Red Sox: Five free agents that can replace Chris Young
The Boston Red Sox are in need of consistent offense from the fourth outfielder spot; a role Chris Young can no longer be depended on. What are the free agent options?
The Boston Red Sox have an exciting nucleus of young outfield talent in Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr., and Andrew Benintendi. What the Red Sox no longer have is a reliable reinforcement off the bench.
Chris Young, 34, used to be the veteran presence the Red Sox relied on as a fourth outfielder. However, after producing a .276/.352/.498 slash line with nine home runs and 18 doubles in 2016, Young’s numbers took a dive last season. In 2017, the veteran outfielder produced a .235/.322/.387 slash line with seven homers and 12 doubles.
This leaves the Red Sox in need of a new face to add depth and veteran presence. We can’t expect Betts, Bradley, and Benintendi to play all 182 games, and there aren’t any stellar backup options sitting in the clubhouse.
No, Brock Holt doesn’t count.
The Red Sox have had a rather uneventful offseason, but there are plenty of options still on the market to replace Chris Young. While signing a fourth outfielder won’t be a headline-grabbing acquisition that many Red Sox fans are looking for, it fills a huge need vital to the team’s health and productivity.
Last season, Seth Smith hit for his highest batting average (.258) since 2014 (.266) for the Baltimore Orioles. Smith, 35, also had his fewest plate appearances (373) since his rookie year in 2008. His fewest plate appearances in nearly a decade suggests Father Time may be catching up to the left-handed veteran, preventing him from taking the field as much as he’d like to.
Still, Smith showed last season he can still make decent contact, hitting 13 bombs and 19 doubles in his limited plate appearances. The Red Sox could use Smith as a pull-hitting threat off the bench, taking advantage of Fenway Park’s Pesky Pole. Smith doesn’t poke the ball to the opposite field too much, but if he can adjust his approach to hit more balls off the Green Monster, he may find his average raise even higher next season.
Additionally, Smith has shown he’s a reliable fielder over the course of his career, continuing that trend last year by turning in a clean sheet of fielding with no errors.
Errors can be deceiving and Smith isn’t exactly a speedster, but he shouldn’t have a problem blending in with the speedy, young Red Sox outfield. Play conservative, clean defense and make a living out of the right field fence is an easy strategy for Smith to follow — and for the Red Sox to count on.
On paper, Smith seems like a good fit for the Red Sox. However, statistically, Smith isn’t a perfect fit for Fenway. His numbers were underwhelming, going 5-23 with one double and two runs batted in last year. The last thing the Boston needs is a player who can’t produce at home, but a one season sample size shouldn’t be the only factor in signing Smith, who can offer the Red Sox reliable regular and postseason experience.
Jarrod Dyson isn’t going to hit the ball out of the ballpark too many times (only five all of last season) but he gives the Red Sox speed, athleticism, fielding and stolen bases. Those were the traits Boston thought they were getting with Rajai Davis when general manager Dave Dombrowski acquired the veteran late last season.
Davis failed to have much impact with the opportunities he was given, but Dyson, 33, is coming off a solid year for the Seattle Mariners hitting for .251 average with five homers and 30 RBI. Dyson also added 28 stolen bases. The speedy outfielder can provide the Red Sox the spark off the bench they thought Davis could be. The lefty slap hitter went 4-7 with a double and a stolen base at Fenway last season.
The stat that should pop out at the Red Sox is 28 stolen bases. Boston was ranked sixth in Major League Baseball last year with 106 stolen bases, and adding about 30 more could make this team deadly on the base paths.
Sure, Dyson won’t fix Boston’s power problem, but stealing bases can produce more scoring opportunities and runs — something the Red Sox can counter the Bronx Bombers with. But it will take some negotiating from Dombrowski to convince Dyson of a fourth outfielder role. He nearly had 400 plate appearances last year and hasn’t had less than 300 since 2015.
Maybe the best solution to an area of need is to reach out to an old friend. Daniel Nava has always been a player that many fans root for. Nava is a player who plays the game the right way by doing all the little things coaches look for while serving as a positive clubhouse influence.
Nava, 34, made his debut with the Red Sox in 2010 and served as a platoon/fourth outfielder during his four and a half years in Boston. After bouncing around the American League throughout his career, never quite settling in offensively.
Fast forward to 2017, Nava has rekindled the spark in his swing, earning a .301/.393/.421 slash line for the Philadelphia Phillies. A .301 average from a fourth outfielder would be an excellent addition to Boston’s depth. A veteran who is familiar with Fenway Park, willing to run right through the Green Monster if manager Alex Cora asked him to.
Nava also adds the ability to hit from both sides of the plate, allowing the Red Sox to keep their lineups flexible. However, it may be wise to keep Nava batting lefty in most scenarios. According to FanGraphs, Nava hit for a .341 batting average with three HR and 14 RBI last season from the left side of the plate vs right-handed pitchers. He was held to a .188 batting average with one HR and seven RBI when batting right-handed.
Daniel Nava isn’t much of a power hitter, but he does just about everything else effectively at a cheap price.
Eric Young Jr. (EY) has never been an offensive powerhouse. Young has batted .248 with 12 HR for his career. Young, 32, also only managed to hit five doubles last year with all the speed he possesses, signaling a red flag.
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However, EY hit his second highest batting average of his career (.264) and HR (four) for the Los Angeles Angels. It may be single-or-bust for EY at the plate, but he provides the Red Sox with excellent fielding and speed. Similar to Dyson, Young could improve the amount of scoring opportunities and runs for the offense.
Young’s career stats aren’t very impressive, but producing one of the best years of your career at 32 suggests bigger things are ahead for your career. A player who is athletic enough to impact the game in multiple ways still has plenty to give toward the end of his career.
Not only can Young serve as a backup outfielder, but he also can serve as a backup second baseman if need be. This allows the Red Sox to plug in a cheap alternative if Dustin Pedroia needs extended time off.
If given an opportunity, Young could see an uptick in doubles if he’s able to slap the ball off the Monster and use his speed to stretch singles into doubles. Young isn’t a perfect fit, but he’s an inexpensive option in a market that favors power over speed.
Jayson Werth has always been a starter who thrives in the spotlight, and limiting him to a platoon or bench role would be very difficult to imagine. But Werth, 38, has battled injury after injury throughout his years for the Washington Nationals. In fact, he was limited to 70 games last season.
His numbers weren’t pretty last year, only hitting a .226 batting average with 10 HR and 29 RBI.
However, it’s those same numbers that may convince him to take a platoon/fourth outfielder role. It’ll allow Werth to stay fresher throughout the season, while the young Red Sox outfielders protect the amount of distance Werth has to travel in the field.
Werth can become a lot like Chris Young for the Red Sox; producing powerful offense off the bench as a fan favorite. Again, Dombrowski will have to convince Werth to buy in as a veteran presence who can lead by example at the end of his career. If the long haired outfielder can still hit with some pop, he can be exactly what the doctor ordered for Boston’s power prescription.
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The problem is, Werth may feel like he’s “Werth” being an everyday starter. Additionally, he may look for an expensive contract, since he’s had one his whole career. The money will have to make sense for both sides — perhaps an affordable one-year deal– as the Red Sox have other needs to add and Werth doesn’t satisfy all of them.