Red Sox to acquire Alejandro De Aza from Orioles
The Red Sox have added some extra depth to their outfield but, rather than acquiring a legitimate difference-maker to the team’s underwhelming offense, they have more likely perpetuated the revolving door of the roster’s 25th man. Boston has acquired Alejandro De Aza, designated for assignment last week, from the Orioles in another minor move.
De Aza, who was expected to be an everyday player for the Orioles this season, has disappointed in 2015. In 30 games thus far, he is slashing a meager .214/.277/.359 and sporting a terrible 71 wRC+ mark, indicating that he has produced runs at only 71% of the league-average rate.
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There’s hope for De Aza to improve from this rough start. He hasn’t been nearly this bad in recent seasons, hitting .252/.314/.386 for a roughly league-average line last season and bringing some speed (17 steals last season) to the table. And while De Aza’s poor start to the season can be partially attributed to bad luck as his BABIP is an unusually low .288 (exactly 40 points below his career average), his career-high strikeout rate of 30.4% also is likely responsible.
As the Orioles designated De Aza for assignment last week, it’s safe to say that the Red Sox didn’t give up anything of value for him. However, it’s also tough to say exactly where De Aza fits on the 25-man roster.
The Red Sox will presumably designated Carlos Peguero for assignment, as he has mostly languished on Boston’s bench since being acquired from Texas. De Aza will probably fill that role of the 25th man on the roster, featuring irregular playing time and very little opportunity to improve his slow start to the season. Though the Red Sox offense has been crushingly disappointing this season, outfield is hardly an area of weakness for the Red Sox and it’s tough to see De Aza figuring in as a regular barring an injury.
Don’t expect De Aza to make much of a difference in 2015, but he at least brings a track record of success to the table and ought to be more useful than Peguero at the least.