Red Sox Add First Base Insurance With Former White Sox Slugger

While the Boston Red Sox's offseason hasn't been a smashing success, at least they've learned a lot of painful lessons from their disappointing 2022. They fixed their leaky bullpen after blowing too many leads, extended Rafael Devers after losing Xander Bogaerts and added some pop after ranking near the bottom of the league in home runs.

They also have a backup plan for first base, which is something they were sorely lacking last year.

Boston Red Sox News

While the Red Sox are expecting big things from rookie Triston Casa at first base, now they have an insurance option in Daniel Palka in case Casas struggles during his first full big-league campaign.

Boston picked up Palka on Friday morning with a minor-league deal and an invite to Spring Training. The 31-year-old hasn't played an MLB game since 2019, but he's shown plenty of power in his brief career with 29 homers, 71 RBIs and a .216 ISO in 154 games with the Chicago White Sox.

Palka, who can also play the outfield, has spent the past two seasons in Triple-A with the Washington Nationals and New York Mets. He posted an OPS over .800 for both organizations, proving he might deserve another crack at the majors.

Between Bobby Dalbec, Franchy Cordero and Eric Hosmer, the Red Sox's situation at first base was a mess last year. The hope is that Casas delivers on his prospect hype and builds on last year's cup of coffee, but if he doesn't, Palka could be a viable replacement.