Red Sox Free Agent/Trade Options to Replace Dustin Pedroia

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BOSTON, MA – OCTOBER 08: Dustin Pedroia (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

The Boston Red Sox announced last week that veteran second baseman Dustin Pedroia will miss the beginning of the season after undergoing a successful left knee surgery.

At age 34, his recovery could come with problems as well that could extend his injury stint. Injuries have plagued him the past few years as well, so there is no real guarantee that he’ll ever be a productive player again even after an eventual recovery. Adding into account the questions about his leadership role, who knows how much longer his tenure could be with the Red Sox.

Taking these things into account, signing or trading for a second baseman (especially if Eduardo Nunez doesn’t re-sign) should become a priority for Dave Dombrowski and the Red Sox front office. Fortunately, there are some decent options available that should all be explored, including one idea for a blockbuster that could put the league on notice and solidify the club as a serious World Series contender.

With the development of Pedroia’s injuries as well as the uncertainty in the future of the position in the organization, the Red Sox should seriously look at Nunez coming back. We all know that it isn’t just a one-way street, however – Nunez has to want to come back.

There could be some sort of a platoon with players like Tzu-Wei Lin, Brock Holt, and Deven Marrero, but the uncertainty of performance in such a situation heading into a season would most definitely not be advisable.

So without further ado, here are my five early options for replacing Pedroia if Nunez does not re-sign.

Chase Utley

At first glance, many people including myself at first immediately jump to the fact Chase Utley is older than Pedroia. At 38, Utley is well past his prime days back in Philadelphia, where he played a huge role in the juggernaut that the Phillies were at the time. He has played a veteran role for the Dodgers and is back in the World Series for the third time in his storied career.

With a young core like the Red Sox, Utley would be a great glue guy as well as a leader. When it comes to the postseason, he has played in a total of 64 games. The experience of Utley could pay dividends around the team, even if he isn’t the elite second baseman we remember him like. Many have arguably looked at Pedroia as the veteran presence of this team, so Utley would make sense in terms of replacing him in that way.

Utley’s actual production capability could be why some would shy away from him. In 127 games this year for the Dodgers, Utley only hit .236 with eight home runs and 34 RBI’s in 309 at-bats.

There is no doubt that as we start to worry about Pedroia’s age, Utley’s own age has already become a problem. Since 2014, he hasn’t hit over .255 when he was still in his last full year with the Phillies.

Utley should be an option the club should look at. He also could have value off of the bench when Pedroia came back, but I couldn’t see him putting up much of a fight for the starting job after Pedroia returned.

Darwin Barney

Leaning slightly younger than Pedroia is Blue Jays second baseman Darwin Barney. At almost 32, Barney followed his .269 average in 2016 with a sub-par year this season on a team that vastly underperformed compared to their expectations. He isn’t any sort of game changer, but he is most definitely a solid option who plays sound defense with just 38 errors at second base in eight seasons.

Barney would also bring a veteran presence so to speak, although without the prominence of Utley. He has never been a huge threat at the plate, but if the Red Sox go out and get a power bat, they may be able to deal with Barney’s unimpressive numbers at the plate.

His career .246 average could most definitely be worse. He would likely be an improvement above our in-house options, but one could not easily project if his performance this year was an outlier, or if it is the start of his decline. At 31, he could easily be moving out of his prime and never be able to improve his numbers. So, in that case, he should not be expected to necessarily add a productive bat to the lineup.

His versatility could also be a plus, as he can play virtually all over the infield if needed besides first base. Upon Pedroia’s return, his versatility could find him more time in late game situations where the club needs solid defense.

Howie Kendrick

Howie Kendrick offers a much better offensive option, as in 2017 he hit .315 in 305 at-bats for the Dodgers, Phillies, and Nationals combined. Kendrick is a career .291 hitter who was still able to swipe twelve bags over the course of the season, which could fit in with the Red Sox if they continue to play the style of offense that they did this season. A veteran with speed could also help younger guys such as Andrew Benintendi out in terms of his over-aggressiveness on the base paths.

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A huge part of the Angels clubs even before Mike Trout, Kendrick was a spark plug for their offense in his prime. Since his 2014 departure, he’s bounced around as a seasoned veteran who can contribute to a winning club. He spent the end of the year with the Nationals who are a big postseason contender, but with another postseason failure and uncertainty surrounding the Nationals, he may want to move back to the American League.

The 34-year-old has the best WAR of any of the other aforementioned candidates and has proven that he still deserves to play in the majors. At almost the same age, he could give Pedroia a run for his money on the starting job if he doesn’t come back and perform down the stretch.

Adding Kendrick to the Red Sox lineup might be the best of these options, as he could still be a force and strengthen the bottom of the order.

Neil Walker

Neil Walker may be one of the most underrated free agents of the offseason. He hit .265 with 14 home runs this year between the New York Mets and the Milwaukee Brewers, and at Fenway, he could really put up decent numbers from the bottom of the lineup. He has two twenty home run seasons under his belt, and Fenway could work to his advantage from both sides of the plate in terms of average and power numbers.

Dee Gordon and Giancarlo Stanton

Yes, I acknowledge that this could be absolutely crazy to conceive. There may be a chance that we never even get close to trading for Giancarlo Stanton. The package needed for both of these guys would almost certainly be astronomical, and a move for just Stanton alone would put us over the luxury tax, but blockbuster is where Dave Dombrowski excels. Just think about this for a minute.

Stanton crushing balls straight into New Hampshire and Dee Gordon manning second base while slapping base hits and stealing a ridiculous amount of bases. Stanton took over all of the news out of Miami this year and rightfully so, but Gordon has stolen 50+ bags three times, including sixty this year, while tallying a .308 batting average. If these two wouldn’t ignite this offense and create a ridiculous amount of buzz around the team then nothing would.

Another blockbuster by Dombrowski, which would be his second in as many offseasons, could help him more than hurt him. The Red Sox fanbase is getting anxious after another divisional series thrashing, and Boston never stays complacent. This trade would be enormous, regardless of who we send to Derek Jeter‘s Marlins.

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Okay, back to reality: there is a high likelihood that this doesn’t happen. The Marlins certainly want to shed salary under new ownership. We’d give up a haul for it no doubt, maybe even things Dombrowski wouldn’t be willing to give up, but this is the hot stove and anything could happen.

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