The Boston Red Sox offense delivered a disastrous performance in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, getting outscored 18-2 en route to a two-game sweep by the New York Yankees. After an anemic final month of the regular season, one thing is clear: the Red Sox must replace the power they traded away with Rafael Devers in 2025.

In the Red Sox's four World Series wins since 2000, they have consistently been among baseball's best offenses. In 2004, they ranked first in runs (949), fifth in home runs (222), first in OPS (.832), and first in WRC+ plus (114). In 2007, they were fourth in runs (867), 18th in home runs (166), third in OPS (.806), and second in wRC+ (109). The theme continues in 2013, when they led the league in runs (853), were sixth in home runs (178), first in OPS (.795), and first in wRC+ (114). Finally, the 2018 Red Sox were first in runs (876), ninth in home runs (208), first in OPS (.792), and fourth in wRC+ (111). 

Of course, for the first three World Series titles, Boston had Hall of Fame designated hitter David Ortiz in the lineup, and the 2018 team posted the best record in franchise history en route to a title. However, this trend isn't isolated to the Red Sox; over the last five years, each World Series-winning team (Dodgers, Rangers, Astros, Braves) ranked top 10 in those four categories. 

The idea that power wins you games in the playoffs isn't new, and Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow isn't unaware of it; it was among the first things he said at the 2025 GM Meetings. “I don’t want to get so anchored to this idea that the only way to score runs is home runs. We showed that isn’t the case. That said, a disproportionate number of runs in the postseason are scored via the home run, and that’s not something that we can ignore,” said Breslow.

The theory that runs are scored disproportionately via home runs played out in the Wild Card round against the Yankees, who scored nine of their 18 runs on home runs. The Red Sox themselves scored their only two runs of the series via a pair of solo home runs.   

Yet, heading into 2026, the Red Sox offense clearly was a bat short, and that proved to be the case throughout the regular season as they finished the year 23rd in runs (689), 26th in home runs (163), 19th in OPS (717), and 17th in wRC+ (99).

Unfortunately for Breslow and the Red Sox, a massive hole remains in the heart of the lineup where Devers once stood. In his first full season in San Francisco, the former Red Sox slugger hit .258/.340/.525/.865 with a career-high 37 home runs and 98 RBI on one of the worst teams in baseball. Adding Devers' home run total to Boston's would have vaulted them into the top 10 in baseball. Beyond providing a massive power boost to the Boston offense, Devers would also have stabilized the designated hitter spot, where the Red Sox got some of the worst production in baseball. 

Devers also has a strong track record of success in the postseason, where he's hit .303/.382/.573/.955 with eight home runs in 26 games, and against the Yankees, against whom he posted .269/.346/.527/.873 in 122 games. 

Regardless, Devers was traded, and he is not coming back. However, the team had to replace Devers' impact in the lineup, and ultimately they failed to do that. Willson Contreras had a career year in 2026, but he still profiles much more as a complementary piece to the guy in the lineup rather than being the guy himself. 

Plenty of power options were available in free agency ahead of the 2026 season, including Pete Alonso, Kyle Schwarber, and even Alex Bregman. However, ultimately Breslow showed little interest in Schwarber, lost a bidding war to the Baltimore Orioles for Alonso, and was unwilling to include a no-trade clause in contract negotiations to retain Bregman. Instead, pivoting to building the team around strong pitching and defense. 

Now that both pitching and defense are in place, Breslow needs to focus on adding power to the lineup because the overwhelming sample size shows that slugging leads to postseason success.