3 things Boston Red Sox need to do now that the MLB lockout is over
Boston Red Sox offseason to-do list item No. 3: Find some infield depth
For the most part, Boston’s infield is in a good place for the upcoming season. Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts still occupy third base and shortstop (although that could change shortly) while Christian Arroyo and Bobby Dalbec are currently in line to slot in at second and first base. Dalbec struggled at times last season, and Arroyo missed a good chunk of the season with a slew of injuries and a bout of COVID, so neither guy is set in stone there.
This isn’t a horrible infield unit by any stretch of the imagination, but it could certainly be upgraded upon. Devers and Bogaerts are both defensive liabilities at times at their positions, Arroyo lacks durability, and Dalbec struggled to get on base for long stretches of last season. Kike Hernandez lurks as a do-it all infielder when needed too, but his capabilties are needed in the outfield for now (more on that in a minute).
There have been rumors that Boston is lurking as a dark horse candidate for big name free agents such as Carlos Correa or Freddie Freeman, but that seems quite unlikely at this point. While thier infield has some flaws, there are other areas on the roster that need more help than here. So while it would be nice to fantasize about adding a guy like Correa or Freeman, I wouldn’t count on it happening.
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The more likely option is adding a bench player or two to fill out the roster. A candidate for this role would be Jose Iglesias, who hit .356 with Boston over 23 games late in the season. Iglesias can play all over the infield in a pinch, and he showed some life with his bat during his short stint with the team last season.
The other move that will most likely happen at some point in the season is the arrival of Triston Casas. Some folks have clamored for the team to re-sign Kyle Schwarber, but it seems more likely the team will hand the role to Dalbec for now and eventually call up Casas, especially if he struggles. An Iglesias-Casas combo would cover all four infield spots off the bench, and do so for virtually no cost.