Red Sox reportedly interested in free agent OF Randal Grichuk
Grichuk, a right-handed hitter, batted .319 with a .913 OPS against left-handed pitchers in 2024.
The Red Sox remain on the lookout for a right-handed hitter to balance out their lineup in 2025.
In addition to remaining in contact with third baseman Alex Bregman and outfielder Teoscar Hernandez as options, The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier reported Friday that Boston is also “looking at” OF Randal Grichuk.
Grichuk, 33, is a veteran bat coming off a season with the Arizona Diamondbacks in which he batted .291 over 106 games. He hasn’t eclipsed the 20-home run mark since 2021 (he hit 12 in 2024). Grichuk logged 46 RBI and walked 20 times, finishing the year with a .348 on-base percentage.
The righty did, however, bat .319 with a .913 OPS against left-handed pitchers last year. Grichuk also performed better in the second half of the season, hitting .308 compared to .279 in the first half. He hit nine homers and drove in 25 runs following the All-Star break.
Given Grichuk’s lack of power over the last few seasons, it’s hard to imagine he’d solely replace Tyler O’Neill in the middle of the lineup for the Red Sox. The club needs someone to produce home runs and put pressure on pitchers in place of O’Neill, who clubbed a team-high 31 homers for Boston last season.
As the roster currently stands, the Red Sox have the following outfielders: Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Rob Refsnyder. The former two players hit left-handed and the latter two bat righty.
Abreu was reportedly sought after by the White Sox in November as part of Garrett Crochet trade discussions, so it’s possible that he could still be on the table in potential trade talks. It seems unlikely that Boston would trade Duran, but anything’s possible if the team truly wants to improve the roster by any means — and they locked up Rafaela to an eight-year, $50 million extension in April.
Thus, Boston’s outfield could look different in 2025 than it did in 2024 if it makes another major trade. Adding Grichuk would make sense if the Red Sox used him in a platoon role, not necessarily as a standalone player.
Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has repeatedly said that the organization remains in the hunt for moves that will improve the team. He said last week that Boston is still going to be “aggressive” about signing or trading for players following the Crochet deal.
“The one thing that I absolutely can affirm is that we will continue to be aggressive in our pursuit of any path to improving our team,” Breslow said on WEEI’s “Jones and Keefe”. “That could come via starting pitching [or] a right-handed bat to help balance out the lineup, and we’ll continue to build out the bullpen.”
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