FORT MYERS, Fla. — As the Red Sox have collected young, mostly homegrown, star or potential star players signed to long-term contracts, they have not included right fielder Wilyer Abreu.
They have tried, though.
Two years ago, during the spring training prior to Abreu’s rookie season, they approached him about a lengthy commitment and financial guarantee — a rare conversation that early in a career.
He was curious. And he listened. But he said no thank you.
“It wasn’t the right moment to do it,” Abreu told the Globe. “So I just wanted to play and see what happened in the future.”
The talks were not contentious, league sources said. The sides simply were operating at different price points, so there proved not to be much to talk about.
That was during Craig Breslow’s first months as the Red Sox’ chief baseball officer. Locking up potential roster building blocks was a primary objective under the new administration, and they cast a wide net to find matches. During spring training, they agreed with Brayan Bello on an extension (six years and $55 million). Days into the season, they did the same with Ceddanne Rafaela (eight years and $50 million).
Like Rafaela, Abreu had played just a couple dozen games in the majors to that point. They were due to receive the major league minimum salary, or close to it, for the next several years. Rafaela took the up-front guarantee, sacrificing some potential future earning power; Abreu decided not to.
That the Sox approached Abreu spoke to what they thought — and think — of him.
“The conversation about a Wilyer extension is really no different than just a conversation about Wilyer as a player,” Breslow said. “It was pretty clear early on that the defensive floor was really high. We knew that he could play Gold Glove-caliber defense in the outfield despite the fact that he hadn’t yet won a Gold Glove. I knew that there was some offensive upside just based on his ability to impact the ball.
“It’s imperfect and nonlinear when you have these conversations. Obviously, it didn’t work out. But we saw the promise of the player he could become.”
In the years since, the Sox have seen that potential become production. Abreu won the American League Gold Glove in right field in each of his first two full seasons. At the plate, he has rated as solidly above average across two remarkably similar years, hitting .250 with a .320 on-base and .464 slugging percentage over that span.
On the power front specifically, he jumped from 15 home runs in 132 games in 2024 to 22 home runs in 115 games in 2025.
And yet there is a sense that the Sox have not seen the best version of Abreu.
He went on the injured list three times in 2024-25, including twice last season for soft tissue injuries: a left oblique strain in June and a right calf strain in August. When he returned from the latter, perhaps quicker than he would have had it not been a playoff push, he looked lost at the plate, putting up a .372 OPS.
“He’s got above-average bat speed. We’re still working through swing decisions, but the best version [features] his ability to do damage,” Breslow said. “It’s understanding the times, the pitches, the counts where he can take his chances to drive the ball. And he’s got as much raw power — he can hit the ball out of any part of the park.”
Abreu’s main goal for 2026: stay healthy. If he is on the field every day, including for his new opportunity to face lefthanded pitchers regularly, he figures the rest will take care of itself.
To that end, he changed his diet over the offseason, cutting out sugar, including soda, and other fun stuff. The result is a trimmer, fitter-looking outfielder who didn’t so much lose weight as he did add muscle, he said.
Manager Alex Cora described Abreu as “explosive.”
“He very clearly did a bunch of work this offseason to get himself in great shape,” Breslow said. “Then coming in and wanting to be ahead of where he had been previously, knowing that he was preparing for the WBC [he will play for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic]. We’re seeing a version of him that is pretty game-ready right now.”
Offensively, Abreu made a concerted effort to improve against lefties by tweaking his mechanics and taking lots of batting practice off a machine that offered the lefty angle.
“I focused on doing that the whole offseason, and I feel very good,” he said. “That’s going to help a lot this year.”
If it all comes together — consistent availability, continued improved power — it’s not too difficult to imagine a middle-of-the-order, 30-homer bat to go along with the high-end defense.
For now, Abreu is not scheduled to be a free agent until after the 2029 season. If the Red Sox come calling again about a long-term deal?
“I can listen,” he said, “but I haven’t talked to them.”
Tim Healey can be reached at timothy.healey@globe.com. Follow him @timbhealey.