It’s back to the drawing board for the Boston Red Sox. Once again, they have a clear mandate in the offseason. Add power to the lineup, preferably from the right-hand side of the plate.
With that in mind, Jon Conahan of NESN shared an idea for the Red Sox. Go out and trade for Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena. That came after Bleacher Report ranked him as a Top 10 trade chip this offseason.
“Pena is coming off a season that feels underrated, posting an impressive 124 OPS+, .802 OPS, and 22 home runs, tying for the most of his career,” Conahan wrote. “As for how that fits into the Red Sox, there’s no debate that adding a right-handed bat with this kind of power would immediately impact what Boston is looking to do.”
Conahan also pointed out that Pena won’t be a free agent until 2028. That gives him two seasons in Boston. On top of that, the Red Sox do have some young talent in the farm system to make this type of move.
What Need Does Jeremy Pena Fill for the Boston Red Sox?
The power outage that the Red Sox suffered all through September and into the postseason made one thing clear. They can’t run back in 2027 with the same lineup that they did this past season. Otherwise, they can’t expect to get past the Wild Card round.
This past season, Pena hit .277 with an .802 OPS and 22 home runs. He had some issues defensively, but the Red Sox were excellent defensively. It’s the power that they were missing out on.
Trevor Story has been the Red Sox starting shortstop, but has also dealt with issues related to his health and consistency. He was only able to play in 64 games in 2026. In fact, going back to 2022 when he first landed in Boston, he’s only played in more than 100 games once. So, even though he’s set to return next season, it’s hard to trust that he’s going to be healthy. When Story did play, he had a .621 OPS and 5 home runs in 2025.
Several different players filled in at shortstop. Marcelo Mayer, who is no longer with the team, for one. Then, Andruw Monasterio and Isiah Kiner-Falefa were among the other fill-ins at shortstop.
Of course, it didn’t really matter who played at shortstop for the Red Sox. As a team, the Red Sox shortstops hit .235 with a .643 OPS for the season. They got just 11 home runs from the position. So, clearly, if there is a spot on the offense to upgrade, shortstop is a position that you can highlight.
What to Know About Pena?
Now 29 years old, Jeremy Pena has ties to New England. The Dominican Republic native moved to Rhode Island when he was 9 years old. He would later play his college baseball at the University of Maine and in the Cape Cod Summer League.
In 2018, Pena was selected by the Houston Astros. By 2022, he made his debut during the 2022 season. That same year, he would win the Gold Glove, World Series, World Series MVP, and ALCS MVP. Then, in 2025, he would also be named an All-Star.
For his career, Pena has a .272 batting average, a .321 OBP, a .427 slugging percentage, and a .748 OPS. He has 86 career home runs, 303 RBIs, and 76 stolen bases. That’s in five professional seasons.
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