Infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa has agreed to a one-year deal with the Red Sox, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand on Wednesday. The deal, which has not been confirmed by the club, is pending a physical.
Entering his age-31 season, Kiner-Falefa remains one of the game’s most versatile players.
Though he primarily played shortstop and third base in 2025, Kiner-Falefa has experience playing all around the diamond. He started 42 games at second base for the Pirates and Blue Jays in ‘24. In ‘23, he started 61 games in the outfield with the Yankees. He’s even made 73 appearances as a catcher, though he hasn’t played behind the dish since 2019 with the Rangers.
This past season, Kiner-Falefa flourished at third base, posting +2 Outs Above Average. That’s arguably been his strongest position, and it’s where he won a Gold Glove with the Rangers in 2020.
For the second straight year, Kiner-Falefa split his season between the Pirates and the Blue Jays, who claimed him off waivers in late August. Overall, he hit .262 with a .631 OPS in 138 games and stole 15 bases, his highest single-season total since ‘22. His best big league season came in ‘24, when he posted a career-high 2.0 fWAR.
Kiner-Falefa doesn’t hit the ball hard, and won’t hit for much power, either. But he stays true to his strengths: He’s a contact-oriented hitter with exceptional bat-to-ball skills. Last season, his swing-and-miss rate (15.1%) was in the 91st percentile of MLB. His career strikeout rate – 15.7% – is far better than the league average of 22.2%.
In the postseason, Kiner-Falefa appeared in 15 games for the Blue Jays, recording six hits in 37 at-bats. He was a key part of their contact-oriented approach that caused fits for the opposition, though the lasting memory of his October is likely when he was thrown at home as the would-be World Series-winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7.
The Rangers selected Kiner-Falefa in the fourth round of the 2013 Draft straight out of high school in Honolulu. He’s played for four teams across his eight-year career and owns a respectable .262 career average.
A right-handed hitter, Kiner-Falefa has roughly even splits, with a .666 OPS against righties compared to a .643 OPS against lefties. Those splits were actually fairly pronounced in ‘25, when he hit just .227 against left-handed pitching.
