Why Arizona’s willingness to spend could complicate Boston’s two biggest offseason goals
On Thursday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic shared a nugget in his latest that should catch the eye of Red Sox fans, despite this nugget being of the Arizona Diamondbacks variety:
“A scenario exists in which the Arizona Diamondbacks would both sign free-agent third baseman Alex Bregman and keep second baseman Ketel Marte. … Arizona owner Ken Kendrick routinely extends his payroll when he believes his team has a chance to win.
If you haven’t been paying attention, this piece of news for an NL West team has deep ties to the Boston offseason, as Bregman remains at the top of their wish list in free agency and Marte remains at the top of their wish list on the trade market.
While Rosenthal went on to say that this scenario is unlikely given Arizona’s need to rebuild their pitching staff (thus necessitating a Marte trade), that it’s even under consideration could be worst case scenario for Red Sox fans hoping to both re-sign their team leader as well as bring in an All-Star to shore up both their batting order and the middle infield.
Let’s break down why this reporting is so important for Boston.
The Alex Bregman Piece
We all know the story at this point - big free agent signing during spring training, was the reason Rafael Devers was asked to change positions, Devers’ pushback eventually led to him being dealt to the Giants, Bregman emerged as the unquestioned leader of the clubhouse, and despite missing a chunk of the season due to a quad injury was still among the best hitters in baseball at his position and was able to help deliver Boston’s first postseason berth since 2021. With all of that said, he still decided to opt out after his first season of a three-year deal, leaving $80 million on the table in search of a contract that will carry him to the end of his career.
While Boston has routinely been reported as being in the pole position for Bregman all hot stove season, recent rumors from prominent baseball podcaster Jared Carrabis have now raised doubt around the idea of the two-time World Series champion returning to the Red Sox to chase his third career ring.
“I don’t feel super great about Bregman coming back, but these things are always subject to change,” he wrote on X on Tuesday. “Bogaerts was pretty much a done deal to return until the Padres swooped in with a crazy offer. These situations are fluid. But, yeah. Doesn’t sound promising at the moment.”
Despite these whispers being floated by Carrabis, my gut tells me Bregman is back in Boston for 2026. With the team loudly swinging and missing on the likes of both Pete Alonso and Kyle Schwarber, there’s plenty of money to go around still. And if Boston shows up to Opening Day 2026 with Roman Anthony and Garrett Crochet as the only names worthy of the marquee, there might be paper bags over the heads of fans in the stands at Fenway Park.
I wish that was hyperbole - Red Sox fans are nuts.
They cannot miss here on Bregman. If they need to overpay, so be it. That’s how this whole thing works.
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The Ketel Marte Piece
As I just talked about above - if they don’t get Bregman and they don’t get anyone else, there will be a fan revolt.
But, for the purposes of this conversation, let’s say they have other plans in mind outside of Bregman.
In my personal opinion, the only way to add talent on the level of a Bregman-type, at this point, is through the trade market.
(because we all know they’re not going to pay for Kyle Tucker, so let’s operate as if he’s off the table)
As the days go by, there’s seemingly more and more smoke around Boston emerging as the front runner for Marte. Alex Speier of The Boston Globe wrote a long piece on Saturday talking about the merits of potentially moving Marcelo Mayer for Marte, and Mark Feinsand of MLB.com took to MLB Network on Tuesday to talk about why the Red Sox are the leaders in the clubhouse on the Marte market.
Those types of reports trickling out over the course of four days tell you something is cooking there.
It goes without saying that Marte is one of the best second basemen in all of baseball, slashing .283/.376/.517 with an .893 OPS, 28 home runs, 72 RBI, and 87 runs scored over 126 games in 2025, earning a Silver Slugger and his third career All-Star nod thanks to his all-around bat.
It might take moving either Payton Tolle or Connelly Early to get the deal done, but sometimes you have to give up talent to get talent.
Marte is now No. 1 on my list of guys I want Boston to bring in, and I have him in that spot instead of Bregman because to me, his return should be a foregone conclusion.
Sign Bregman, trade for Marte, and this team will be right back in the mix in 2026.
If Marte doesn’t work out, there’s still some talent lingering on the free agent market. A big power bat in Eugenio Suarez remains available, having just hit 49 bombs in 2025 for the Mariners and Diamondbacks. That’s production this lineup could desperately use after flaming out in the Bronx in early October. There’s also Kazuma Okamoto and Munetaka Murakami still lingering from Japan - both players have been connected to Boston, with both offering a ton of upside offensively.
The Red Sox cannot allow the Diamondbacks to come in and play spoiler here.
Be a big market bully, and get both players.
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Tom Carroll is a contributor for Roundtable, with boots-on-the-ground coverage of all things Boston sports. He's a senior digital content producer for WEEI.com, and a native of Lincoln, RI.