BOSTON -- On Saturday, the Red Sox held Fenway Fest, a revised version of Winter Weekend, with several players and coaches on hand to discuss their offseasons and expectations for the club.
In addition to Trevor Story pushing for a Nolan Arenado trade, manager Alex Cora discussing Rafael Devers' future at third base and Triston Casas pondering a winter's worth of trade rumors, there were several other topics broached, including Garrett Whitlock's expected role, Jarren Duran's arbitration situation, Garrett Crochet's extension talks and more. Below is a roundup of the most notable takeaways from the event.
Whitlock has spent most of his career bouncing between the rotation and bullpen. He began last season in the rotation before landing on the injured list in May following four strong starts in which he posted a 1.96 ERA. He ultimately needed an internal brace procedure to fix his right elbow. Coming off the injury, the question was whether he'd be a starter or a reliever. His role for 2025 has been settled, for now.
"Let's go back to the bullpen, baby," Whitlock said.
While Cora and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow had previously hinted at Whitlock returning to the bullpen where he excelled his rookie year in 2021, they hadn't made it official until this weekend. Whitlock and pitching coach Andrew Bailey described a multi-inning role for Whitlock in which he could potentially close out the last few innings, take on high-leverage middle innings or even serve as a spot starter on occasion for two or three innings if needed. The majority of his work, however, will come in the back end of games.
"It's one of those things where, obviously, I still have the repertoire and everything to start, and if they need me to do that, I'll do that," Whitlock said. "But just talking to AC and everything, it's comfortable down there (in the bullpen), and it's where I've had success. So it's what we think is going to help give the team the best chance to win."
Whitlock has spent much of the winter in Fort Myers, Fla. with starter Lucas Giolito, who's also rehabbing from an internal brace procedure. Both pitchers have thrown multiple bullpens already and feel as though they'll be ready for the start of camp next month. Whitlock and Giolito, along with Crochet and a few others, threw bullpens at the indoor facilities at Boston College on Friday with Bailey in attendance.
"With Whit's injury history, obviously keeping every one of our starters and pitchers healthy is important," Bailey said. "Whit's been able to do both throughout his career. Had a lot of success in the bullpen. But I think with the current depth of our starting rotation, it's where he fits in the mix."
On Thursday, the Red Sox reached deals with three of their four arbitration-eligible players. Tanner Houck agreed to a $3.95 million deal, Garrett Crochet's was $3.8 million and Kutter Crawford's was $2.75 million. They did not, however, reach an agreement with Duran.
The 28-year-old outfielder is coming off a breakout season, when he hit .285 with an .834 OPS in 160 games while finishing fifth in the majors with an 8.7 bWAR. Duran's agents filed at $4 million while the Red Sox filed at $3.5 million, a seemingly inconsequential difference in terms of baseball money. The sides will likely go to a trial sometime in February where Duran will be present as the team argues he should make less money.
Duran was not scheduled to attend Fenway Fest because of a previous commitment, but Cora didn't hide his displeasure with the arbitration process, calling it "kind of like a bad process, to be honest with you."
"It doesn't make sense," he said.
Duran has been vocal about his confidence and self-esteem issues in the past and coming off a career season, the team suggesting he is not worth the salary he asked for could be risky. It's possible the club viewed Duran's homophobic slur directed at a fan last summer as part of their reasoning, but they have not made that known. Asked if it was a good idea for the team to quarrel with Duran over the small sum, Cora balked.
"That's not my area, you've gotta ask Craig," Cora said. "But I think we'll be OK. We'll be OK. I actually texted with Jarren yesterday. He's doing well. We'll see what happens in the upcoming weeks."
CEO Sam Kennedy was equally evasive on Duran's arbitration case.
"It's such a difficult process, I don't like arbitration," he said. "It's a better question for Bres, but it's a necessary evil, I guess. It's how our industry works. Making an argument for value, for a player under your control, and someone who's so important, it is difficult to have those conversations."
While the Duran arbitration situation remains in flux, the team appears to be working on a longer-term deal with Crochet after avoiding arbitration with him. For his part, Crochet is open to the idea.
"Staying in Boston long term is something that has a lot of merit in my mind and something that I think would be awesome," Crochet said.
Crochet said there have been preliminary conversations about an extension between his agent and the front office. "Just kind of getting a feel for one another," he noted.
While some players prefer not to let contract negotiations bleed into the season, Crochet said he wouldn't be distracted by any talks because he largely relies on his agent.
The 25-year-old lefty remains under team control for the next two seasons, but given the Red Sox traded four players for Crochet, it would be surprising if they didn't view Crochet as part of their long-term plans.
The Red Sox payroll currently sits around $214 million, well below the $241 million collective bargaining tax threshold that Kennedy said earlier in the offseason the team would go past, if necessary. On Saturday, when asked about surpassing the $241 million mark, Kennedy was less decisive.
"We don't really have a hope or a goal when it comes to spending," he said. "We have a hope or a goal about wins, win total, so winning enough games to win that American League East is the goal. That'll take 90-plus wins, we believe in this division, and we think we have the opportunity to do that this year."
The Red Sox are looking to increase the defensive versatility of players in their system, including one of their top prospects. Cora said on Saturday that Marcelo Mayer will see time in Triple-A Worcester at second and third base, in addition to shortstop. The 22-year-old played one game at third base each of the past two years but has yet to play a professional game at second, though he has done pregame infield work at each position.
Mayer hit .307 with an .850 OPS in 77 games last season in Double A before a late-season promotion to Triple A. He did not appear in a game in Triple A as his season was cut short with a lower back strain. After a full, healthy offseason, Mayer is expected to be ready for the start of spring training.
Meanwhile, speedy infielder David Hamilton will see time in the outfield this season. Hamilton played eight games in center in 2022 and 2023.
"That'll be fun just to see him run around," Cora said. "We're trying to get him as versatile as possible. He's excited about it. We talked to him two weeks ago. He's done it before in center field, and people are excited about that. I want to see that."
With prospect Kristian Campbell's ability to play second base and center field as well as Ceddanne Rafaela's versatility at shortstop and center, the Red Sox have made a point of keeping the roster flexible. Breslow did note recently, though, that the plan is to keep Rafaela mainly in center field this season rather than have him bounce between the two positions.
Masataka Yoshida spent much of the offseason in Boston working with the training and medical staff as he recovered from shoulder surgery performed after the season ended. Yoshida reported that he will begin swinging in two weeks and is scheduled to begin throwing in March.
Yoshida joked through an interpreter that he's muted his social media posts to avoid seeing his name in trade rumors.
"I did pay attention to those, but it's just out of my control, so we'll see how it happens," he said.
In 108 games last season, he hit .280 with a .765 OPS.
"Obviously I haven't played up to fans' expectations yet," he said. "All the stats and results I had, in Japan are not as reflected here as I hoped to, so obviously I want to play up to the expectations and keep improving myself."