This offseason will be about who the Red Sox keep and let go. But, there are a couple of new faces who could be brought in on a budget.
A number of changes are on the horizon for the Boston Red Sox. This ballclub reaches the dawn of a new era under Chief Baseball Officer, Chaim Bloom, with plenty of decisions to be made. While the majority of the focus will be on which of Boston’s star players will stay or depart Fenway Park over the next season or so, this team will need to bring in new faces if they want to remain as competitive as it should be.
The key thing that this new front office is going to be focusing on, evidently, is the payroll, and doing whatever it takes to stay under the luxury tax. So, there aren’t going to be any huge free agent moves, like we saw two years ago with J.D. Martinez, but there are plenty of bargain free agents on the market that could help this Sox side in this transitional period of theirs.
This years’ free agency class isn’t jam-packed with star players. There are a number of All-Star caliber players, however, and plenty of options to strengthen for any ball club looking to do so. For the Sox, nobody really knows what or who they should be signing at this moment in time. With Mookie Betts entering his final year of arbitration and a contract extension not looking like it’s going to happen right now, the Red Sox are in a very weird place. With Bloom tasked with reducing payroll, there could be trades happening this year that could have dramatic effects.
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One player that sticks out from the mid-tier of free agent talent is Howie Kendrick. The second baseman enjoyed a fantastic 2019 season with the Washington Nationals, which ultimately ended with them defeating the Houston Astros in the Fall Classic.
Kendrick, the 36-year-old vet, had one of his most productive seasons with a career-high .344 batting average. The 2011 All-Star drove in 62 and he was utilized everywhere in the infield apart from shortstop.
Kendrick carried his form into the postseason, becoming an extremely key piece of this Nats team. He recorded 18 hits with 12 RBI in the playoffs and picked up the NLCS MVP award. He was 3-for-4 with 3 RBI in Game 3 of their 4-0 series sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals.
The right hander’s experience at second base would give this Red Sox what they need, whilst not knowing how much club legend Dustin Pedroia will be able to play this season. Kendrick’s ability to cover three positions in the infield would give the Sox that utility player they need with Brock Holt looking like he’ll be joining another ball club this offseason, after a stellar career in Boston.
According to MLB Trade Rumours, Kendrick is projected to make around $12 million over a period of two years. Now, $6 million a season is still a significant payout for the Sox to make, but for someone with Kendrick’s experience, and still with plenty of talent, paying that sum for him to come into this clubhouse to help the transition on and off the field should be considered a wise move.
Whether the big moves are going to be made now or later, we’ll wait to see. They do seem pretty ominous at this point though. Sox fans will hope that Bloom bites the bullet and gives Betts what he wants, and, quite frankly, deserves, but it seems like the front office is pretty adamant on keeping their expenditure restricted as much as they can. Any moves that do get made by the Sox will need moves to be made for players to come in – if they want to compete now. Kendrick seems to be a low-risk, high-reward one at $6 million a year.