The Red Sox will enter the winter of 2025 with the team’s foundation looking strong after an 89-win season in which Boston looked like a bunch that could beat just about anyone in stretches. Depth, though, is an issue, as is power–especially from the right-hand side–and it is expected that the Red Sox will seek to address the need for a big, middle-of-the-order bat in the coming months.
When it comes to right-handed power, there is no player coming onto the free-agent market ahead of 2026 quite like Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, who could certainly return to New York but who could yet be a casualty of the team’s disappointing season.
Alonso exploded onto the scene with 53 homers as a rookie, and has averaged 38 homers per season over seven years, including 16 homers in the Covid-shortened 2020 season. So, his power his unquestioned. But in all his time with the Mets, the team has made the playoffs only twice, and made just one appearance in the NLCS.
Whether he is a winning player remains a question mark, and part of the Mets‘ calculus in terms of bringing Alonso back. A pursuit of Alonso could make sense for the Red Sox–and a former star DH could be an inspiration to make the pairing happen.
Pete Alonso Not a Perfect Fit With Red Sox
But would he make sense as a Red Sox addition heading into 2026? That was a question that was raised by Boston Globe beat writer Tim Healey. Putting Alonso into Fenway Park makes some sense, though the negatives are obvious, too. Alonso is not much of a runner, and is a poor defensive first baseman. That doesn’t fit with the kind of team manager Alex Cora and baseball chief Craig Breslow want the Red Sox want to be.
Healey points out, too, that Alonso is a line-drive hitter, which means some of his 38-ish homers could wind up as hard-hit doubles off the Green Monster, or even hard-hit singles.
If the Red Sox could sign Alonso and get him to do some DH-ing, though, it could jolt the offense significantly. Getting buy-in from Alonso might be tough, because he wants to play the field.
GettyRed Sox manager Alex Cora
Red Sox Could Get Help From JD Martinez
Healey noted that the Red Sox had a similar situation back in 2017, going into the 2018 season, and addressed the need for power by signing JD Martinez. The team got Martinez to DH more than he ever had in his career, and he hit 43 homers with a league-high 130 RBIs.
Martinez was a teammate of Alonso’s with the Mets last year.
“If there is anyone who can explain to Alonso the benefits of signing with the Red Sox and focusing on hitting, it is his friend and fellow Floridian, J.D. Martinez,” Healey wrote.
“That should serve as a lesson for the front office, too. Remember that after David Ortiz retired following the 2016 season, the Sox went without that type of impact bat in 2017, and it showed. They solved the problem by signing Martinez, who played some outfield but mostly was there to drive in runs. The 2018 World Series championship ensued.”
Pete Alonso to Get $176 Million?
Alonso has his negatives. He won’t be cheap–Spotrac estimates his market value at six years and $176.5 million, and that might be too long and rich of a contract for a team that wants to re-sign third baseman Alex Bregman.
But the Red Sox have a hole. Alonso could fill it.
As Healey also wrote, “Sometimes, you just need a guy who will crush.”
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