{"id":536179,"date":"2026-01-24T14:16:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T14:16:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/536179\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T14:16:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T14:16:13","slug":"red-sox-roster-battles-who-will-fill-second-third-base-if-no-trade-is-made-red-sox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/536179\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Sox Roster Battles: Who Will Fill Second & Third Base If No Trade Is Made? – Red Sox"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe Boston Red Sox still have a roster addition or two to make before spring training begins. And I don’t just mean the bullpen, which does require another leverage arm, particularly from the left-hand side. The area of bigger concern is the infield. After losing out on Alex Bregman<\/a>, the team has open spots at both second and third base that need to be addressed. MassLive\u2019s Chris Cotillo tweeted that the team is involved in multiple discussions regarding improving the infield defense.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThat isn\u2019t a shock to anyone who has been paying attention. After the addition of Ranger Suarez<\/a>, the team pivoted to combing the trade market for an impact addition at an infield spot. We all expect a trade to happen, we just don\u2019t know when.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tSo, what if the team waits until the trade deadline during the summer? It’s unlikely, but if prices are too exorbitant right now, the team could opt to go rental hunting in July. If that\u2019s the case, the team will turn to internal options to man both positions. While we already have a bit of inclination on which way the team may be leaning, let\u2019s take a look at those options.\n<\/p>\n

\tThird Base<\/p>\n

\n\tMarcelo Mayer<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe former top prospect is in line for the bulk of playing time at either position. The Athletic\u2019s Jen McCaffrey noted that she was told<\/a> by a team source that the preferred option is for Mayer to man third as he waits in the wings to take over at shortstop in a post-Trevor Story<\/a> world in 2028, so it\u2019s likely safe to pencil him in at the hot corner for now. Mayer has been bitten by the injury bug every season of his professional baseball career and is looking to stay healthy in 2027. The team believes that his added weight in the offseason, around 15 pounds, will help alleviate some of those injury concerns and keep him on the field. If that does happen, Mayer could be next in line to take a big jump this season. He has Gold Glove potential at third base and even a decent offensive showing from him would mean that the team has put their faith in the right guy.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tNate Eaton<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tNate Eaton made his presence known during the Wild Card series and likely earned a bench spot for the Red Sox had Bregman returned to the lineup. Now, though? He\u2019s a name to watch as a potential platoon partner at third with Mayer. He\u2019s not the flashiest name and doesn\u2019t come with the former top-prospect pedigree that Mayer has, but he could prove to be incredibly useful off the bench and in spot starts at third. His defensive versatility likely gives him an edge over other names as he can play all over the field when needed.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tMikey Romero<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tMikey Romero seems to be a forgotten draft pick for the team even though he has been making large strides in minor league baseball. He\u2019s on track to start the season as the starting third baseman for the WooSox and could be looking to push to the major-league roster at some point down the stretch. The former first-round pick isn\u2019t a huge kid, 6\u20190\u201d and 175 pounds, but he produced a 104 wRC+ and has played both second and third base as recently as last year. He could be someone that moves between both positions depending on what the lineup needs day in and day out at Worcester.\n<\/p>\n

\tSecond Base<\/p>\n

\n\tRomy Gonzalez<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tGonzalez is currently penciled in as the Opening Day starter at second base. That\u2019s not great. He works great in a platoon role as a lefty masher, but if the team is starting him on day one with the intent to make him an every day player this season, they are setting themselves up for disappointment. He plays a very specific role on this team and can move between first and second base as necessary, but he\u2019s not a 150-game regular. Unless a deal is reached before the season starts, though, he\u2019s likely going to get the bulk of playing time up the middle.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tDavid Hamilton<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tHamilton brings speed and decent defense to the table, but that\u2019s about it. When he\u2019s at the plate, he\u2019s as close to a guaranteed out as you can get. He may run into a home run or two, but there\u2019s little to be desired in his offensive game. The team works best when he\u2019s a late-inning pinch runner and not being counted on in offensive situations, making him a less-than-ideal starter come Opening Day.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tCeddanne Rafaela<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tSeeing Rafaela at second base would drive a large portion of the fan base insane, but I fully believe it\u2019s an option the team is strongly considering to start the year. It\u2019s a bad option, but an option. I have faith that he could be an excellent second baseman if given the time to practice it during the offseason and spring training. Then again, his natural position, center field, is far more important to the organization and he\u2019s already won a Gold Glove there. The team needs to keep him roaming center and figure out another option at second, but this is a realistic scenario if the goal is to get him and, Roman Anthony<\/a>, Wilyer Abreu<\/a>, and Jarren Duran<\/a> into the lineup at the same time.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tFranklin Arias<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThis is a bit far out there, but Franklin Arias is likely going to progress quickly through the minor-league system in 2026. He\u2019s the number two rated prospect<\/a> here on Talk Sox and for good reason: he\u2019s young and already has shown a ton of potential. It\u2019s unlikely that he\u2019ll start the year with the big-league club, but stranger things have happened before (see: Kristian Campbell in 2025). If he shows out in big-league camp during spring training, it\u2019s entirely possible we could see an early season call-up to help solidify the defense at second. It would be an outside-the-box solution, but the team is leaning heavily into a youth movement already so it wouldn\u2019t be shocking.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Boston Red Sox still have a roster addition or two to make before spring training begins. And…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":536180,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2375],"tags":[5,141,48,2542,17761,1248,4,18368,89,2543,1083],"class_list":{"0":"post-536179","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-red-sox","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-boston","10":"tag-boston-red-sox","11":"tag-bostonredsox","12":"tag-david-hamilton","13":"tag-marcelo-mayer","14":"tag-mlb","15":"tag-nate-eaton","16":"tag-red-sox","17":"tag-redsox","18":"tag-romy-gonzalez"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115950504243754203","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}