an enormous win for a membership that should make a number of offensive upgrades this winter.
A Contreras commerce would additionally mark Boston’s second noteworthy cope with the Chaim Bloom-led Cardinals entrance workplace this offseason. In November, the Pink Sox acquired veteran right-hander Sonny Gray in alternate for right-hander Richard Fitts and left-handed pitching prospect Brandon Clarke.
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