Red Sox: A mea culpa for my articles during the 2017 season
By Rick McNair
So much for my long-range thinking as I wished to see the Red Sox trade for Jose Iglesias and move Xander Bogaerts to third to finally resolve the third base issue. In my futuristic vision, Rafael Devers was an afterthought as I had already condemned Devers to a few more seasons of developmental purgatory in Portland and Pawtucket.
The Red Sox obviously have no intention of a trade for a third baseball or any other roster manipulation that would solidify third. Devers did that with a remarkable rookie season that saw the 20-year-old left-handed hitter swat .284 with significant run production and power as exemplified with 10 home runs and 30 RBI. Devers is the real deal and the playoff pressure showed something special with a pair of home runs and a .364 average.
Devers’ weak link is his glove work and that will be an ongoing issue in the future. Keeping Devers at third may eventually become an issue and maybe my ill-fated article will come to fruition, but that is well down the baseball highway at this point. The Red Sox apparently have that issue under control with Deven Marrero become the designated great glove when defense is needed.