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Red Sox, Garrett Crochet Expected To Table Extension Talks

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Earlier this month, newly-acquired Red Sox southpaw Garrett Crochet set a deadline of Opening Day in extension talks with his new club. With Crochet scheduled to take the mound for Boston against the Rangers this afternoon, that deadline has now passed and it seems as though no deal is in place between the sides. MassLive’s Chris Cotillo relays that chief baseball officer Craig Breslow told reporters “not to expect” a Crochet extension at this point, while WEEI’s Rob Bradford adds that Breslow said he intends to respect Crochet’s stated desire to not negotiate during the season.

Ever since Crochet came to Boston in a trade where the Red Sox surrendered a package of four prospects headlined by top-100 talents Kyle Teel and Braden Montgomery, hammering out an extension with the southpaw has seemed likely to be a priority for the club with just two seasons remaining until the southpaw reaches free agency. The 2024 All-Star made his first career MLB start on Opening Day for the White Sox last year, but that lack of experience did little to slow him down as he pitched to a 3.58 ERA (115 ERA+) while posting a sterling 2.69 FIP and striking out an incredible 35.1% of his opponents in 32 starts.

As much as the 2024 campaign did to establish Crochet as one of the league’s premiere front-of-the-rotation arms, however, it did little to settle his value on a long-term deal. As previously mentioned, the lefty had no experience as a starter in the majors or minors prior to 2024 due to injuries limiting him throughout his young career. He’d not thrown even 55 innings in a professional season before 2024, and even last year he threw just 146 innings while averaging roughly 3 1/3 innings per start in the second half. The fact that the lefty has not yet participated in a full MLB season with a starter’s typical workload works against Crochet’s value, even as the 25-year-old’s youth, tantalizing stuff and huge strikeout numbers make a case for him as among the most valuable assets in the sport.

Given the uncertainty surrounding Crochet’s value, it’s not necessarily shocking the sides were unable to agree to terms. Reporting last summer indicated that Crochet may have been targeting Tyler Glasnow’s $136.5MM guarantee with the Dodgers as a ballpark comparison for his extension talks with the White Sox, though it’s unclear how his demands may have changed after moving to Boston. That sort of outlay for a pitcher with Crochet’s health question marks may have been difficult for the Red Sox to stomach without getting to see him pitch up close, and now it appears they’ll have that opportunity in 2025. There’s nothing stopping the sides from resuming extension talks next offseason, though considering that it’ll be Crochet’s final before free agency it’s likely that another strong season from the lefty would leave the Red Sox to pay nearly full-market value in an extension next winter.

In other Red Sox news, Sean McAdam of MassLive reported this afternoon that outfielder Masataka Yoshida is headed to Boston for a consultation as he deals with a back issue. McAdam adds that Yoshida, who is on the injured list as he rehabs from offseason shoulder surgery, will remain in Boston to continue his rehab following the consultation. Yoshida was previously expected to begin a minor league rehab assignment as he builds up arm strength ahead of a return to the outfield for the first time (aside from a one-inning cameo last year) since 2023, though it now appears he’ll rehab with the big league club for at least the time being. A career .285/.343/.433 hitter across two seasons in the majors, Yoshida served as Boston’s regular DH last year but was bumped out of that spot by the signing of third baseman Alex Bregman, who pushed incumbent third baseman Rafael Devers to DH.

Dodgers Acquire Noah Davis From Red Sox

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The Dodgers announced that they’ve acquired righty Noah Davis from the Red Sox in exchange for cash. He’ll go onto the team’s 40-man roster and be optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Los Angeles placed righty Emmet Sheehan, who’s recovering from last year’s Tommy John surgery, on the 60-day injured list to create roster space.

Davis had been a non-roster player with Boston after signing a minor league deal. It seems likely that he had an upward mobility clause in his deal, which if exercised requires his current club to make him available to all 29 other teams and let him go if another team is willing to put him on the 40-man roster.

Davis, 28 next month, is a former 11th-round pick by the Reds who’s spent the bulk of his career in the Rockies organization. Cincinnati traded him to Colorado in 2021’s Mychal Givens swap. He’s pitched in three MLB seasons with the Rox, logging a grisly 7.71 earned run average in 51 1/3 innings. Davis has fanned 17.3% of his opponents against a 9.2% walk rate. Both are worse than the league average (the strikeout rate in particular).

Despite the shaky track record, Davis has held his own (relatively speaking) in an intensely hitter-friendly environment with the Triple-A Pacific Coast League’s Albuquerque Isotopes (the Rockies’ top affiliate). His 5.06 ERA in 133 1/3 innings there doesn’t look like much, but he ranks 19th in the PCL in ERA over the past three seasons (among pitchers with 130+ innings). Only four pitchers in that span have kept an ERA under 4.00 in as many innings.

Davis had a decent spring. He allowed five runs in 9 1/3 frames, which isn’t great, but did so while yielding only seven hits and recording a 9-to-1 K/BB ratio. He’ll give the Dodgers some rotation depth at a time when Sheehan, Gavin Stone, Clayton Kershaw, River Ryan, Tony Gonsolin and Kyle Hurt are all on the injured list.

Red Sox Place Liam Hendriks On 15-Day IL

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The Red Sox announced a slate of transactions to finalize their Opening Day roster, including a surprise placement of righty Liam Hendriks on the 15-day injured list due to elbow inflammation. Fellow right-hander Cooper Criswell, who had appeared ticketed for Triple-A Worcester, will instead break camp with the big league club.

Boston also selected the contracts of lefty Sean Newcomb and top prospect Kristian Campbell. Both have formally made the Opening Day roster. Lefties Chris Murphy and Zach Penrod were placed on the 60-day injured list to open spots. Murphy is recovering from UCL surgery performed last spring. Penrod was diagnosed with a left elbow sprain earlier in camp.

Additionally, the Red Sox placed Masataka Yoshida on the 10-day IL as he continues building back up from offseason shoulder surgery. Righties Brayan Bello (shoulder strain), Kutter Crawford (patellar tendinopathy) and Lucas Giolito (hamstring strain) were all placed on the 15-day IL, as expected.

Hendriks, who turned 36 last month, is entering the second season of a two-year, $10MM deal. The Red Sox signed him knowing that he’d miss most of all of the 2024 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. The expectation early in camp was that he and offseason signee Aroldis Chapman could compete for ninth-inning work. The tide changed quickly. Chapman fanned 14 of the 30 batters he faced and held opponents to two runs in 7 1/3 innings. Hendriks allowed seven runs on 14 hits in just 6 1/3 frames. He didn’t walk anyone but also only whiffed four of the 32 hitters he faced.

The Red Sox haven’t yet provided a timetable for when Hendriks might return to the mound. For now, there’s no indication that he’s dealing with a long-term injury. Presumably, manager Alex Cora will have more information regarding his potential timetable when he meets with the media later today.

Red Sox Notes: Eovaldi, Zavala, Gambrell

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Nathan Eovaldi started for the Red Sox on Opening Day each year from 2020-22, pitching a combined 16 1/3 innings with a 2.76 ERA. Today, the Red Sox will face their former no. 1 starter on Opening Day, sending their new ace, Garrett Crochet, to the bump against Eovaldi and the Rangers.

Facing Eovaldi is never an enviable task – the right-hander has a winning record and an ERA under 4.00 in each of the past five seasons – but the Red Sox, in particular, probably aren’t thrilled to be meeting up with their old friend this afternoon. After all, they made an effort to re-acquire him this past offseason, and as it turns out, they were the runner-up for his services. According to Rob Bradford of WEEI, six teams showed legitimate interest in signing Eovaldi this winter, but the veteran’s decision ultimately came down to Texas or Boston. However, it’s not known how much money the Red Sox were willing to offer or if their final bid came close to the three-year, $75MM guarantee he landed with the Rangers.

Interestingly, Boston’s trade for Crochet came together less than 24 hours after Eovaldi signed with Texas. That’s not to say the Red Sox wouldn’t have pursued Crochet if they landed Eovaldi, but it’s a possibility worth considering. If that’s true, one could argue that missing out on Eovaldi was the best possible outcome for Craig Breslow and company. Eovaldi is a great pitcher, but Crochet is coming off an All-Star season and already looks like a strong early contender for the AL Cy Young.

Of course, the Red Sox would have been even better off with both Crochet and Eovaldi atop their rotation, especially now that so many of their other starters are on the IL, namely Lucas Giolito, Brayan Bello, and Kutter Crawford. And while the Red Sox surely have high hopes for the free agents starters they added this offseason – Walker Buehler and Patrick Sandoval – Eovaldi would have been a far less risky signing.

In other Red Sox news, catcher Seby Zavala has accepted his outright assignment and will begin the season with the Triple-A WooSox, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive. The 31-year-old was informed last week that he would not be making the Opening Day roster. While the minor league deal he signed with Boston in November included an assignment clause that allowed him to seek out an opportunity on another team’s 40-man roster, it appears he was not able to find such an opportunity and has instead reported to Triple-A. A veteran of five big league seasons, Zavala is a plus defender with 183 games of MLB catching experience. He will offer the Red Sox depth behind starting catcher Connor Wong, backup Carlos Narvaez, and Blake Sabol, who has a spot on the 40-man roster but will start the season at Triple-A.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox have released Grant Gambrell, a minor league right-handed starter (h/t to Christopher Smith of MassLive). Gambrell was one of five players Boston received in 2021 as part of the three-team trade that sent Andrew Benintendi to the Royals. The Red Sox initially acquired outfielder Franchy Cordero from Kansas City and right-hander Josh Winckowski from the Mets, while Gambrell was one of three players to be named later, along with fellow righty Luis De La Rosa and outfielder Freddy Valdez. As Smith points out, Winckowski is now the only player from that trade who is still playing in the Red Sox organization. Gambrell had pitched relatively well in Boston’s system over the past two years, putting up a 3.81 ERA and 4.29 FIP in 41 games (39 starts). However, he was never a top prospect, and now 27 years old, the Red Sox have evidently decided he does not fit into their future plans.

Cora: Devers Will Be Red Sox’ Primary Designated Hitter

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Red Sox manager Alex Cora confirmed today in an appearance on WEEI radio what has looked increasingly likely as spring training has progressed: Rafael Devers will serve as the Red Sox’ primary designated hitter in 2025, while newly signed Alex Bregman will take over at the hot corner (link via WEEI’s Ken Laird). “Alex is going to play third,” said Cora. “Raffy’s going to DH. We all are in the winning business. He understands that.”

It’s not a shock given recent developments but still notable to get a firm declaration on what will be a surprising pivot for the club. Devers has been Boston’s third baseman for a long time and seemed likely to stay there well into the future. The club signed him to a massive extension ahead of the 2023 season, locking him up through 2033. His defense was never well regarded but it seemed that he would get a chance to stick at the hot corner for a while based on his status within the organization.

Even once Bregman was signed, it seemed possible that Devers would stay at third. Bregman’s reps had maintained throughout the winter that he was willing to move to second base as a way to keep his market as open as possible. The Sox came into 2025 with some notable middle infield prospects but didn’t have a clear everyday guy at second in 2024.

But as alluded to, the plans became more clear as time went on. Bregman was only playing third base in camp. Devers wasn’t playing many official spring games and was only serving as the DH when he was in there. It was suggested that perhaps this was due to some shoulder problems he dealt with last year but it has become abundantly clear that the club just wants him to DH this year. Prospect Kristian Campbell will crack the Opening Day roster and seemingly be the regular second baseman.

The move makes sense from a competitive standpoint. Devers has been credited with -62 Defensive Runs Saved and -29 Outs Above Average in his career. Bregman’s tallies in those categories are +27 DRS and +22 OAA.

That’s an obvious choice in a vacuum but it’s unclear if there will be intangible effects in terms of clubhouse morale. Devers was initially adamant that he wouldn’t be moving off third, saying that he was promised that he could be there for the long haul. That promise was made while Chaim Bloom was still the chief baseball officer but he was later replaced by Craig Breslow. The new regime seems uninterested in honoring the promise of the previous one.

There are other questions left to be answered as well. Bregman’s three-year deal comes with opt-outs after each season. If he departs after 2025, will Devers get a chance to retake the spot next year? What if Bregman suffers a significant injury during the 2025 season?

Then there’s also the Masataka Yoshida factor. He made his major league debut in 2023 with a solid .289/.338/.445 line and 110 wRC+, but with bad defensive metrics in the outfield. Last year, he logged just a single inning in the field, limited to DH duty. His offense was similar to the year before, with a .280/.349/.415 line and 115 wRC+, but he apparently wasn’t thrilled with the arrangement.

He required shoulder surgery in October and is going to start the season on the injured list. He was healthy enough to hit during the spring but still needs to fully ramp up his throwing abilities in the wake of that surgery. With Devers in the DH spot, he will have to jog out onto the grass into order to get into the lineup. The Sox project to have Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu in three outfield spots, with Rob Refsnyder on the bench. Prospect Roman Anthony will also be pushing for a major league debut soon.

If everyone’s healthy, it will be tough for Yoshida to work his way in there. He still has three years and $54MM left on his deal. Given his modest production thus far, no other club will want to take all of that on. Rebuilding trade value will be tough if he can’t get in there fore regular playing time. Moving to first base isn’t an option for Devers or Yoshida with Triston Casas in that spot and under club control through 2028.

It’s a complicated puzzle and one that will probably continue to be talked about throughout the year. Cora’s declaration today gives confirmation to what was already obvious. The unanswered questions remain.

Red Sox Likely To Select Sean Newcomb

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Minor league signee Sean Newcomb is likely to begin the season as the Red Sox’s fifth starter, manager Alex Cora tells reporters (including Alex Speier of The Boston Globe). The Sox would need to add the southpaw to their 40-man roster if he breaks camp.

Newcomb hasn’t held a consistent rotation role for seven years. He started 30 games for the Braves in 2018. The former first-round pick hasn’t reached five starts in an MLB season since then. Newcomb looked like a potential mid-rotation arm early in his career. Scattershot command pushed him to the bullpen and eventually into journeyman territory. Newcomb has allowed a 6.66 earned run average in 98 2/3 frames divided between three teams since the start of 2020.

The 31-year-old has made seven MLB appearances for the A’s in each of the last two seasons. He worked 10 innings last year and walked eight batters while recording seven strikeouts. He gave up seven runs. Newcomb had opened the year on the 60-day injured list with left knee soreness and was released in July, so he barely pitched. The Massachusetts native signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox in January.

Newcomb has had a fantastic Spring Training. He has worked 14 1/3 innings of two-run ball, striking out 13 against three walks. He nevertheless would not have secured a season-opening rotation spot if not for a few injuries. Brayan Bello, Lucas Giolito and Kutter Crawford are all beginning the year on the injured list.

Giolito and Bello should be back by the middle of April, so Newcomb’s stint in the rotation might be brief. He’ll land behind Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck, Walker Buehler and Richard Fitts to begin the year. If he pitches well, Newcomb could kick into the bullpen. As a player with over five years of service time, he could refuse any minor league assignments once he officially cracks the 40-man roster.

Boston will also need to open a roster spot for top prospect Kristian Campbell, who’ll break camp and should play regularly at second base. Zach Penrod and Chris Murphy are candidates to move to the 60-day IL if the Sox don’t want to designate anyone for assignment.

Red Sox To Include Kristian Campbell On Opening Day Roster

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Kristian Campbell will break camp with the Red Sox, as KPRC 2’s Ari Alexander reports that the star prospect has been told he will be part of Boston’s Opening Day roster.  A corresponding move will be made in the coming days to create room for Campbell on the 40-man roster.

Though Campbell’s Grapefruit League performance hasn’t been stellar, it was becoming increasingly obvious in recent days that the Sox were eager to see what the 22-year-old can do at the big league level.  Vaughn Grissom was optioned to Triple-A a few days ago, leaving Campbell and David Hamilton as the remaining contenders for the second base job.  While the left-handed hitting Hamilton will get some action against right-handed pitching, the Red Sox surely aim for Campbell to get regular playing time in his first run of action in the Show.

It has been quite a rise for Campbell, who was a fourth-round pick out of Georgia Tech in the 2023 draft and flew somewhat under the radar in prospect rankings.  He started to attract attention with some big numbers in his first year of pro ball, and then gained even greater notice by being promoted all the way up the ladder to Triple-A Worcester by the end of 2024.  Campbell hit .330/.439/.558 with 20 homers and 24 steals (in 32 attempts) over 517 combined plate appearances at the high-A, Double-A, and Triple-A levels, including a .898 OPS over his 85 PA with Worcester.

This spring, Campbell was ranked by Baseball America as the fourth-best prospect in the sport, and MLB Pipeline (7th) and The Athletic’s Keith Law (9th) had similarly high praise.  After his college days, Campbell made some changes to his approach at the plate that transformed his hitting ability, so this make-up and maturity has impressed evaluators along with his obvious physical skills.  Campbell has something of an unusual swing that still generate lots of hard contact to all fields, plus more power could still be unlocked.  Campbell is a plus runner and he can play all over the diamond, as he has seen time at second base, third base, shortstop, and all three outfield positions over his minor league career.

He’ll check in as Boston’s second baseman in his first trip to the majors, thus perhaps filling a position that has been a revolving door at Fenway Park for the last few seasons.  Alex Bregman was initially tapped as the next second baseman when he signed his three-year, $120MM deal with the Sox this winter, but it now looks like Bregman will play in his usual third base spot now that Rafael Devers (at least publicly) has okayed the idea of becoming a designated hitter.  As MassLive’s Chris Cotillo put it, “ the Red Sox weren’t moving Rafael Devers to DH for no reason,” so the writing was on the wall that the team viewed Campbell as part of its optimal lineup.

With Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer also knocking on the door to the majors, the Red Sox have an enviable group of star prospects on the way up.  It remains to be seen if Campbell will stick at second base over the long time, or if the Sox might take advantage of his versatility by trying him out at a few different positions.

Because Campbell made at least two of the top-100 prospect lists compiled by Baseball America, ESPN, and MLB Pipeline, he qualifies as a candidate for the Prospect Promotion Incentive.  By starting on the Opening Day roster and spending the entire season in Boston, Campbell would earn the Sox a bonus draft pick if he wins the Rookie of the Year Award, or if he finishes in the top three in MVP voting in his first three seasons.

Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images

Red Sox Release Adam Ottavino

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The Red Sox announced this morning that they’ve released right-hander Adam Ottavino. The veteran triggered an opt-out clause in his contract prompting the release, as noted by MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. Meanwhile, Cotillo reports that veteran southpaw Matt Moore does not plan to exercise the opt-out clause in his contract and will remain with the organization at Triple-A Worcester. In other roster news, Alex Cora told reporters (including MLB.com’s Ian Browne) yesterday that Masataka Yoshida will begin the season on the injured list as he builds up his throwing program.

Ottavino, 39, is a veteran of 14 MLB seasons who previously pitched for the Red Sox back in 2021. He provided the Red Sox with decent middle relief work that year, pitching to a 4.21 ERA with a 3.96 FIP in 62 innings of work. He’s spent three seasons since then in Queens with the Mets, and that three-year stint generally went quite well for both sides as he posted a 3.14 ERA and 3.66 FIP in 183 1/3 frames, picking up 16 saves and striking out 27.6% of opponents along the way. Unfortunately, Ottavino’s results declined with the club as time went on, and his work with the Mets last year was rather pedestrian.

In 56 innings of work last year, Ottavino managed an ERA of just 4.34, 9% worse than league average by ERA+. His peripheral numbers remained solid, as he posted a 3.67 FIP and struck out 28.6% of his opponents, but that still wasn’t enough for any of the league’s 30 clubs to overlook his age and lackluster production last year to offer him a major league deal. That led him to settle for a minor league pact with the Red Sox back in February. Camp hasn’t gone especially well for Ottavino, however, as he’s allowed six runs in just five innings and surrendered free passes to five of the 25 batters he’s faced. Those struggles were enough to keep him out of the Red Sox Opening Day bullpen, and now Ottavino will have the opportunity to survey the open market for a more direct path to playing in the majors for his 15th season.

As for Moore, the southpaw enjoyed back-to-back dominant relief seasons in 2022 and ’23 but the wheels came off for the 35-year-old in 2024. In 48 1/3 innings of work with the Angels last year, Moore posted a lackluster 5.03 ERA with an even uglier 6.17 FIP as he allowed 11 homers in just 51 appearances and walked 12.4% of opponents as his strikeout rate fell below 20%. It was a brutal performance all around, but the tantalizing upside the veteran showed when he posted a 2.20 ERA and 3.29 FIP in 126 2/3 innings of work in the two years prior was enough to earn Moore a minor league pact with the Red Sox this winter. He’s pitched reasonably well in Spring Training with three scoreless innings, but has gotten only those three innings of work in this spring and will head to Triple-A to build up in hopes of cracking the big league roster later in the year. As an Article XX(B) free agent, Moore will have additional opportunities to opt out on both May 1 and June 1 if not added to the club’s roster by those dates.

As for Yoshida, the veteran came into camp this spring battling for his roster spot despite there being three years remaining on his five-year, $90MM contract with the club. Yoshida battled thumb and shoulder issues last year and ultimately ended up undergoing labrum surgery back in October, which Yoshida is still recovering from. While Yoshida is well enough to hit at this point, Rafael Devers now figures to serve as the club’s incumbent DH with Alex Bregman taking over at the hot corner, meaning Yoshida won’t be able to play for the Red Sox until he’s healthy enough to play left field. That’s led to the club’s plan to start him on the injured list this year and send him to Triple-A Worcester on a rehab assignment, where he’ll be able to build up his arm strength over the course of a 20-day rehab assignment. Given that plan, it seems as though Yoshida should be expected back with the Red Sox in Boston at some point in late April, barring any setbacks.

Red Sox Notes: Fitts, Zavala, Moore, Ottavino, Front Office Changes

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Right-hander Richard Fitts has pitched well in his bid for a starting job this spring, and Red Sox manager Alex Cora confirmed to reporters (including MLB.com’s Ian Browne) that Fitts had indeed landed the fourth starter’s role.  Sean Newcomb and Quinn Priester now look to be the last two pitchers competing for the fifth spot behind Fitts, Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck, and Walker Buehler.

Injuries have thrown a few wrinkles into Boston’s rotation plans this spring, as Brayan Bello (shoulder soreness), Lucas Giolito (hamstring strain) and Kutter Crawford (right knee soreness) will all start the season on the injured list.  This put the rotation depth to the test immediately, allowing Fitts and others the opportunity to get their feet in the door for a starting slot.

Fitts already made a good accounting for himself last season, when he debuted in the big leagues as a September call-up and posted a 1.74 ERA over his first 20 2/3 innings in the Show.  Originally a member of the Yankees’ farm system, Fitts came to Boston as part of the three-player package New York sent to the Red Sox for Alex Verdugo last winter.  A 4.17 ERA in 116 2/3 innings for Triple-A Worcester paved the way for Fitts’ late-season audition in the bigs, and he has kept up the good form with a 2.45 ERA in 14 2/3 innings this spring.

While Fitts has booked his spot on the Opening Day roster, the Red Sox have plenty more decisions to make before breaking camp.  Some of the roster trimming continued today, as MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo and Christopher Smith report that right-hander Michael Fulmer and catcher Seby Zavala wouldn’t be making the team, and Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe reports that the same is true of veteran pitchers Matt Moore and Adam Ottavino.

Moore and Ottavino are both Article XX(b) free agents, so their minor league deals contain built-in opt-out clauses for today, May 1, and June 1 unless their teams have selected those contracts to the 26-man roster.  With the Sox informing Moore and Ottavino that they won’t be making the team, the ball is now in each player’s court as to whether or they’ll trigger their opt-out, or stick around in Boston’s farm system.

Zavala doesn’t have enough MLB service time to qualify for XX(b) status, but his deal have its own opt-out clause.  Zavala told Cotillo that he’ll report to Triple-A Worcester unless he hears about another 40-man roster opportunity on another team within the next 24 hours.  With Zavala not making the Opening Day cut, Carlos Narvaez looks to have all but officially wrapped up the backup catching job behind starter Connor Wong.

Fulmer’s two-year minor league contract doesn’t contain any opt-out provisions, so the former AL Rookie of the Year will head to Triple-A despite an impressive 0.96 ERA over 9 1/3 innings.  A UCL revision surgery kept Fulmer on the shelf for the entirety of the 2024 season, which is why he inked that two-year pact with the Red Sox in February 2024.  The early returns on Fulmer’s recovery look good, and he’ll bide his time in the minors waiting for a call to come for his return to the majors.

Beyond all of the internal options the Sox are considering, Cotillo and Smith write that the club could be looking to add some depth at first base.  Triston Casas is the starting first baseman, and among bench options, Wong, Romy Gonzalez, and Rob Refsnyder all have experience at the position, though Refsnyder hasn’t played first since 2020, and deploying Wong at first base obviously creates a bit of a crunch behind the plate.

According to Cotillo and Smith, the Sox could have some interest in reuniting with Dominic Smith, even though Smith perhaps isn’t an ideal fit since he and Casas are both left-handed hitters.  Smith played 84 games with Boston last year before being released in August, and Smith just re-entered the free agent market after opting out of a minors deal with the Yankees.

In some interesting behind-the-scenes Red Sox news, The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey detailed some of the many organizational changes Craig Breslow has overseen since being hired as Boston’s chief baseball officer in the fall of 2023.  Breslow has conducted something of an overhaul of several different departments within baseball options, ranging from installing new department heads to entirely changing how certain divisions operate.  The perception is that the Sox are adopting more of an analytical-based approach, as evidenced by staffing increases to the research and development department and cuts made within the various scouting divisions.

As one might expect, not all of these changes have been welcomed with open arms, creating some tension within current and former members of the organizational staff.  Breslow admitted that “without a doubt, we had to make really difficult decisions,” but “my hope is that whether people agree with those decisions or not, they understood that we were making the best decisions that we could in order to further this goal we have of competing for World Series championships year over year.  I don’t know that there’s a finish line.  We need to constantly evolve, track our progress, reevaluate.”

Poll: The Red Sox Second Base Battle

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Entering Spring Training, there was plenty of buzz around the future of the second base position in Boston. However, that buzz mostly surrounded the wild card that was the club’s recent addition of Alex Bregman, a third baseman by trade but one who had expressed a willingness to move to second base. That led to plenty of belief that Bregman could slide over to the keystone in deference to incumbent third baseman Rafael Devers, but all indications point towards the club shifting Devers to DH with Opening Day just over a week away.

That leaves a relatively wide-open battle for the second base job this spring. For most of camp, that’s appeared to be a battle between incumbent David Hamilton, top prospect Kristian Campbell, and Vaughn Grissom. While Grissom was the prize of the Chris Sale trade and intended to be the club’s starting second baseman last year, he struggled with injuries and ineffectiveness throughout the year as he got into just 31 big league games and hit a paltry .190/.246/.219 in that time. After Grissom struggled once again in Spring Training this year, hitting just .176/.300/.235 across 13 games, it was hardly a surprise when his bid for the starting second base job came to a close when the Red Sox optioned him to Triple-A yesterday.

Grissom’s exit from the race to start at the keystone in Boston this year didn’t fully narrow the field, however, as another candidate has entered the fray: top infield prospect Marcelo Mayer. While Mayer entered camp seemingly unlikely to earn a spot on the Opening Day roster given the fact that he has yet to play at the Triple-A level and missed much of last year with an injury, the 22-year-old is a consensus top-20 prospect in the sport for a reason and has turned heads this spring with a phenomenal .357/.438/.536 slash line in 15 spring games. That strong work, in conjunction with Mayer’s .307/.370/.480 slash line in 77 Double-A games last year, paint a clear picture of a player who’s ready for a new challenge.

It’s become easier to imagine that challenge being in the majors, though it would certainly be defensible for the club to instead simply promote him to Triple-A and wait for him to prove himself at the position as well. After all, Mayer has spent his entire career at shortstop aside from single-game cameos at third base in each of the past two seasons. He’d not played second base before until this spring and still has only a handful of innings at the position as things stand. While it’s not unheard of for talented players to make the jump from Double-A to the majors and hold their own or even excel offensively, doing that while also learning a new position would be a big ask for any player.

That could make one of the club’s other options more attractive. If the club wants to give Mayer more time to develop while still injecting its Opening Day lineup with some youthful upside, Campbell would be a viable alternative. The 22-year-old is a consensus top-ten prospect in the sport, even more highly rated than Mayer by most services, after a phenomenal year where he catapulted himself from High-A all the way to Triple-A across just 115 games and crushed the ball at every level along the way. After a 19-game stint at Worcester last year where he hit an impressive .286/.412/.486, Campbell entered camp with a clear path to making the club’s Opening Day roster. That path has been complicated, however, by a lackluster spring where he’s hit just .158/.289/.211 in 16 games.

Those offensive struggles, in conjunction with defense at second base that grades out as more decent than spectacular, have created questions as to whether the Red Sox would be better served with more time at Triple-A, serving as depth for the club both at second base but also in the outfield, where he spent 25 games last year in an effort to create more positional versatility. On the other hand, however, Campbell is clearly a strong talent who has proven he can hit at the Triple-A level. He’s also the only right-handed bat in the mix for the everyday second base job with Romy Gonzalez ticketed for a bench role. That’s a factor worth considering given the heavily left-handed makeup for a Red Sox lineup that figures to rely on Devers, Jarren Duran, Triston Casas, Masataka Yoshida, and Wilyer Abreu in significant roles throughout the year, to say nothing of top prospect Roman Anthony. Campbell joining Bregman and Trevor Story as a right-handed hitter who can offer some pop and keep opposing southpaws honest could help balance the lineup in a way that neither Mayer nor Hamilton can offer.

Speaking of Hamilton, he would be a viable alternative to running with a youngster at second base in the event that the club prefers more stable production to begin the season. The 27-year-old doesn’t offer much upside with the bat, having posted a .248/.303/.395 slash line in 98 games last year that probably isn’t too far from his realistic ceiling, but his defense and baserunning are both top-notch and allowed him to put up 2.6 bWAR/1.7 fWAR in just 317 trips to the plate across 98 games last year. Hamilton would also be much easier to justify platooning with Gonzalez than Mayer, who will likely need regular playing time to maximize his development. That could help to alleviate concerns about carrying another left-handed hitting regular for Red Sox brass this year.

As is the case with all top prospects nearing their big league debuts, service time is another consideration. It’s possible that the Red Sox could capture a seventh year of team control over either Campbell or Mayer by holding them down in the minors for at least the first few weeks of the season. And with stars this valuable. that’s surely a tempting possibility. With that being said, the current CBA’s prospect promotion incentive makes the decision to leave a player in the minors to try and get an extra year of service a more complicated one than it was in the days of Kris Bryant and George Springer. If either Campbell or Mayer were to finish within the top two of AL Rookie of the Year voting this year, they would be awarded a full season of service time regardless of how many days they actually spent in the majors.

What’s more, if either player earned a full year of MLB service naturally and either won Rookie of the Year this year or was a finalist in AL MVP voting during his pre-arbitration years, the Red Sox would earn an additional draft pick in the following year’s draft. Given that, if the Red Sox believe there’s a clear path for either youngster to succeed enough that they finish within the top two for Rookie of the Year this season, they might be incentivized to simply put that player on the roster to begin the year in hopes of recouping a draft pick.

Who would you start at second base on Opening Day if you were in Boston’s position? Does Campbell’s Triple-A experience or Mayer’s strong camp hold more weight in your mind? Or perhaps Hamilton is the safest bet that offers the club an opportunity to keep both Mayer and Campbell in the fold for longer? Have your say in the poll below:

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