The Boston Red Sox were extremely active this offseason. They made arguably the biggest trade of the offseason, shipping four prospects to the Chicago White Sox for starting pitcher Garrett Crochet. Boston was also active in the free agent market, signing two-time World Series champion Alex Bregman to a $120 million deal.
While Crochet and Bregman should provide some real production for Boston, it is free agent signing Walker Buehler that was tabbed the “X-factor” of the 2025 Red Sox season by MLB.com’s Thomas Harrigan. The former first round pick, Buehler signed a 1-year, $21 million contract this offseason after spending the first eight years of his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In 2024, Buehler was returning from his second Tommy John surgery of his career. In the regular season, he made 16 starts with an ERA north of 5. Also, Buehler injured his hip which caused him to miss roughly two months.
THE DODGERS ARE THE 2024 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS! pic.twitter.com/kVtjJjltRb — FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 31, 2024 But when the lights were the brightest, Buehler showed up. During the playoffs he pitched 10 scoreless innings, including closing out the 9th inning of Game 5 in Yankee Stadium to win the World Series. If Buehler can perform like he did in the playoffs, the Boston Red Sox should be looking at their first playoff birth in four years and potentially a deep run in October.