BOSTON — The Red Sox are still unsure whether Marcelo Mayer’s right wrist sprain is something that’ll keep him out for most of the season’s final two months. But make no mistake: Mayer’s injury has a couple of sizable ripple effects on how the club might approach the days leading up to Thursday’s trade deadline.
First, the Mayer injury creates more of a pressing need on the right side of the infield, but not where one might think. The team is covered at second base with Ceddanne Rafaela, Romy Gonzalez and call-up David Hamilton in the majors and Kristian Campbell, Vaughn Grissom and even Nick Sogard at Triple-A. But the Mayer injury could force the Red Sox to play Gonzalez at second base more often, necessitating an upgrade over Abraham Toro (.669 OPS in his last 34 games) at first base.
More importantly, manager Alex Cora’s declaration that Rafaela will move from center field to play second base on a regular basis (even if not every day) means the Red Sox may have less of an appetite to move a major league outfielder by Thursday. If Rafaela’s at second, Roman Anthony is in left field, Jarren Duran is in center and Wilyer Abreu is in right, there’s a spot for everybody, especially with Masataka Yoshida assuming full-time DH at-bats and Rob Refsnyder playing against lefties. There’s no longer a clear odd man out.
“This is where, everybody’s like, ‘It’s a problem’ and this and that,” said Cora. “Like the great Tito Francona used to say, things will take care of themselves.”
With less than a week to go before the deadline, the Red Sox have not yet made good on their promise to improve the team before July 31. They’re in a similar boat as most other teams on a slow-moving market, though the Mariners (Josh Naylor), Yankees (Ryan McMahon) and Mets (Gregory Soto) didn’t wait around to make adds. Boston’s chief baseball officer Craig Breslow is still looking at various ways to add to his roster and faces a bit of a changed landscape with Mayer’s injury set to keep him out indefinitely.
“Guys are going 24/7 right now and that’ll continue ‘til the deadline,” said team president/CEO Sam Kennedy on Friday. “I think it’s early. It sounds strange, but it’s early.”
Boston’s primary needs remain on the pitching side of their roster with innings — and upside — needed behind Garrett Crochet, Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito. Walker Buehler and Richard Fitts occupy the final two spots for now, but the Red Sox are aiming higher with Hunter Dobbins and Kutter Crawford out for the year, Patrick Sandoval doubtful to come back and Tanner Houck likely out of the mix as well.
A rental addition such as someone from Arizona (Zac Gallen or Merrill Kelly) Baltimore (Charlie Morton or Zack Eflin) might make sense for a Red Sox club that knows the price is going to be exorbitantly high for a controllable arm like Minnesota’s Joe Ryan, Pittsburgh’s Mitch Keller or Miami’s Sandy Alcantara and Edward Cabrera. It’s unlikely all those arms move, so Breslow can circle back to the them in the winter. At that point, when every club is at full strength, it’s easier to make deals involving players with control.
Bullpen arms are also a need with Justin Slaten and Liam Hendriks out, Greg Weissert running on fumes and newcomer Jordan Hicks looking shaky since being acquired last month. And the first base need, despite the Red Sox repeatedly saying that they’re comfortable with the mix of Toro and Gonzalez, remains real.
“To me, pitching is always top of mind,” Kennedy said, explaining that the club will be open to both rentals and controllable adds. “But I can tell you, Bres is looking at all different ways to upgrade. Position players, bullpen, starters. So are a lot of teams.”
“Anything that makes us better. You’d love to do deals that help us now and into the future but I’ve said before, our future outlook is pretty bright, so right now we’re focused on the present.”
Even with Rafael Devers’ mega-deal off their books, the Red Sox — after adding a $31.7 million hit to their payroll by signing Alex Bregman at the beginning of spring training — are above the first CBT threshold of $241 million by $6-7 million. Kennedy said there’s no mandate to stay under the next threshold of $261 million but that will be hard to surpass before the deadline. ESPN insider Jeff Passan turned some heads earlier in the week when he said during a 98.5 The Sports Hub hit that ownership budgeting would be a factor in Boston’s deadline strategy. But Kennedy said there are no payroll restrictions when it comes to potential additions and that there is an appetite to add money, especially with Devers’ deal no longer in play.
“We’re in a great spot with the ability to make deals,” Kennedy said. “But it takes two teams to get something done.”
With only three American League teams and four National League teams more than 5 ½ games back of a wild card spot entering play Friday, not every club has declared its intentions when it comes to buying or selling. The Red Sox have — but their decision-makers are anticipating a few days of slowness before things pick up at a rapid pace in the middle of next week.
“It’ll be challenging,” said Kennedy. “I could be dead wrong, but I don’t think much will change until we get much closer to the deadline.”
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