The story of the offseason for the Boston Red Sox is whether or not they will be able to re-sign Alex Bregman.

No matter what else the club does, whatever happens with Bregman will overshadow the other moves. If they can bring him back to town, everyone will be happy. If Bregman walks, the fanbase will not be too pleased unless Boston makes a few wild moves in his place.

If you like our content, choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.

Ken Rosenthal hyped up the Red Sox

Boston already has made a good move by acquiring Sonny Gray. But, again, the Bregman decision will overshadow everything else. Fortunately, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal added some positive fuel to the fire on Wednesday. He was asked on “Foul Territory” about Bregman and said that he expects the three-time All-Star to return to Boston, although he noted that free agency is wild and anything could happen.

“I expect him to be back in Boston,” Rosenthal said on “Foul Territory.” “In free agency when you say something like this, you’re playing with fire because in free agency things happen that you never expect. I say this all the time. It’s actually true about all transactions. None of these trades that have happened so far were anticipated by anyone. Free agency can be wild. With Bregman, it was such a good fit. He was so perfect for them. Now, he’s going to be perfect in the estimation of other clubs as well and all it takes is one to obviously take him away, but man, he’s really the right guy for the Red Sox.”

Rosenthal is one of the top insiders in baseball. If he thinks Bregman is going to ultimately return to Boston, that should at least be enough to give the fanbase some hope in the short term. Nothing really matters until a deal is actually signed. A team could always make a wild offer and pull him away — as the San Diego Padres did by offering Xander Bogaerts a wild $280 million deal — but stay positive, Red Sox fans. This is the type of update that is a best-case scenario at this time of the offseason.

More MLB: Red Sox Insider Hints At Boston’s Target After Sonny Gray Trade