The Boston Red Sox came to a surprising agreement on Wednesday with veteran utility player Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Signed to a one-year deal, 'IKF' spent the 2025 season with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Toronto Blue Jays, helping the latter advance to Game 7 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

His depth and versatility should help manager Alex Cora, especially against left-handed pitching, but it does leave questions about how the rest of the roster will shape up around him.

Let's dive in.

Now 30 years old, Kiner-Falefa is an eight-year veteran of the Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays and Pittsburgh Pirates.

He won a Gold Glove with the Rangers in the COVID-shortened 2020 season and can play all over the diamond.

A career .262 hitter, he has 36 home runs and 100 stolen bases. He has four seasons of double-digit steals and he has double-digit doubles in each season he's played in, outside of the COVID season.

Last season alone, he appeared in 95 games at shortstop, 32 at third base and 13 at second base. Over the course of his career, he's appeared in 450 games at shortstop, 234 at third base, 90 at second, 73 at catcher, 42 in center field, 37 left field and seven in right field.

He can platoon with Marcelo Mayer at third base against lefties or he can serve as a DH against lefties, or he could get some time in the outfield against lefties, giving Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu or Roman Anthony a day off.

He hit .227 with a .536 OPS against lefties in 2025, but he's a .251 hitter against southpaws for his career with a .643 OPS.

For hypotheticals sake, let's assume the Red Sox are facing a right-handed pitcher.

C: Carlos Narvaez

1B: Willson Contreras

2B: ?

SS: Trevor Story

3B: Marcelo Mayer

LF: Jarren Duran

CF: Ceddanne Rafaela 

RF: Wilyer Abreu

DH: Roman Anthony

Bench 1: Connor Wong (backup catcher)

Bench 2: Masataka Yoshida

Bench 3: Isiah Kiner-Falefa

Bench 4: ?

1) Who is the starting second baseman going to be? Is it going to be a combination of David Hamilton and Romy Gonzalez, thus taking up both of the final roster spots? Or will Kiner-Falefa take the right-handed portion of that platoon, still saving one?

2) Does the team really need all these outfielders AND Yoshida? Or, as we've wondered all offseason, will one of them be dealt? Could Yoshida be cut?

3) Is there a spot on this team for Kristian Campbell, who has already signed a long-term contract? Could he be the starting second baseman?

These are all things for the Red Sox to think about as spring training opens up in less than one week.

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