It might not be better for the rest of the American League East if the Red Sox get a lot better in 2025. It just makes the division more interesting, and baseball more interesting. It¡¯s a big reason why you hope that they can figure out a way to sign free agent Alex Bregman.

Bregman alone doesn¡¯t put the Red Sox in the middle of a real fight with the Yankees and the Orioles at the top of the division. But this is one last move for them before pitchers and catchers that I believe would give them their best chance to be something more than the also-rans they¡¯ve been lately. It¡¯s about time a team that has won four World Series in this century start to act like that again.

The Red Sox have traded for Garrett Crochet, which might be as important a pitching acquisition for them as Max Fried was for the Yankees. They¡¯ve signed Walker Buehler, a starting pitcher who got the last three outs of a World Series the way Chris Sale did once for the Red Sox. The Sox are getting Lucas Giolito back and they¡¯ve still got Tanner Houck and Brayan Bello. If the staff is blessed with good health, the Sox are going to pitch a lot better than they did last season, when pitching was the biggest reason why they never really got into the race in the AL East.

And they are going to hit, because they¡¯ve still got Rafael Devers and Jarren Duran. Triston Casas, a legit bopper, is healthy again at first base. They might finally get a full season out of Trevor Story, and have a star catcher in Connor Wong. Even with their bullpen questions -- and who doesn¡¯t have those? -- they have one of the very best managers in the game in Alex Cora.

On top of all that, a recent poll of MLB execs showed that insiders believe the Red Sox have the best farm system in the baseball, which means internal upgrades could be coming as soon as this year in the form of outfielder Roman Anthony, shortstop Marcelo Mayer and others.

So as loaded as the Yankees appear to be, as talented as the young Orioles are, the Red Sox do have a chance to surprise everybody -- two years after finishing in last place -- and start looking like a winners again. That¡¯s where Bregman comes in, because he has been a winner from the time he showed up in the big leagues with the Astros.

Cora wants him, everybody around the Red Sox knows that Cora has made no secret about that. Of course he was a coach with the Astros before becoming Red Sox manager. He knows what he saw from Bregman when they were on the same side, and winning the 2017 World Series. He sure knows what he saw when the Red Sox went against the Astros in the playoffs in '18, and again in '21, when the Red Sox were just two wins away from going back to their fifth World Series in this century and lost to Houston.

Bregman can play second for the Sox if he has to. Or he can play third if they trade Casas and Devers moves across the diamond to first. Wherever Bregman plays, he gives the Red Sox a better chance to be better, simple as that. He is that kind of player and, truly, Cora knows that as well as anyone.

There are other right-handed hitters still available this winter. There has been the suggestion that the Sox might be in play with Nolan Arenado, which would mean they would almost certainly be attempting to move Casas. But Bregman is younger than Arenado, and a free agent, and knows as much as any player in the game about the games the Red Sox so desperately want to play again in October. And know this: They would love him at Fenway.

Here is what Craig Breslow, now running the baseball operation for the Red Sox, said recently to Alex Speier of The Boston Globe:

¡°In a perfect world, we¡¯re getting elite-level production from a right-handed bat out of the middle of the lineup. I think it stretches out the lineup. It balances out guys like Jarren and Raffy and Triston and [Masataka Yoshida] and others. ... There are guys internally that may be able to take a step forward. And we¡¯re certainly also engaged in conversations for players that aren¡¯t yet in the organization.¡±

One of those players, without question, could be Bregman.

It¡¯s been reported that the Tigers, managed by A.J. Hinch, who managed Bregman in Houston, are very interested in adding him to what was a playoff team last season. It¡¯s likewise been reported that the Blue Jays, who want very much to be back in the playoffs, are interested, as well. But you have to believe that the best fit for Bregman, for a lot of reasons, would be the Red Sox. They have been looking for a player like Dustin Pedroia since Pedroia¡¯s bad knee gave out on him for good. Bregman is that kind of baller.

The Yankees, in particular, have done a lot of good for themselves, and in a hurry, after losing Juan Soto to the Mets. But so, too, have the Red Sox, especially with their starting rotation. They really are going to be better than you think, I believe. Sox fans still want the people in charge to do more between now and Fort Myers. Alex Bregman is more.