LAS VEGAS — The Red Sox face a conundrum when it comes to fitting Kristian Campbell onto their roster in 2026. They know, deep down, that he’s best as an outfielder, but even before throwing him into that mix, have too many capable outfield options vying for playing time.

The status of Campbell, who burst into the majors with a very strong first month following a $60 million contract extension, then struggled so much that he spent the final 3-½ months of the year at Triple-A, remains an open question as the offseason begins. In past seasons, in an effort to find Campbell’s best defensive fit, the Red Sox have bounced him around to many different positions — partly based on need and partly to see where he might stick. In an effort to get him on track entering 2025, however, they might do something different: keep him in one spot.

“That’s something we’re actively discussing,” chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said Tuesday at the general managers meetings. “Even if that may not be the case long-term, perhaps in the short-term, just giving him some stability and certainty to where he’s going to play and maybe easing some of the kind of mental demands on trying to play multiple positions at the same time.”

Campbell was Boston’s everyday second baseman for much of April while also getting starts in both left field and center. The Red Sox then tried to teach him first base on the fly in the wake of Triston Casas’ season-ending season injury, but pulled the plug on the experiment once it was clear Campbell struggled with the transition. Across the majors and Triple-A, the 23-year-old played 562 ⅓ innings at second base, 90 ⅔ at second base, 144 innings in center field, 58 innings in right field and 54 innings in left. As he tried to make it back to the majors, defense became an issue.

Privately, Red Sox officials acknowledge outfield — and specifically, left field — is probably Campbell’s best long-term position. But the Red Sox already have more outfielders than they have spots with Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, Jhostynxon Garcia and Masataka Yoshida under contract for 2026. Having Campbell debut as a second baseman last season was done in large part because of the opening there in camp. Entering 2026, that position remains unsettled though Marcelo Mayer is a strong internal candidate, especially if the club re-signs Alex Bregman.

Campbell’s positional future might be part of the domino effect of whatever Breslow does this offseason.

“In terms of the position, that’s an ongoing conversation and some of it might be dictated by the roster construction as well as what we believe to be best for him,” Breslow said. “I think he is incredibly athletic. Sometimes, the way he goes about the swing or defense is a bit unorthodox in terms of the optics, but he has been a good defender in the upper levels of the minor leagues. Whether that ultimately is in the infield or the outfield, we’ll figure out.

“In 2024 (in the minors), we saw him play above average defense at second base. He played a little bit of shortstop, some outfield. Last year, he struggled in the big leagues at second base. If you think about where his athleticism may play in the short-term, I think in the outfield, he feels pretty comfortable (with it) as a chance to just kind of let the instincts take over.”

The Red Sox are also hopeful Campbell can get back to the basics offensively after an uneven 73-game stint in Worcester in which he posted average numbers (.273 average, .799 OPS) but struggled with velocity and struck out too much. Offseason conditioning is seen to be a key to a potential turnaround for a player Breslow described as having “tremendous upside.”

“We saw a glimpse of what that upside could be in his 2024 season in totality, and then the first month of the season in 2025,” Breslow said. “It’s not a secret that he struggled after that and some of those struggles continued when he went down to Triple-A. But we still are incredibly optimistic and confident what that upside looks like.

“He spent a couple days in Fort Myers last week with some of our hitting group and he looks big and strong and is back to the size and frame that he was last year. He’s swinging the bat fast again. I think the offseason, to have both a mental and physical reset, has been really valuable for him.”