Red Sox, free agent Isiah Kiner-Falefa agree to one-year deal as Boston makes infield move
The Red Sox are turning to a former Yankee to help fortify their infield with spring training approaching.
Boston is in agreement a one-year contract with Isiah Kiner-Falefa, sources confirmed to MassLive on Wednesday. The deal will pay Kiner-Falefa a $6 million salary in 2026, according to a source, and includes $500,000 in potential incentives based on plate appearances. The contract is pending a physical.
Kiner-Falefa, who turns 31 next month, is a versatile veteran who spent 2025 with Pittsburgh and Toronto, appearing in 138 games at three different positions. He saw the bulk of his time at shortstop (817 innings) while also playing third base (211.2 innings) and second (26.1 innings). The Red Sox currently have openings at both third base and second base with Alex Bregman having departed for the Cubs. It’s expected Kiner-Falefa and Marcelo Mayer will be in the mix for those two spots along with other internal options like Romy Gonzalez, David Hamilton, Nate Eaton and Nick Sogard.
Primarily a shortstop throughout his career, Kiner-Falefa has logged at least 40 major league innings at eight positions, including all three outfield spots and catcher (with Texas in 2018 and 2019). He has always been considered a strong defender, as evidenced by his 12 defensive runs saved in 573.2 innings at second and 29 DRS in 1,181 innings at third. Kiner-Falefa won a Gold Glove at third base while with the Rangers in the shortened 2020 season. His range and arm strength did not grade out spectacularly by Statcast in 2025, however.
Offensively, Kiner-Falefa is more of a wild card. A right-handed hitter, the Hawaii native hit .262 with two homers, 21 doubles, 40 RBIs and a .631 OPS between his two teams in 2025, having moved to the Jays via August waiver claim. He has a career .660 OPS and just 36 homers in 918 big league games. For his career, his splits are neutral against right-handed and left-handed pitchers.
Kiner-Falefa has struck out at a relatively low rate (15.7%) throughout his career but he showed more swing-and-miss with Toronto down the stretch. For the Jays, he appeared in 15 postseason games last fall, starting 12 at second base (including three in the World Series).
After losing Bregman, the Red Sox have looked at different ways to fortify their infield and have been linked to trade candidates like Houston’s Isaac Paredes and the Cubs’ Nico Hoerner and Matt Shaw. They did not pursue slugger Eugenio Suárez before he signed a one-year, $15 million deal with Cincinnati over the weekend. In Kiner-Falefa, it’s clear Craig Breslow is prioritizing defense and run prevention over offensive production. It’s unclear if further infield additions are on the horizon.
The Red Sox quickly re-purposed some of the money saved in the trade that sent Jordan Hicks, David Sandlin and cash considerations to the White Sox on Sunday with the Kiner-Falefa agreement. By including $8 million in cash to cover a fraction of the $24 million owed to Hicks over the next two seasons, the Red Sox dropped their projected competitive balance tax (CBT) threshold to around $261 million, which was short of the second threshold of penalties ($264 million). As of now, they are now back over that mark (with the projection around $267 million) but might try to move more money by trading Patrick Sandoval and/or Masataka Yoshida.
The Red Sox have an open 40-man spot and therefore will not have to cut anyone from their roster when the Kiner-Falefa addition is made official. Earlier in the day, the club reunited with catcher/infielder Mickey Gasper by claiming him off waivers from Washington.
