It’s unlikely that many Boston Red Sox fans heard about the team acquiring Tristan Gray and instantly thought the outlook for the upcoming season was very different.
We’re in the part of the Major League Baseball offseason where the moves being made mostly aren’t involving the biggest names who will eventually move. But every minor trade and waiver pickup still has the potential to matter, and there’s also something the Red Sox clearly like about Gray.
After the Red Sox sent right-handed pitcher Luis Guerrero to the Tampa Bay Rays to nab Gray on Tuesday, the Boston skipper had an introductory message for his new 29-year-old utility man.
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What Alex Cora told Tristan Gray upon arrival
During his appearance on Friday’s episode of the “Fenway Rundown” podcast, Gray said manager Alex Cora told him there was a chance he’d be heading back and forth between Triple-A and the big leagues, but if that were the case, that he could still make himself impactful on the major league season.
“One thing that Cora mentioned is like, ‘Dude, we have a lot of guys that come up and down from Worcester and help out the team,’” Gray told hosts Chris Cotillo and Sean McAdam. “So he’s like, whatever role it ends up being, just know that you can impact this ball club. So that’s my focus, taking care of my business each day, no matter where I’m at.”
Gray also seems like the prototypical utility player a team would want, as he’s comfortable at all four infield positions and said during the show that he was prepared to play any role the Red Sox could require from him.
“I think a lot of people get caught up in wanting to be the starting shortstop, or the starting first baseman, and I think just realistically, you just want to be on the team and want to play and win,” Gray told Cotillo and McAdam. “I’ve just always been told that if you can do that, that’s how you stick around in this game.”
While there’s a chance his name barely gets mentioned all year, something about the Red Sox going out of their way to trade for Gray hints at the fact that there’s some real potential here.
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