Red Sox Option Jose Iglesias, Make 4 Other Cuts

The debate over the starting shortstop that occupied Fort Myers for much of spring training is now over.  The Red Sox announced they have optioned Jose Iglesias to AAA Pawtucket leaving Mike Aviles as the starting shortstop for your Olde Town Team.

For the record you could make the argument that Bobby V lost this round as he was quite vocal over the past week about wanting to keep Iglesias on the roster for Opening Day.  Ben Cherington (and quite possibly Larry Lucchino) thought differently and as a result the phenom shortstop is packing up his locker and leaving camp.

It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that Iglesias didn’t crack the 25-man roster.  Once again his offensive production is his Achilles heel producing a mere line of .200/.286/.280 this spring.  Naturally this is the area that the Sox want Iggy to work on before he gets recalled to the big league level.

“He’s working on things,” Valentine said. “About two weeks he had a mechanic that looked like was real functional. I think an 0-for-3 took him out of it. That’s one of the things that he has to develop, confidence in his program.” – courtesy of the Boston Globe.

Valentine admitted that sending Iglesias down was a difficult thing to do and that it was an emotional morning when he and Cherington broke the news to Iglesias.

One could argue that Iglesias didn’t so much lose the starting shortstop job as Mike Aviles won it outright.  He has been a force at the plate this spring as evidenced by his line .333, .333, .533, .867.  While his plate discipline can improve proven by his zero walks, he came out swinging from the get go and gave Bobby V every reason not to start Iglesias.  From a defensive standpoint, Aviles may not make the highlight reel as often as Iggy, but a solid glove and a reliable bat late in the lineup is a nice feature to have.

Similar to the Will Middlebrooks scenario, I have a feeling that we will be seeing Iglesias at Fenway before the year is over.

The other four cuts made by the Red Sox didn’t come as a surprise.  They included first baseman Lars Anderson, who very well could have been in his last Red Sox camp,  pitchers Justin Germano and Doug Mathis along with outfielder Josh Kroeger.

The roster is taking shape and by this time next week we will have an exact roster filled out.  Not many surprises left now, other than the debate over the rotation and if Ryan Lavarnway can stick with the big club.

Does the Iglesias move surprise you?  Let us know in the comments section.

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