When Walker Buehler was making his free agency decision, he chose Boston in large part because he felt the Red Sox were a talented group on the verge of a big year.
If Buehler has his way, he won’t be coming alone.
Buehler is close friends with longtime Houston Astros infielder Alex Bregman, the top remaining right-handed hitter on the free agent marketplace. The two own a racehorse together that recently took its first win last week at Santa Anita, and Buehler said he’s recruited the two-time All-Star to join him in Boston.
“I have certainly made a pitch all over the place for him to come to Boston,” Buehler said. “He and I have been buddies for a long time, we played on Team USA a little bit in college and being from Lexington, the horse stuff is always something I’ve been super interested in.”
Buehler and Bregman both have extensive championship experience and would immediately become two of the most battle tested players on the Red Sox roster. Both are two-time World Series champions, and Buehler recently recorded the final out of the 2024 World Series, throwing a scoreless ninth inning to help the Dodgers finish off the Yankees in Game 5 of the World Series.
Coming off his second Tommy John surgery, Buehler endured a rocky 2024 but turned the corner in the playoffs. Now the two-time All-Star will go into the new season looking to reestablish himself as one of the top pitchers in baseball, and hopefully help elevate his new team in the process.
Buehler said he’s known for about three or four weeks that he’d likely land in Boston and was intrigued by the prospect of working with pitching coach Andrew Bailey. He also liked the makeup of the Red Sox starting rotation and the state of the roster as a whole.
“There’s a lot of young talent in Boston and a lot of major league proven talent, and a team that I think is ready and able to compete in the division and in the whole league,” Buehler said. “I’m very excited, I have a couple of buddies or know a few guys that are there already that I’m looking forward to playing with and all and all it seemed like a pretty good fit.
“For me, the one year in Boston and joining a winning franchise and a historical franchise and a team that has a real chance to win was the best option for me,” he added later.
Buehler compared the Red Sox favorably to the 2018 World Series champions, saying the current club is similarly positioned to that group with proven veterans like Rafael Devers and Trevor Story complemented by rising stars like Jarren Duran, who he said just had a “big boy year.”
“I think we’ve got all the pieces,” Buehler said. “It is kind of similar and there’s some momentum, especially after the (Garrett) Crochet trade. We’ll see what happens before spring training in terms of other additions, but I certainly think there’s the talent in that building to do some really great things.”
The final piece of the 2018 puzzle — J.D. Martinez — famously didn’t sign until late in the offseason, and Buehler would love for history to repeat itself again with Bregman. Regardless of where his friend and business partner winds up, Buehler is betting that the Red Sox are ready for a breakout and that the club has the horses it needs to win the race.
