After a disappointing finish to the 2025 season that saw the Boston Red Sox eliminated in three games by the New York Yankees in the Wild Card round, Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow set off on his offseason with two clear goals: find a frontline starter to pair with 2025 Cy Young Award runner-up Garrett Crochet and replace the power left behind by the deal that sent designated hitter Rafael Devers to San Francisco. 

Breslow unequivocally accomplished his first task, landing a pair of veteran pitchers in Sonny Gray, who will almost certainly finish top five in American League Cy Young voting, in a trade with St. Louis and All-Star lefty Ranger Suarez, who signed a five-year, $130-million deal with Boston in free agency. 

However, it was an underwhelming offseason on the offensive side of things. After striking out on the two biggest power bats on the open market, Pete Alonso and Kyle Schwarber, Breslow did well to add key contributors like Willson Contreras and Caleb Durbin, though neither packs the same 35+ home-run punch as Devers, Alonso, or Schwarber. 

Throughout the offseason, it was reported that Boston never made a legitimate offer to Schwarber, who became a cult hero in Boston thanks to his 2021 playoff run with the team. They reportedly lowballed Alonso, who signed a five-year, $155-million deal with the Baltimore Orioles, with a three-year, $85-million offer.

However, on the most recent episode of the ‘Baseball Is Dead’ podcast, Jared Carrabis discussed the Red Sox' pursuit of Alonso, pushing back on the notion that Boston was never close to landing the slugger. “This doesn’t get reported nearly enough, but the Red Sox were close,” Carrabis said. “I don’t know what the final offer was, but the Red Sox were close,” he continued. 

Alonso would have been a match made in heaven for a Boston lineup that enters play on Friday with the seventh-fewest home runs in the sport (158). The 31-year-old has hit 37 home runs with 102 RBI while posting a slash line of .267/.361/.503/.864 in 153 games for a division rival. 

A report that Boston was “close” to landing the power bat they desperately need does little for either the current roster or fans nearly a year removed from negotiations. It adds context to an offseason where both Breslow and Red Sox ownership were criticized for how they operated as a big-market team, and it may also offer insight into how they’ll approach the upcoming offseason, in whatever form it takes amid the ongoing labor dispute. 

The Red Sox still have nine games remaining in the regular season, along with what they hope will be a deep postseason run, before turning their attention to the offseason. 

After Thursday night's miraculous come-from-behind win over the Texas Rangers, the Red Sox will enter the final road series of the regular season against the Tampa Bay Rays with a magic number of three. Ranger Suarez (7-4, 3.33 ERA) will get the start for Boston in Friday's series opener opposite Ian Seymour (9-6, 4.27 ERA) for Tampa Bay. First pitch from Tropicana Field is set for 7:10 p.m. ET.