Your (maybe) Red Sox 2020 second baseman: Mookie Betts

How do you possibly make the improbable possible such as moving Red Sox star Mookie Betts to second base? A pile of pieces would have to fall into place.

I can sense the outrage over such a preposterous proposal of taking the best right fielder and possibly the best player in baseball and shifting him to second base. Several years ago in an article,  I contemplated the future of Betts with the Red Sox and just where do you play him? Betts was at that juncture in his career as a second baseman and Dustin Pedroia had that position in a lockdown vice.  No more.

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Moving Betts is the ultimate long shot, but baseball has strange moves. If you told me that someday I would consider Betts on a par or even exceeding the defensive magnificence of Dwight Evans and Al Kaline I would suggest some type of intervention. No more debate – Betts is a better player and better defensively than both.

The idea of putting Betts in harm’s way is having Dustin Pedroia as the example of what dangers lurk around second base.  Careers can be ruined or derailed with an errant feed from short, an aggressive slide, or just making an acrobatic move that results in a body cast. Is Betts adroit enough to avoid catastrophic injuries? Baseball is littered with those that have survived and vaulted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Circumstances have to be just right to make such an adventurous move – probably far more difficult than making the perfect souffle. The issue front and center stage is the condition of Pedroia. That we will not know until 2019 is in the books.  If Pedroia can perform up to his usual standards it is certainly no deal. If Pedroia can still hit but is questionable defensively then you have some possibilities.

A Pedroia with a good bat and lousy range can be shifted to first base or designated hitter.  But what about Betts’ outfield slot? Gold Glove right fielders are certainly not at a premium.  Dave Dombrowski cannot go on Amazon Prime and have one shipped out. There is always J.D. Martinez – if he chooses to stay, but his glove work is questionable. Andrew Benintendi is most capable and so is Jackie Bradley Jr. if he is still around.

Then you have Betts himself who has certainly found his comfort zone. Would Betts even consider a short-term transition back to the infield? I would certainly not view a switch as a lifelong obligation, but possibly a mid-career hiatus.

Betts appears the type who could care less where he plays as long as he plays and Betts certainly did not summarily dismiss such a proposal during the season. To this day he still frequently takes fielding practice at second base to keep himself fresh at the position.

Players move positions and star players often move when circumstances intercede or certain skill sets diminish. The great Cal Ripken Jr. moved from short to third as did a present-day former Orioles Manny Machado. And DH has been a lifeline for extending careers when the glove started to become a liability, but for Betts that would not be the circumstance.

This is most certainly a flight of fancy that would need the most extraordinary set of circumstances to transpire to even consider such a high-profile and questionable move. The negatives certainly outweigh the positives, but, alas – baseball is a very strange game.