Red Sox Rumors: Will Eduardo Nunez stay in the AL East?
By Jake Ellis
The Red Sox, Blue Jays and even possibly the Yankees are among the teams in play for Eduardo Nunez. Will he stay in the AL East?
Eduardo Nunez was the best pickup that the Boston Red Sox made last season at the trade deadline. Now he’s a free agent.
With the Red Sox, Nunez batted .321 with 8 home runs, which doubled his home run total with the San Francisco Giants, and came through multiple times in the clutch.
His half season in Boston has made an impression on virtually the entire AL East. According to FanRag’s Jon Heyman, the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jay have joined the Red Sox in showing interest in the free agent infielder.
red sox, blue jays and possibly yankees are among teams in play for eduardo nunez
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 13, 2017
The Red Sox and Yankees could use a player like Nunez, who can fill the second base void both teams currently have to open the 2018 season. Boston will have Dustin Pedroia on the shelf recovering from knee surgery until at least May, while the Yankees may have an opening at second after they let go of Starlin Castro to acquire Giancarlo Stanton.
If the Red Sox bring Nunez back, he could be used in all sorts of situations. He could take over the second base spot, or give Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers the opportunity to take a game off here and there.
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With the Yankees, I feel like he would be their every day second baseman. Didi Gregorius has the shortstop spot locked down, but with Chase Headley getting traded he could take over at third base. Just imagine him in the middle of that lineup between the three-headed monster of Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge and Stanton. That lineup would get even scarier.
With the Blue Jays, he’d be entering a very bare cupboard of offensive talent. Other than Josh Donaldson and a healthy Troy Tulowitzki, what do they have? Sure, he would be an upgrade over both Darwin Barney at second base and Ryan Goins at shortstop, but going to a team that is not going to be competitive does not seem like something that Nunez would do, especially if he has a possible World Series ring on his mind.
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Nunez has a choice to make. Does he want to go back to Boston where he had stellar second half and helped lead the team to the playoffs? Or does he want to try and help a new team, either the Blue Jays or Yankees, and help make that lineup even more deadly than it already is. It will be something to keep an eye on as the free agency period is beginning this winter.