It's been two months since the Boston Red Sox acquired star first baseman Willson Contreras in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals.
It's also been almost six weeks since Alex Bregman officially departed Boston and signed with the Chicago Cubs.
Bregman was recently voted as the "most irreplaceable subtraction" from the MLB offseason, as the 31-year-old not only contributed a clutch bat and stellar defense, but an important veteran voice in the clubhouse.
Red Sox insider Jen McCaffrey named Contreras as a possible replacement for Bregman's leadership on Sunday.
"Though the Red Sox might not have any obvious candidates to fill Bregman’s leadership role, one name that comes to mind in terms of his big personality is Contreras," the staff writer for The Athletic said. "In infield drills, the 10-year veteran is firing throws across the diamond and taking his work very intentionally. In the clubhouse, he hasn’t been overly boisterous yet, but Alex Cora expects that to come soon. He’s been particularly close with his fellow Venezuelans (Wilyer) Abreu and (Ranger) Suárez, holding court at his locker with their chairs in a circle."
Boston's manager called Contreras -- who recently just missed the cut for MLB insider Buster Olney's top 10 first basemen list -- "intense."
"With him, when you play against him, you don’t like him; when he plays for you, you do because he’s so intense. It might come off the wrong way, but just talking to him, he just wants to win; there’s intention behind everything he does," Cora said, per McCaffrey. "In the cage, taking groundballs, there’s a lot of Venezuelans in the squad, so I expect him to be the leader of that group. Perfect English, which is awesome, he can navigate that clubhouse. He’s been there, done that, won a World Series and became one of the best players in the big leagues, and to have him here is going to be very important in that clubhouse."
The three-time All-Star finished last season with 20 home runs and career highs in plate appearances (563), runs scored (70), hits (126), doubles (31), RBIs (80) and total bases (219).
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