Boston Red Sox left field carousel
By Sean Penney
Perhaps the best solution will be to fill the position internally. Top outfield prospect Andrew Benintendi has been rapidly rising through the farm system since being selected in the 2015 draft last summer. He’ll begin the year in High-A Salem, but there are those optimistic enough about his potential to foresee him cracking the big league roster by next year.
The 21-year old hit .313/.416/.556 in his first taste of minor league action across two levels last season. He’s a center fielder, but that spot is already taken by Bradley as long as he continues to hit enough to warrant a starting role, while Betts figures to be a more viable option to take over if he doesn’t. That could lead to the Red Sox targeting Benintendi as their left fielder of the future.
While Benintendi may be oozing with potential, he still has a lot to prove in order to work his way on to the major league scene. We may be getting ahead of ourselves in projecting him to make the roster out of camp next season, which means there is a solid chance that the Red Sox will end up using a different left fielder on Opening Day for the 10th straight season.
If the Red Sox can’t find a solution in free agency or on the trade market next winter then Benintendi becomes the next great hope for an answer to their left field problem. If the promising prospect doesn’t pan out then the carousel will continue to spin.
Letting go of Manny was the right decision at the time, but all these years later the Red Sox are still searching for a viable replacement.
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It took the Red Sox over a decade to solve the riddle at shortstop, now left field is proving to be an even bigger challenge. Dombrowksi dazzled us with his ability to find solutions for the front of the rotation, bullpen and bench in his first offseason at the helm. Now let’s see if he can solve a puzzle that has left the Red Sox stumped ever since they parted ways with an enigmatic superstar.