Infield options for the Red Sox with Trevor Story potentially lost for season
BOSTON -- The Red Sox already had a hole to fill in the infield following the free-agent departure of Xander Bogaerts. Trevor Story was set to slide over to shortstop from second base, but now he is likely lost for the season following elbow surgery on Monday.
So here the Red Sox are again wondering who is going to play shortstop. They also don't know who will play second base. And if moving Kiké Hernandez from center to the infield is their plan, that will just leave a hole in the outfield.
Basically, the middle of the field is a mess for the Boston Red Sox. It's not an ideal situation, with just five weeks until spring training gets underway.
Christian Arroyo can play second and if he's swinging a good bat, he's not a bad option. But he's never played more than 87 games in a season, which he did last year for Boston. He is presently atop the team's depth chart at second, but Chaim Bloom said Tuesday that the plan was to add to the middle of the infield -- even before Story went down.
That's of even more importance now, especially at shortstop. Hernandez and Arroyo could platoon second, with Hernandez playing some center when Arroyo is at second. But none of that solves the issue at shortstop. Hernandez has 100 games at the position under his belt, but sending him to short just creates more holes to fill elsewhere.
Boston has a handful of promising young infield prospects in its system, including top prospect Marcelo Mayer (20), Ceddanne Rafaela (22), and David Hamilton (25). But Mayer and Rafaela aren't close to ready for the big leagues, and Hamilton has never played higher than Double-A.
Bloom was in a tough spot even before Tuesday's news, and if he wasn't already scrambling for infield help, it's now a mad dash with spring training quickly approaching. All the good free agents have signed already, and as luck would have it, Carlos Correa re-joining with the Twins on his third try to land a big contract this offseason just hours before the Story news came out on Tuesday.
The trade route is an option. Boston was reportedly interested in Miami's Miguel Rojas before Story was hurt, and that could get tossed on the burner again. Tampa's Joey Wendle -- who can play second, short, and in the outfield -- was also on Bloom's radar at one point this offseason.
But with expectations so low and Boston likely set to finish last in the division yet again, it's unlikely that Bloom will want to surrender good prospects ahead of what will probably be another wasted season. He will likely be diving into the bargain bin to find his new infielder(s) over the next few weeks. Here are some of his options, which range from iffy to ... not great.
Jose Iglesias
Iglesias was solid when he returned to Boston and finished the 2021 season with the Red Sox, but with the infield set in 2022, he signed with the Rockies in late March. He played 118 games in Colorado, 116 of which were at short.
His glove remained solid, with just eight errors over 975 innings in the field, and he wasn't bad with the bat either, slashing .292/.328/.380. Perhaps a third go-around with the Red Sox is in the cards.
Elvis Andrus
At 34, Andrus isn't the player he was as a two-time All-Star in Texas. But after hitting just .237 over 106 games with the A's to start last season, he finished strong with the White Sox with nine homers and a .271 average over 43 games. His 17 homers in 2022 where his highest total since 2017, when he sent 20 out of the yard with the Rangers.
Didi Gregorious
The former Yankee has dropped off a cliff since his solid three-year run from 2016-18 came to an end. Gregorious has hit just .230 with 24 homers over the last three seasons with the Phillies, and was released last August after hitting just .210 in 64 games.
Josh Harrison
The 35-year-old primarily played second for the White Sox last season, but he also saw some time at third, in addition to a few appearances at short, in left field, and even on the mound. Harrison slashed .256/.317/.370 over his 119 games in 2022.
