The Boston Red Sox are last in the American League East with a 1-4 record, and a big reason for that is the lack of production from their offseason acquisitions.
This offseason saw the departure of third baseman Alex Bregman, who signed a five-year, $175M contract with the Chicago Cubs. Bregman not only provided All-Star caliber play at the hot corner, but he also served as another leader on the field and in the locker room, who had won at the highest level.
To help minimize his loss, Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow traded for 11-year veteran Wilson Contreras, to add a middle-of-the-order bat and someone who could be trusted to play first base regularly. On top of that acquisition, Breslow also added third baseman Caleb Durbin from the Milwaukee Brewers to help fill Bregman’s shoes. In 2025, which was also Durbin's first season at the major league level, he finished with a 2.9 WAR to go along with a third-place finish in NL Rookie of the Year voting.
So far this season, both players have combined for two hits in 31 at-bats, offering little support to the lineup. While history suggests the cold streak is just a slump for Contreras, there is no track record for Durbin. As a result, NBC Sports Boston’s Michael Felger suggests that Red Sox fans should limit their expectations of the 26-year-old infielder.
""Just because he was third in the Rookie of the Year balloting, you think he's got ceiling? That player has no ceiling... He might be a nice complementary player, and when he's getting on base, he's an effort guy and a toughness guy, and you like him on your time, but he has no ceiling as a high-end player. None.""Michael Felger, NBC Sports Boston
To make matters worse for Boston, after starting the season off on a slow start, Bregman has started to heat up at the plate with two home runs in his last 12 at-bats for the Cubbies.
After losing out on Bregman, there was a clear emphasis on adding starting pitching depth. Breslow was active on the trade front, bringing in two NL Central starting pitchers in 14-year veteran Sonny Gray and six-year veteran Johan Oviedo. The team’s largest acquisition this offseason, however, was signing former Philadelphia Phillies ace Ranger Suarez to a five-year, $130M contract.
These three starters, added to a rotation that already included Garrett Crochet and Brayan Bello, made the Boston Red Sox rotation seem like one of the league’s very best entering the 2026 campaign. But through five games, the team’s rotation as a whole, outside of Crochet, has not lived up to expectations.
Gray, Suarez, and Oviedo have only combined to pitch 12 total innings in their three starts, while giving up 11 runs across those outings. For a team looking to improve on last season's wildcard berth, Craig Breslow's offseason pitching acquisitions raise concerns about whether the team can keep itself afloat in the AL East, let alone build on what they accomplished in 2025.
While Breslow’s offseason moves have yet to pan out, we are only five games into the Boston Red Sox season, and there is no reason for outright panic after a handful of outings. After all, last season’s team began the season 1-4 and went on to win 89 games and secure a playoff berth. That being said, if things don’t turn around for the team’s offseason acquisitions on both sides of the ball, the 2026 season will be a long summer for Red Sox fans.