Why Red Sox's latest move is nothing like what fueled Blue Jays' rise to power

Usually when a team does something well and gets all the way to the World Series, other clubs will try to imitate that winning formula. Such is the case with the Boston Red Sox and their offseason plans in trying to play copycat to the Toronto Blue Jays. Their latest move, trading for Caleb Durbin, is once again indicative of the team trying to be more "contact focused" with their lineup in 2026.

However, when you dive in to it, the Blue Jays in 2025 didn't just get by on their ability to simply make contact, and that's what the Red Sox are failing to realize.

Why Red Sox's latest move is nothing like what fueled Blue Jays' rise to power

For starters, Durbin certainly gives the Red Sox a nice player to help with their infield compliment, especially after losing Alex Bregman to the Chicago Cubs in free agency. The right handed hitting Durbin made his MLB debut last year with the Milwaukee Brewers and hit .256/.334/.387, with a 2.3 fWAR in 136 big league games. The 26-year-old hit 11 home runs, had a fantastic strike out rate of 9.9%, which was in the 98th percentile, and also has decent sprint speed, which was measured in the 70th percentile.

So while Durbin will bring a low strike out rate, and a high contact rate his missing piece is the ability to smash the ball, something the Blue Jays sprinkled in throughout their lineup along with their ability to make consistent contact.

In a tweet highlighted by Ryan Garcia of Empire Sports, he noted how the Blue Jays had six every day players in their lineup with an above average ISO, while also having the league-best contact rate. Whereas the Red Sox don't have enough of that mix.

The Red Sox lost Rafael Devers, Rob Refsnyder, and Alex Bregman. Those players were first, third, and fourth respectively when it came to ISO numbers in 2025. In terms of just pure home runs, the Red Sox finished 15th in the league with 186, behind the Blue Jays 191.

Now, the Red Sox are replacing the lost power of Devers, Refsnyder and Bregman, who hit a combined 42 home runs, with Durbin, who hit 11, and Willson Contreras, who hit 23. But you also have to factor in that Refsnyder and Devers only played half a season each with the Red Sox and you're starting to see where those issues lie.

The Red Sox will still have a good lineup, led by Wilyer Abreu (.223 ISO), Jarren Duran (.185 ISO) and Carlos Narváez (.179 ISO) but they all also hit under .260 with high strikeouts rates hovering just under 25%. Meantime, among the Blue Jays top six ISO leaders only Daulton Varsho had a strikeout rate above 20%.

While much was made early on about the Blue Jays lack of power, they certainly resolved that as the season went along. On May 31 the Blue Jays were 20th in MLB with 57 home runs. From June 1 to the end of the year, the Blue Jays hit 135 home runs, the 11th most in the league. They also led in that department in the postseason.

S while the Red Sox certainly have the right ideas in how to mimic the Blue Jays formula for winning, they may not have the right personnel to make it all come together.