Before Sam Kennedy began his Fenway Fest media session, the Red Sox CEO opened by wishing his 83 year old father a happy birthday. Then, he relayed a recent conversation the two had shared about the Red Sox’s offseason.

Essentially, Kennedy’s father is where the rest of the Red Sox fanbase is these days.

“He thinks we have an incomplete roster right now, so we’re having conversations about that,” Kennedy said. “But we’re incredibly pleased with where we are.”

With about a month to go before pitchers and catchers report in Fort Myers, the Red Sox top decision-makers expressed excitement about the progress that’s been made while acknowledging there is more work to be done. Kennedy praised the work done by chief baseball officer Craig Breslow to improve the club’s pitching staff, and manager Alex Cora spoke about how the team is still working to address its remaining needs.

“Now it’s a matter of finishing what we started in the offseason,” Cora said.

At the top of the club’s wish list is a right-handed power bat to fill the void left by Tyler O’Neill, who recently signed a three-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles. Much of the discussion surrounding his replacement has revolved around top free agent infielder Alex Bregman and St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado, who is being shopped in trades and would reportedly waive his no-trade clause to come to Boston.

The problem is both of those players are third basemen, and their presence might necessitate moving Rafael Devers off the position. Cora reiterated that the club has not discussed a position change with Devers, and that if that became a possibility he would make sure to talk to Devers first.

“If that happens — before we get to that point we’ll talk to Raffy. That’s the way it is. That’s the way I operate. I’ve seen situations around the league that they’re very late on that front and the player, they don’t like it and they take it personal,” Cora said. “We understand that part, but I think we’ll do it the right way. Right now there’s no conversations, we haven’t talked to Raffy about moving positions so Raffy Devers is our third baseman.”

Moving pieces

One player who is expected to shift positions is David Hamilton, who has primarily played second base and shortstop with the Red Sox but who is now expected to get time in the outfield as well.

“We’re trying to get him as versatile as possible,” Cora said. “He’s excited about it, we talked to him two weeks ago, he’s done it before in center field and we’re excited about that.”

Cora also said Vaughn Grissom will remain a pure second baseman but that top prospect Marcelo Mayer could move around the infield and play second and third base along with his usual shortstop. Fellow prospect Kristian Campbell will also move around but mostly play second, and utility man Nick Sogard will be an option pretty much anywhere on the diamond.

On Masataka Yoshida, Cora said the designated hitter is progressing in his recovery from offseason shoulder surgery and should start taking dry swings in about two weeks. He also revealed that the main reason why he didn’t play any outfield last season was because of his shoulder, and that if he’s fully healthy he could be a part of that mix again.

“If he was healthy he was going to play in the outfield, but the throwing part of it wasn’t there, so that’s the reason he wasn’t there,” Cora said.

As expected, right-hander Garrett Whitlock also confirmed he will pitch out of the bullpen this year. Whitlock said he’s wrapping up his rehab and is essentially enjoying a normal offseason at this point, and the move to the bullpen will allow him to preserve his health while putting him back in a role where he’s historically enjoyed success.