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Bobby Dalbec

Red Sox To Select Pablo Reyes

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The Red Sox plan to select the contract of infielder Pablo Reyes, reports Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). Corner infielder Bobby Dalbec will be optioned to Triple-A Worcester in a corresponding active roster move, reports Christopher Smith of MassLive. Boston already had an opening on the 40-man roster after losing Zack Littell on waivers.

Reyes has played the 2023 campaign in the A’s system. The utilityman signed a minor league contract with Oakland and started the year with their top affiliate in Las Vegas. The Red Sox acquired him for cash this morning. It’s unclear whether Reyes’ deal with the A’s contained an upward mobility clause that required them to make him available if another team offered an immediate roster spot or whether Oakland made the deal out of courtesy. In either case, the 29-year-old returns to the majors for what’ll be a fifth season in six years.

A native of the Dominican Republic, Reyes began his career in the Pirates’ system. He reached the majors with Pittsburgh in 2018 and tallied a personal-high 157 plate appearances the following season. He was suspended for the entire 2020 campaign after failing a performance-enhancing drug test and Pittsburgh cut him loose at the end of that year. Reyes signed a minor league deal with the Brewers and cracked the MLB roster early in 2021. He’d appear in 59 games over the next two seasons.

Between Pittsburgh and Milwaukee, the right-handed hitting Reyes has a .238/.307/.361 batting line over 323 big league plate appearances. He owns a solid .273/.342/.440 slash in just under 1300 trips to the plate at the Triple-A level. That includes a .257/.385/.351 start over 21 games for the Aviators in 2023. He’s long shown solid plate discipline and contact skills without much power.

Reyes is out of minor league option years. Boston will have to keep him on the MLB roster or make him available to other teams via waivers. He brings a fair bit of flexibility to Alex Cora’s bench. He’s logged ample minor league work at both middle infield positions, third base and in left and center field. The bulk of his time — just over 3000 innings — has been spent at the keystone. He’ll add some middle infield depth behind the current starting duo of Enmanuel Valdez and Enrique Hernández.

As for Dalbec, he heads back to Triple-A after a brief recall from the minors. He’s appeared in just seven MLB games this year after topping 100 contests in each of the preceding two seasons. The right-handed hitter owns a solid .238/.374/.475 line over 23 games with Worcester but he’s striking out almost 40% of the time at the Triple-A level.

Red Sox Place Christian Arroyo On IL With Hamstring Strain

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The Red Sox placed second baseman Christian Arroyo on the 10-day IL with a right hamstring strain this morning, as noted by Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe. Boston recalled infielder Bobby Dalbec to take Arroyo’s spot on the active roster. No timetable has been announced for Arroyo’s return.

The move continues a series of injury woes in Boston’s infield that dates back to the offseason, when it was announced that shortstop Trevor Story would undergo elbow surgery and miss much of the 2023 campaign. Since then, the Red Sox have traded for Adalberto Mondesi, who has yet to make his club debut, and signed Yu Chang, who was placed on the IL with a fractured hamate two weeks ago after posting a slash line of just .136/.174/.341 in 17 games prior to the injury.

Arroyo, who will celebrate his 28th birthday at the end of the month, has endured struggles of his own in the early going this season, posting a .257/.295/.365 slash line that’s 23% below league average by measure of wRC+ in 79 trips to the plate this season. Recently, he had begun to cede his regular playing time at second base to Enmanuel Valdez, who has slashed a solid .343/.361/.514 (137 wRC+) in 10 games since taking over for Chang on the roster. With Arroyo on the shelf, Valdez should have plenty of runway to make the case for himself at second base going forward in Boston.

Dalbec, 28 in June, figures to serve as the backup infielder behind Valdez and shortstop Enrique Hernandez. Dalbec has primarily played first base throughout his career, though he has experience at all four infield spots. A fourth round pick by the Red Sox in the 2016 draft, Dalbec made his MLB debut in 2020 and got off to a torrid start, with a 151 wRC+ in 23 games during the pandemic-shortened season. Since then, however, Dalbec has slashed just .229/.293/.437 (95 wRC+) with a worrisome 34.1% strikeout rate in 254 games at the big league level.

Red Sox Announce Several Roster Moves

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The Red Sox announced a series of roster moves ahead of this morning’s game against the Angels. The club has optioned infielder Bobby Dalbec to Triple-A and designated right-hander Jake Faria for assignment, while activating right-hander Brayan Bello from the 15-day injured list and recalling outfielder Jarren Duran from Triple-A.

Faria, 29, was selected to the roster just yesterday, is DFA’d without making an appearance for Boston. A career 4.70 ERA (90 ERA+) pitcher with a 20.9% strikeout rate and 10% walk rate in the major leagues, Faria will now likely look to catch on with another club, as the Red Sox have seven days to waive, trade, or release the right-hander. Faria last pitched in the major leagues in 2021, as he spent all of the 2022 season in the minors with the Twins.

Bello’s activation is no surprise, as he had already been announced as the starter for this morning’s game against the Angels. Long considered to be one of the club’s top prospects, Bello made his major league debut in 2022 and held his own, posting just a 4.71 ERA (90 ERA+) in 57 1/3 innings of work, though his strong 2.94 FIP, inflated .404 BABIP, and somewhat low 68.2% strand rate all indicate there was some bad luck baked into Bello’s performance last year. The 23 year-old will step into the Red Sox rotation, potentially replacing fellow young right-hander Tanner Houck in the long term, though the club appears poised to use a six-man rotation for the time being.

Dalbec, 28 in June, was a 4th round pick by the Red Sox in the 2016 draft, and impressed early in his career with a 114 wRC+ in 545 plate appearances in the 2020 and 2021 seasons. That impressive start to his career had a major red flag, however, as Dalbec was striking out in 35.8% of his plate appearances over that time. That penchant for strikeouts has continued in the years since, while Dalbec’s power dissipated. Dalbec hit 33 home runs, 24 doubles, and 5 triples from 2020-2021, but has managed just 12 home runs, 9 doubles, and 2 triples in 364 plate appearances since the start of the 2022 season. Dalbec will now head to Triple-A and serve as infield depth for the club going forward.

Duran, 26, figures to make his season debut today against the Angels. Despite an impressive .299/.366/.468 career slash line in the minors, including a .266/.353/.498 line in 641 Triple-A plate appearances, Duran has struggled mightily at the major league level since his debut in 2021, posting a career wRC+ of just 68 and -0.8 fWAR in 91 career games in the big leagues. Duran figures to provide further outfield depth behind starters Alex Verdugo and Masataka Yoshida in the corners and the current center field platoon of Raimel Tapia and Rob Refsnyder.

Adam Duvall Diagnosed With Fractured Wrist, Will Not Require Surgery

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Red Sox center fielder Adam Duvall has been diagnosed with a distal radius fracture in his left wrist, manager Alex Cora announced to reporters Monday (Twitter link via Ian Browne of MLB.com). He’ll be placed on the 10-day injured list for now, with the expectation that he’ll miss several weeks of action. The team does not yet have an exact timetable for his expected recovery, though Cora told reporters that Duvall will not require surgery (via Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe). Infielder Bobby Dalbec is up from Triple-A Worcester in place of Duvall, and utilityman Rob Refsnyder started tonight’s game in center field.

Duvall exited yesterday’s game after making a diving play in the outfield, appearing to injure the same left wrist on which he had season-ending surgery a year ago. He’s been not only the Red Sox’ hottest hitter but one of the hottest bats in all of baseball, opening the season with a .455/.514/1.030 batting line and four home runs in 37 trips to the plate.

While no one can be expected to continue on at that pace — Duvall is a career .233/.292/.472 hitter — there were still some encouraging gains in this season’s early showing. Duvall’s 25.6% chase rate on pitches of the plate is the lowest of his career and an improvement by 10 percentage points over his career mark, and his 85.5% contact rate dwarfs his career mark of 74.2%. Unsurprisingly, given the early improvements in his approach, Duvall’s 13.5% strikeout rate is less than half his career 28.3% mark.

With Duvall sidelined, it’ll likely fall to Refsnyder and Raimel Tapia to man things in center field. Refsnyder will get the first crack at that tonight, with the Sox facing left-hander Jalen Beeks in tonight’s date with the undefeated Rays. Moving forward, it’s reasonable to expect the left-handed-hitting Tapia to get the majority of looks on the larger half of what looks like a conventional platoon. If the Sox want to shift Enrique Hernandez from the infield back to the outfield, he’d be another option in center.

The injury is tough for Duvall not only because it’ll derail his hot start but also due to the nature of his contract. Duvall is a free agent after the season, having inked a one-year, $7MM contract over the winter and was hoping for a healthy, productive campaign to line him up for a multi-year deal next winter. His contract also contains up to $3MM worth of incentives based on plate appearances. Duvall earns $500K bonuses for reaching each of 350, 400, 450 and 500 plate appearances, as well as a $1MM bonus upon reaching 550 trips to the plate. Duvall’s broken wrist all but assures that he won’t reach the very top end of that bonus structure, though depending on how quickly he’s able to return, he could still have a chance to reach those first couple milestones.

Red Sox Reassign Jorge Alfaro To Minors, Option Bobby Dalbec

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The Red Sox announced to reporters, including Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe, that catcher Jorge Alfaro has been reassigned to minor league camp while infielder Bobby Dalbec has been optioned. That seemingly paves the way for catcher Connor Wong and infielder Yu Chang to make the club in reserve roles.

Alfaro, 30 in June, signed a minor league deal with the Sox in the offseason and seemed to have a legitimate chance to make the roster. Reese McGuire and Wong are the only two catchers currently on the club’s roster and the latter suffered a hamstring strain early in camp that seemed to open a path for Alfaro. However, Wong has since recovered and will be with the team on Opening Day.

It had been reported this offseason that Alfaro’s deal has an upward mobility clause, which meant that the Sox would have to contact the other 29 teams to see if any of them wanted to give him a roster spot, in the event he didn’t get one from Boston. As Abraham notes, he didn’t get an opportunity elsewhere and will seemingly head to Triple-A Worcester to start the season. He’ll give the club some experienced catching depth for the start of the season, though he has further opt-out opportunities on June 1 and July 1.

As for Dalbec, 28 in June, he debuted with a tremendous showing in 2020 but has dropped off since. He hit eight home runs in just 20 games in the shortened season, though with a concerning 42.4% strikeout rate. Those punchouts have continued to be an issue, as he’s posted rates above 33% in each of the past two seasons. His batting line last year ended up at .215/.283/.369 for a wRC+ of 80. The strong debut of Triston Casas last year has knocked Dalbec off the first base gig at Fenway and he’ll now head down to the minors to try to get in a good groove.

Chris Cotillo of MassLive reports that Dalbec will move all around the infield for the WooSox, perhaps allowing him to return to the big leagues in a utility role somewhere down the line. Dalbec has played all four infield spots in the majors but mostly at first, followed by some decent time at third and very brief spells in the middle. The club is on firmer ground at the corner, especially with Rafael Devers at third. Casas is inexperienced but will have first base locked down for years to come if he hits major league pitching. But the departure of Xander Bogaerts and the injury to Trevor Story leave the club with Enrique Hernández and Christian Arroyo as their main duo up the middle. Hernández has played a decent amount of shortstop but as a utility guy and not on an everyday basis, while Arroyo has mostly served as a backup to this point in his career. If Dalbec can become a serviceable defender up the middle, that would improve his chances of finding a path back to the club.

For now, the backup infield job will fall to Chang, who is out of options. He has struggled to hit in his major league time thus far but continues to intrigue teams due to his defensive versatility. He bounced around from the Guardians to the Pirates, Rays and Red Sox last year, eventually getting non-tendered by Boston but returning later in the offseason. He hit just .208/.289/.315 between those four clubs but is coming off a strong showing in the World Baseball Classic. He hit .438 while representing Chinese Taipei and won the Most Valuable Player award in Pool A. Adalberto Mondesi will also be in the mix for a backup infield role at some point, though he’s slated to begin the year on the injured list as he’s still recovering from last year’s ACL tear.

Bobby Dalbec Available In Trades, Rays Interested

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The Red Sox are making Bobby Dalbec available in trade talks, according to Sean McAdam of the Boston Sports Journal. McAdam adds that the Rays are one team that has expressed interest.

Dalbec, 27, is coming off a down year in Boston where he hit just .215/.283/.369 with 12 home runs and ultimately found himself optioned back to the minors in September. Dalbec struck out a whopping 33.4% of the time against an 8.2% walk rate. All told, that was good for a wRC+ of 80, or 20% worse than league average.

A former top-100 prospect, Dalbec burst onto the stage in the big leagues with an impressive, if short, sample in 2020. That year, he hit eight home runs in 23 games and amassed a 151 wRC+, although he did strike out in 42.4% of plate appearances. He came back to earth a bit in 2021, although still provided above-average production, slashing .240/.298/.494 with 25 home runs in 133 games.

Dalbec came through the minor leagues as a third baseman, but has spent most of his time in the big leagues at first. He did log some time at third, while also making a couple of short cameos at both middle infield positions. He was below average at first base, with Outs Above Average marking him at -1 and Defensive Runs Saved giving him -6 this year.

It’s not easy to see a path to much playing time in Boston for Dalbec, particularly coming off a poor season. Triston Casas made his debut in ’22 and looks set to get plenty of reps at first or DH, possibly splitting time with Eric Hosmer (if he stays on the roster). Over at third, Rafael Devers is locked in at third for next season at least so it makes some sense that the Red Sox might see what they can get for a former top prospect still young enough to turn things around.

Ever since trading Ji-Man Choi to the Pirates, the Rays have looked likely to be in the market for a first baseman. They’ve already been linked to the non-tendered Dominic Smith, and Dalbec would make sense for them as a buy-low, bounceback candidate. The right-handed hitter is still one year away from being arbitration eligible, so there’d be a decent amount of appeal there for smaller market teams in particular.

While the Rays make plenty of sense as a trade destination, it’s likely there’d be a few teams interested, perhaps some with a view to moving him back to third base. After all, Dalbec is only a year removed from a solid 106 wRC+ season and plenty of teams would surely take a chance on him as a cheap, power hitting bench bat with starter upside should he rebound.

Analyzing Boston’s First Base Decision

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Following an unexpected 2021 run that nearly culminated in a World Series berth, the Red Sox found themselves watching this year’s playoffs at home after finishing at the bottom of the AL East. One key area of criticism for the team was their production at first base. With four different players having at least 50 at-bats at the position, Boston struggled to a collective .210/.294/.369 slash line that ranked third-lowest in batting average, sixth-lowest in on-base percentage, seventh-lowest in slugging percentage, and resulted in wRC+ of 85, the fourth-lowest league-wide. This came only a year after Boston’s first basemen slashed a respectable .235/.310/.463, with a boosted .266/.366/.560 line during the second half of the season following the mid-season acquisition of slugger Kyle Schwarber (.291/.435/.522) and the seeming breakout of Bobby Dalbec (.269/.344/.611).

As discussed in MLBTR’s Offseason Outlook, Boston faces an interesting decision as the team looks to return to playoff contention in 2023. Currently, the Red Sox have four first basemen on their 40-Man roster: rookie Triston Casas, former top-prospect Bobby Dalbec, 1B/OF Franchy Cordero, and veteran Eric Hosmer. As free agency progresses, it’s plausible that at least one of these players loses their spot on the roster before Spring Training.

Starting with the obvious candidate to earn the bulk of playing time in Boston next season, September call-up Triston Casas. Selected by the Red Sox in the first round of the 2018 draft (26th overall), Casas profiles as an above-average hitter who peppers the ball across the entire field. After hitting .273/.382/.481 with 11 homers in Triple-A Worcester during the 2022 season, Casas made his major league debut. The 22-year-old showed promise in his limited at-bats, hitting .197/.358/.408 with five homers in 76 at-bats. Despite his weak batting average, he demonstrated tremendous plate disciple, walking at a 20% clip (compared to the 8.2% league average) while striking out at a slightly elevated rate (24.2% compared to 22.4%).

Casas is controllable through the 2028 season and will not be arbitration eligible until after the 2025 season, making him a favorite to potentially hold down first base in Boston for the better part of the decade.

Another front-runner to remain on the 2023 roster is righty Bobby Dalbec. Like Casas, Dalbec was a top prospect who made a promising debut late in the 2020 season, slashing .264/.359/.600 with eight home runs in 80 at-bats. Given these strong numbers, Dalbec was handed first base to start the 2021 season but struggled, hitting a weaker .219/.264/.409 during the first half of the season. His floundering led Boston to trade for reinforcement in the form of Kyle Schwarber.

However, the trade for Schwarber led to a boost in production from the youngster, with Dalbec hitting a resounding .269/.344/.611 during the second half of the season. Dalbec pointed to Schwarber as a source of his production, saying that the veteran helped him “get through the ball more” and allowed him to “pull the ball more instead of trying to force it out there” before more directly saying that Schwarber was “big for me,” per Khari Thompson of Boston.com.

On the heels of a strong end to his 2021 season, Dalbec was once again penciled in as the Red Sox first baseman and, once again, struggled. Over the first half of the season, Dalbec hit a paltry .205/.286/.344 with a high 31.3% strikeout rate. Following the All-Star break, he showed minor improvements, hitting .237/.277/.430, albeit with a mammoth 38.6% strikeout rate.

With just over two years of service time and a fraction of his 2020 trade value, the Red Sox will likely opt to keep the 27-year-old with the organization. Dalbec has two option years remaining, meaning that the Sox can send him to Triple-A Worcester without having to pass him through waivers and risk losing him to another organization.

Franchy Cordero began the 2022 season in Worcester but was called up in late April after veteran Travis Shaw began the season 0 for 19 with seven strikeouts. He spent most of the season in Boston, accruing 275 plate appearances and slashing a respectable .219/.300/.397 before suffering a right ankle sprain in early September and landing on the 60-day IL.

It was Cordero’s second season with the Sox, joining the team in the Andrew Benintendi trade with Kansas. During the second half of the season, the 28-year-old hit an interesting .191/305/.490 with two homers. MLBTR’s Offseason Outlook has flagged Cordero as a potential non-tender candidate with the six-season veteran projected to earn $1.5M through arbitration.

The last first base option currently on the Red Sox 40-Man is veteran Eric Hosmer. Acquired from the Padres along with prospects at the trade deadline, Hosmer is earning $39MM through the 2025 season, but San Diego is covering all but the league minimum MLB salary.

Since signing his now-infamous deal with the Padres, Hosmer has hit .265/.325/.410, a notable regression from his .292/.351/.449 line over his last five seasons with the Royals. He has had a poor start to his Boston career thus far, hitting .244/.320/.311 in 45 at-bats, but brings playoff experience and veteran leadership to a relatively inexperienced first base corp. Hosmer is also a four-time Gold Glove winner and could be used as a late-game defensive substitute and mentor to Casas before potentially being DFA’d later in the season if the Red Sox need a roster spot, speculatively speaking.

Returning to a general discussion, it is relevant to note that out of the four listed players, only Dalbec possesses a right-handed bat. Additionally, Dalbec has been a stronger hitter against southpaws, batting an above-average .268/.333/.522 against them (compared to .212/.278/.418 against righties) and may carve out a platoon role with the left-handed hitting Casas. Moreover, Cordero is the only player in the group that will be earning a “significant salary” (MLBTR projects him to earn $1.5MM), with Hosmer’s contract paid down to the league minimum by the Padres and Dalbec and Casas not yet reaching arbitration.

Lastly, with the Red Sox opting not to tender designated hitter J.D. Martinez a qualifying offer, Boston now has an open spot in their starting lineup. The team is expected to be active in the free agent market, but it is also plausible that they do not make any big exclusive DH addition and instead use the position to situationally rest players. If this is the case, there is a greater chance that all members of the quartet remain on the roster.

Red Sox Promote Triston Casas

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TODAY: Casas’ promotion was officially announced, with the Red Sox also calling up Josh Winckowski from Triple-A.  Houck was indeed moved to the 60-day IL, Dalbec was optioned to Triple-A, and right-hander Kutter Crawford was placed on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder impingement.  Crawford was supposed to start today’s game against the Rangers but Sox manager Alex Cora said yesterday that the righty would be scratched.  Winckowski will instead make today’s start.

SEPTEMBER 3: The Red Sox are going to add first base prospect Triston Casas to the team tomorrow, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive. That report has been confirmed by Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe, who adds that Bobby Dalbec will be optioned to Triple-A Worcester. Casas is not currently on the club’s 40-man roster, meaning they will have to open a spot for him. However, it would likely come down to transferring someone to the 60-day IL, such as Tanner Houck, who was previously reported to be done for the season.

Casas, 22, was selected by Boston in the first round of the 208 draft, 26th overall. He got a brief showing in rookie ball that year and jumped to A-ball to start 2019. He hit 19 home runs for the Greenville Drive while slashing .254/.349/.472, producing a wRC+ of 136 and earning a brief promotion to High-A to finish the year.

After that strong showing in his first full season as a professional, he was ranked the #70 prospect in the sport by Baseball America. Of course, the minor league seasons were canceled that year by the pandemic, preventing Casas from playing organized ball that season. In 2021, he split his time between Double-A and Triple-A, hitting 14 homers and slashing .279/.394/.484. He walked in 15.4% of his plate appearances while striking out in just 19.1% of them, producing a wRC+ of 141.

After that excellent season, he jumped up to #19 on BA’s 2022 top prospects list and seemed a candidate to make his major league debut this season. The Red Sox stuck with Dalbec as their first baseman to start the year and Casas was taken off the table when he suffered an ankle injury in May, returning to Worcester at the end of July. In Triple-A this year, he’s hit .273/.382/.481 for a wRC+ of 127, walking in 14.5% of his trips to the plate while going down on strikes just 21.5% of the time. He’s currently ranked as the #28 prospect in the league by Baseball America, #14 by FanGraphs and #31 by Keith Law of The Athletic.

Fans of the Red Sox have been calling for this move for some time, not just because of the strong showing of Casas, but also the struggles of Dalbec. After hitting 25 home runs last year and slashing .240/.298/.494 for a wRC+ of 107, he’s slumped this year to a showing of .211/.282/.363. That production is 22% below league average, as evidenced by his 78 wRC+. Based on those disappointing results, he and Casas will switch places, with Dalbec going down to the minors to try to get back on track.

The Red Sox are seven games behind the Blue Jays for the final Wild Card spot in the American League with three teams in between, making it very difficult for them to make a serious playoff run over the final month of the season. Regardless, they will give Casas a look over the remainder of the campaign to see how he fares against big league pitching in the next few weeks and hopefully go into the winter with some momentum towards next season. Eric Hosmer was acquired from the Padres at the trade deadline but is currently on the IL. Assuming Casas shows well enough to earn himself regular playing time, the club will have to figure out how to balance having both on the team.

With only a few weeks to go until the offseason, it’s unlikely that Casas will reach 130 at-bats here in 2022, meaning he will hang onto his rookie/prospect status through the winter. That’s a potentially important note under the new collective bargaining agreement. Players with less than 60 days of service who appear among two preseason Top 100 lists at Baseball America, ESPN or MLB Pipeline can net their team a bonus amateur draft choice based on their early-career finishes in awards voting, so long as their club carries them on the MLB roster for a full service year. If Casas cracks next year’s Opening Day roster and sticks around all season, and he wins a Rookie of the Year or places highly in MVP balloting during his first couple seasons, the club could pick up an extra draft choice down the line.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Red Sox Notes: Deadline, Murphy, Payroll, Hosmer, Dalbec

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As chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom had suggested in the days leading up to the August 2 trade deadline, the Red Sox resisted strict categorization as a “buyer” or “seller.” Boston dealt #1 catcher Christian Vázquez to the Astros, flipped reliever Jake Diekman to the White Sox for Vázquez’s replacement Reese McGuire, and acquired Eric Hosmer and Tommy Pham. While Boston reportedly listened to offers on J.D. Martinez, Nathan Eovaldi and Rich Hill, that group of rentals remained. So did stars Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers, neither of whom was apparently ever really available.

The unconventional approach was a response to the Sox’s status just outside the AL Wild Card picture. They sat two games back at the time of the deadline but had gone just 8-19 in July, leading to some calls for more dramatic action in either direction — either tearing the slumping roster down or more aggressively addressing its flaws. Alex Speier of the Boston Globe writes that the team’s more fluid approach to the deadline has confused various members of the organization, both uniformed personnel like players and coaches as well as some front office staffers.

Speaking with Speier, Bloom acknowledged the team’s atypical tack but expressed his belief the franchise wasn’t in position to act in a more specific direction. “I understand why people could look at what we did and scratch their heads. To us, it was pretty clear and pretty simple that the position we were in demanded a unique response.”

Speier sheds some light on some of the Sox’s pre-deadline discussions that didn’t ultimately come to fruition. He reports the club expressed some amount of interest in controllable A’s catcher Sean Murphy while also juggling potential shorter-term upgrades. According to Speier, the Red Sox contemplated a run at impending free agent relievers, but the club ultimately didn’t add to a bullpen that currently ranks 26th in the majors in ERA (4.42). At the same time, Boston apparently wasn’t motivated to shed the salaries of players like Martinez and Eovaldi to dip below the $230MM base luxury tax threshold. With the deadline passed, the Sox now look almost certain to pay the tax in 2022. The actual fee will be fairly small — likely just a couple million dollars — but it’ll set the Sox up to pay escalating penalties if they exceed the threshold again in 2023.

Not forcing midseason payroll cuts to a roster a year removed from an appearance in the ALCS is certainly understandable, but one could argue the Red Sox should’ve more aggressively added in that case. Pham and Hosmer do address the team’s biggest weak points on the position player side — right field and first base, respectively — but neither veteran is having a great season. One week certainly isn’t enough on which to base firm conclusions, but a 2-4 stretch since the deadline has dropped Boston five games back in the Wild Card race and only increased the difficulty of a late-season playoff push.

The deadline shuffle did cut into the playing time of a pair of regulars who haven’t performed as expected. Boston released Jackie Bradley Jr. last week, ending his second stint in the organization after a .210/.257/.321 showing through 290 plate appearances. Bobby Dalbec remains on the active roster, but he no longer seems to be Boston’s primary first baseman. Hosmer and Dalbec have platooned since the former was acquired, and the left-handed hitting Hosmer will be in line for the bulk of the playing time in that arrangement.

Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe writes that Dalbec will begin working at second base in an effort to expand his defensive flexibility. The 6’4″, 227 pound infielder has never started a professional game at second base. Aside from a few mop-up innings in the middle infield, he’s played the corners exclusively. Dalbec conceded he has atypical size for a middle infielder but expressed confidence in his ability to handle the keystone adequately.

The 27-year-old also voiced a desire for regular playing time. “The more I play, the better I’ll do. It’s always been like that. I’m used to being an everyday player. It’s hard to have success when you get at-bats here and there,” Dalbec told Abraham. “I’m not the player I will be. This is all part of the learning process. In terms of the organization, I don’t know how they view me. I just want to help the team win. Honestly that’s all that matters. I don’t see myself as a platoon player, but right now that’s what I am.“

Dalbec hit 25 home runs last season but struck out at an alarming 34.4% clip. The Red Sox nevertheless turned to him as the primary first baseman for much of the year, but he’s stumbled to a .205/.280/.369 line across 300 trips to the dish. Dalbec has made some modest improvements to his strikeout and walk numbers, but his contact quality and batted ball results have plummeted. After connecting on 51 extra-base hits in 133 games last season, he’s tallied 20 across 97 contests in 2022.

Both Hosmer and Dalbec could eventually lose playing time to top prospect Triston Casas, who returned from an injured list stint in Triple-A late last month. Recently named the #30 prospect in the game by Baseball America, the power-hitting Casas owns a solid .246/.350/.455 showing through 223 plate appearances with the Sox’s top affiliate in Worcester. The 22-year-old doesn’t have to be added to the 40-man roster until after the season, but it wouldn’t be surprising if he gets his first MLB look late this year if he continues hitting well with the WooSox.

Free Agency Notes: Mets, Richards, Red Sox, Profar, Bench Bat

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The Mets made a play for Garrett Richards before the veteran righty signed with the Red Sox, notes MLB Insider Jon Heyman (via Twitter). The Mets have made their rotation a project this offseason. They are seemingly in a good place even without Richards, however. Jacob deGrom, Carlos Carrasco, and Marcus Stroman make for a very strong top three, and hopes remain high that David Peterson will maintain a spot behind them. Noah Syndergaard plans to join that group at some point, and even if Seth Lugo returns to the bullpen, the Mets have no shortage of depth options – foremost of which might be the recently-acquired Joey Lucchesi. Beyond the ex-Padre, Steven Matz, Robert Gsellman, Franklyn Kilome, Corey Oswalt, and Jerad Eickhoff surely have eyes for the rotation. In other news…

  • The Red Sox themselves were runners-up in an attempt to sign Jurickson Profar, per the San Diego Union-Tribune. Boston, of course, ended up with Kiké Hernández on a similar, but shorter contract. It’s not clear if the Red Sox preferred Profar to Hernandez, though Hernández signing merely hours after Profar re-upped with San Diego is notable. Still, one does not necessarily follow the other. All we can say for certain is that Profar’s returning to San Diego thinned Boston’s market for versatile utility types. That the Red Sox engaged in parallel negotiations with similar players doesn’t actually speak to their priorities where those players are concerned.
  • After all, they may very well have been interested in signing both players, as Boston remains on the hunt for a lefty bench bat. In a perfect world, the Red Sox would find someone who could complement Bobby Dalbec at first, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com (via Twitter). Cotillo floats Marwin Gonzalez, Brad Miller, and Mitch Moreland as some players that might fit the bill. Boston’s bench leans heavily to the right at present, with Jonathan Arauz as one of very few organizational options as a lefty bat off the bench unless Jarren Duran makes the team out of spring training.
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