Heading into camp the Red Sox infield looked incomplete, with two positions left without obvious starters and little depth to fill in behind the small handful of candidates.<\/p>\n
Now in one fell swoop the Red Sox have completely changed the picture.<\/p>\n
With three newcomers on board the Red Sox have enough talent and depth to feel good about the infield entering the new season. Durbin in particular is a starting-caliber player who will balance the lineup and can impact the game at the plate, on defense and on the base paths.<\/p>\n
Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow confirmed Monday they view the 25-year-old as an everyday player,\u00a0but beyond that he and manager Alex Cora said they don\u2019t have a specific position in mind for Durbin and are happy to let things play out.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this point we\u2019re just excited about getting a really good player into the organization and we\u2019ll figure out where he fits best. Just doesn\u2019t feel like it makes sense to commit to anything right now,\u201d Breslow said. \u201cHe\u2019s got experience playing third base in the big leagues and experience at second coming up, he\u2019s played a little bit of shortstop and I think that versatility is something that helps us out, but we\u2019ll figure that out as we get to camp and get underway.\u201d<\/p>\n
With Durbin slotting in at either second or third base, Trevor Story returning at shortstop and Willson Contreras taking over as the new everyday first baseman, the Red Sox will have a number of players competing for the final starting infield job.<\/p>\n
That group includes young standouts Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell, returning veterans Romy Gonzalez, Nate Eaton and Nick Sogard, fellow Durbin trade acquisitions Andruw Monasterio and Anthony Seigler, and newly signed free agent Isiah Kiner-Falefa.<\/p>\n
Most of those players have experience at multiple positions, giving the Red Sox wide latitude to see who fits where and how the puzzle best fits together. Mayer in particular could start at either second or third, and Breslow said he\u2019s fully healthy and will be given a chance to earn a spot.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe needs to come into camp and compete and show us what he\u2019s capable of, but he\u2019s got a ton of potential, absolutely, to be an everyday player,\u201d Breslow said. \u201cHe\u2019ll have an opportunity in front of him to come in and compete for a spot, we\u2019re excited about the potential he has and even more excited about the possibility of that manifesting throughout the season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Newcomers bring added depth<\/p>\n
In addition to Durbin, Monasterio and Siegler will further reinforce the Red Sox infield and help ensure the club won\u2019t be stuck if key players get hurt or underperform.<\/p>\n
Monasterio, 28, bats right-handed and was described by Breslow as an above average defender at multiple positions. He also emerged as a viable weapon against left-handed pitching for the Brewers last season,\u00a0posting an .837 OPS against southpaws.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiving us another option who can play the infield and line up against left-handed pitching is something that\u2019s important for us and he\u2019s served that role very well,\u201d Breslow said.<\/p>\n
Siegler, 26, was the New York Yankees\u2019 first-round pick in 2018 and has appeared in just 34 MLB games after making his debut last July. The lefty batter will effectively replace David Hamilton on the depth chart, and Breslow noted that he had a terrific season in Triple-A last season, posting an .892 OPS with nearly as many walks (52) as strikeouts (59).<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he maybe hasn\u2019t gotten an extended look in the big leagues and a chance to show just how talented he is,\u201d Breslow said. \u201cBut if you look at the pedigree and you look at the season he just had, it\u2019s pretty easy to get excited about him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sox replace draft pick<\/p>\n
In addition to the three players, the Red Sox also received a Competitive Balance Round B pick, which comes after the second round and will effectively replace the second-round pick the club forfeited by signing Ranger Suarez, who had declined a qualifying offer from the Phillies upon reaching free agency.<\/p>\n
The Red Sox\u2019s new pick is projected to fall at No. 67 overall, bridging the gap between Boston\u2019s first-round pick (No. 20) and their third-round selection (No. 96).<\/p>\n
Last man standing<\/p>\n
With Harrison on his way to Milwaukee, the Red Sox only have one player remaining from the Rafael Devers trade still in the organization.<\/p>\n
That is Jose Bello, a 20-year-old right-hander who has yet to pitch above Low-A.<\/p>\n
Jordan Hicks was traded last week in a salary dump to the Chicago White Sox alongside pitching prospect David Sandlin, ridding the Red Sox of a significant portion of the $12 million annually he\u2019s owed over the next two years after Hicks posted a 8.20 ERA in 21 appearances following his arrival.<\/p>\n
Outfield prospect James Tibbs III was dealt at the trade deadline in exchange for right-hander Dustin May, who the Red Sox hoped could provide some badly needed rotation depth but who struggled and ultimately left in free agency after six poor outings.<\/p>\n
The Red Sox also unburdened themselves of the $232 million owed to Devers over the next eight years. The club has since reinvested that money in other players, signing Roman Anthony to an eight-year, $130 million extension and right-hander Ranger Suarez to a five-year, $130 million deal in free agency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Heading into camp the Red Sox infield looked incomplete, with two positions left without obvious starters and little…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":562805,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2375],"tags":[858,7583,24971,5,141,48,2542,3615,6930,1248,4,863,89,2543],"class_list":{"0":"post-562804","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-red-sox","8":"tag-alex-cora","9":"tag-andruw-monasterio","10":"tag-anthony-seigler","11":"tag-baseball","12":"tag-boston","13":"tag-boston-red-sox","14":"tag-bostonredsox","15":"tag-caleb-durbin","16":"tag-craig-breslow","17":"tag-marcelo-mayer","18":"tag-mlb","19":"tag-rafael-devers","20":"tag-red-sox","21":"tag-redsox"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116042276784953954","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562804","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=562804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/562805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=562804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=562804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=562804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}