Red Sox Rumors: Suzuki, Jeffers, Duran, Breslow

The Red Sox have reached out to free agent outfielder Seiya Suzuki and have interest in free agent catcher Ryan Jeffers, per reports from Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe and Jon Heyman of the New York Post, respectively. Either slugger would add some right-handed thump to a Boston lineup that is lacking in right-handed power options. They’re both imperfect fits, given the current composition of the roster, but interest in both signals a desire to balance out a lefty-heavy lineup. Suzuki could slot into an outfield corner and also take some DH at-bats. The Sox have Ceddanne Rafaela locked into center field with Wilyer Abreu, Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran and Masataka Yoshida as lefty-swinging corner outfield/DH options. That doesn’t leave much room for Suzuki, but Abraham fittingly adds that Boston is actively shopping Duran in what has been one of the “worst kept secrets” of this week’s GM Meetings. Yoshida, meanwhile, is entering the final year of his contract. The Sox didn’t find a trade partner last offseason, but with one year to go, he could be easier to move and could even be a release candidate. The 32-year-old Suzuki has been one of the NL’s most consistent sluggers in recent years. From the moment he signed with the Cubs on the heels of a star-caliber career in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, he’s been an above-average, albeit bat-first right fielder. Suzuki has popped 20-plus homers in four straight seasons with Chicago, swatting 26 long balls in 2026 and connecting on a career-high 31 in 2025. By measure of wRC+, he’s been 30% better than average at the plate across the past four seasons, slashing a combined .270/.353/.480. Early in Suzuki’s MLB tenure, he drew at best average marks for his glovework in right field. That changed in 2026. One year after the Cubs shifted toward using him more at designated hitter, Suzuki was back in right field on a near-everyday basis and delivered a career-best 14 Defensive Runs Saved. Statcast credited him at 4 Outs Above Average, based on his range, with an even better overall Fielding Run Value (7) thanks to his plus arm. The current picture is fairly crowded, but if the Sox find a taker for Duran and move on from Yoshida one way or another, they’d be left with Rafaela in center and the combination of Abreu, Anthony and Suzuki patrolling the corners and DH. A deal for Suzuki would prove costly — in more ways than one. His consistency and productivity give him a clear path to a pricey four-year deal in the $25MM range annually, with a real chance at landing a five-year contract. He’s also a lock to reject his $23.15MM qualifying offer, tying him to draft compensation. Because the Red Sox are a luxury tax payor, they’d have to forfeit their second- and fifth-highest selections in the 2027 draft and see their international amateur bonus pool reduced by $1MM. There are similar considerations with Jeffers. After trading for Adley Rutschman this past August, the roster doesn’t have a clear need for a catcher. However, Jeffers could share time with Rutschman behind the plate and has more than enough bat to step in at designated hitter on days he’s not catching. This scenario would likely require moving on from both Duran and Yoshida as well, but those moves could be in the works independent of the Sox’ pursuit of a righty bat. Rutschman is only controlled through 2027, so Jeffers could theoretically be in line to take up the primary catcher’s role in 2028 and beyond. It’s possible he’ll need to move to first base at some point down the line, but first baseman Willson Contreras will hit the open market either next winter or the following offseason, depending on how he plays in ’27 and what the Red Sox decide on his $17.5MM club option for 2028. As noted on our Top 50 Free Agent list, Jeffers has near-identical stats to the ones Contreras posted in his own four-year run-up to free agency. Jeffers has slashed .254/.342/.440 across his past 1632 major league plate appearances dating back to 2023; Contreras hit .249/.349/.467 in 1604 plate appearances in the four years prior to his own free agency. Jeffers could theoretically follow the same path as Contreras (who, like Jeffers, had a middling defensive reputation as he entered free agency): catch for the early portion of his contract before moving to first base after a couple years. As with Suzuki, Jeffers received a $23.15MM qualifying offer. He was never likely to accept, and it’s now been reported that he and agent Scott Boras are planning to reject. Jeffers won’t be as pricey as Suzuki, but he should command at least a three-year contract. His Contreras parallels are strong enough that MLBTR predicted a four-year contract worth nearly $20MM per season. That Boston is shopping Duran should come as no surprise. His name was kicked around the rumor circuit in each of the past two offseasons, even when he was coming off productive years. This winter, he’s a pure rebound candidate. While Duran technically put together a 20-20 season, you’d be hard pressed to find a less-productive 20-20 campaign than one in which the player in question slashed .207/.266/.361. Duran’s 6.7% walk rate his lowest in four years, and his 27.1% strikeout rate was his worst since becoming a full-time player. Duran’s defensive grades remained solid, though they were closer to merely “good” than the excellent levels he showed earlier in his career. His baserunning is a genuine asset, and Duran still posses plus bat speed. Swartz projects him for an $11.1MM, and Duran would be controllable for one additional season, into 2028. That extra year of control would be moot without a rebound, but there’s reason to believe he could do so. The defense and baserunning are enough that no team should expect Duran to be a complete zero. Meanwhile, the bat speed and power output give some optimism that Duran could again be an impact bat if he can lop a few percentage points of his strikeout rate and find some better fortune on balls in play; Duran had a .252 BABIP in 2026 — about 40 points south of average and nearly 100 points worse than the .345 mark he posted from ’23-’25. The Braves, Reds, Royals, Phillies, Blue Jays, Astros, Giants and D-backs are among the many clubs looking for outfield help and/or some left-handed bats. In one more bit of Red Sox news, the Globe’s Alex Speier reports that ownership recently changed Craig Breslow’s title from “chief baseball officer” to the more standard “president of baseball operations. The Sox had been the only team in MLB actively using the “chief baseball officer” moniker for its baseball operations leader, though the Twins (Derek Falvey) and D-backs (Tony La Russa) had done so in the past. Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy tells Speier that the updated title is “more reflective of the breadth of responsibilities” held by Breslow, who’s been running the Boston front office for the past three seasons. The Red Sox exercised 2029-30 club options on Breslow at season’s end, locking him into his contract for nearly another half decade. Breslow acknowledged that the title change doesn’t materially alter his responsibilities but still voiced appreciation for the confidence that ownership is showing with this shift.