Breslow confirms top priority for Red Sox amid reports of Alonso meeting

ORLANDO Fla With starting pitcher acquisitions checked off their to-do list the Boston Red Sox came to the MLB Winter Meetings with a clear top priority A big game-changing bat We still haven t addressed specific of the position-player necessities that we have disclosed chief baseball officer Craig Breslow on Monday We still are going to prioritize someone who can hit in the middle of the order and kind of change the overall outlook of the offense That someone could be one of the industry s more homer-heavy hitters like Kyle Schwarber or Pete Alonso or a more well-rounded hitter whose consistency makes up for their somewhat lower power output like Alex Bregman or Bo Bichette Home runs are a foolproof way to put runs on the board noted Breslow Typically that type of profile comes with a trade-off largest part often contact-ability which is another area that we feel like we need to improve kind of the identity of the offense But at the end of the day we re trying to amount as countless runs as viable The Arizona Diamondbacks are also listening to offers on second baseman Ketel Marte Reported position has been something of a black hole for the Red Sox ever since knee injuries brought Dustin Pedroia s career to a premature end in Arizona s asking price will be high specifically in regard to club-controlled starting pitching but the Red Sox are willing to deal from their pitching surplus Breslow verified Monday We ve got pitching depth based on specific of the inbound calls that we ve received over the last couple weeks noted Breslow I think teams have recognized that there s appeal to controllable starting pitching If there are opportunities to use chosen of that depth in order to address other areas of the roster we d be willing to do it The Red Sox were a top-ranked offensive production in several metrics this year including fourth in hits and batting average eighth in on-base percentage and seventh in runs They again led the majors in doubles a byproduct of playing in the unique confines of Fenway Park In home runs however they ranked th and fell two round-trippers short of the league average The Red Sox were excellent at creating situations for such a slugger to come through only to be reminded that they lacked such a man Breslow pointed to it as soon as Boston s short-lived postseason run came to an end teams that go far in October have hitters who can go deep Adding a player with high strikeout probability may seem counterproductive for a company that as Breslow acknowledged already does that too much the Red Sox ranked eighth in strikeouts this year Yet this type of power bat brings another benefit to the lineup I think that the true middle-of-the-order bat that can hit the ball out of the park it has possibly outsized impact on the rest of the lineup because of the way that you have to attack someone the on-base implications that can have Breslow commented And so again we re going to consider all techniques of improving the organization but finding someone in the middle of the order who hits the ball out of the park is a really good place to start What the Red Sox lack in everyday horses to borrow a term from manager Alex Cora they make up for in players who can man multiple positions Breslow believes their major and minor league infield depth will work to their advantage They re not searching specifically for a power-hitting third baseman or contact-hitting second baseman they re on the hunt for the best bat they can get and will then reshape the organization accordingly I don t want to put limitations on what we may be able to do mentioned Breslow That s where the positional flexibility comes in We ve seen with guys like Romy Gonzalez David Hamilton Marcelo Mayer the ability to move around even with the outfielders and rotating through both three spots and the DH spots and I think that just gives us a little bit more latitude when it comes to finding someone who can improve the offense The position athlete territory is at the moment waiting for the first big domino to fall with the expectation that it will be Schwarber The Red Sox are among the multiple teams linked to him and Bregman Their competition for Schwarber includes the Phillies his company these last four seasons and the Orioles Alonso is driving from his Tampa home to meet with select teams in Orlando this week but Breslow would neither confirm nor deny reports that the Red Sox are on his dance card Our hope is that we re having a lot of meetings here over the next insufficient days he answered cleverly