The Boston Red Sox missed out on multiple infielders during free agency — including Bo Bichette, Eugenio Suarez, and Alex Bregman — forcing them to pivot and sign a veteran infielder.
The Red Sox are adding Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who can play all across the infield and has a high-quality glove, though his offense is overall lackluster.
Boston was expected to retain Bregman, especially as his free agency was extended, but they were outbid by the Chicago Cubs. Then, they were in the running for Bichette, but the New York Mets entered the picture and were willing to give him long-term money.
The left-handed quality offensive hitter in the infield was Suarez, but they did not sign him either, leaving Kiner-Falefa as one of the better options who can improve the team’s defense, but the lineup does take a hit.
The news comes from Jeff Passan of ESPN, who reports the signing, and it gives the Red Sox somewhat of an answer at third base.
During the winter, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow addressed why the organization has focused on defense and pitching rather than on offense.
“We work backwards from, ‘We need to put a better team on the field and win more games than we did last year. How do we do that?” Offense was a fairly obvious one, but preventing runs is another way,” Breslow said.
“I joked with (hitting coach) Pete (Fatse) that hopefully we’re making his job easier, too, by not putting such demands on the offense.”
How did Isiah Kiner-Falefa do last season?
IKF hit .262/.297/.334 with two home runs, 40 RBIs, and 15 stolen bases with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Toronto Blue Jays last season.
He played in 15 postseason games, hitting .162/.184/.216, driving in two runs with a stolen base to his name.
In terms of his base-running, he was 67th percentile. His offense was among the worst in baseball, ranking in the 1st percentile in expected slugging, 1st percentile in average exit velocity, 2nd percentile in barrel percentage, and 2nd percentile in bad speed.
He did a good job of not striking out or whiffing on pitches with a 77th and 91st percentile finish, respectively.
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