Boston Red Sox: C.J. Chatham needs to be on Opening Day roster

Spring Training has not even come yet, and the Boston Red Sox already have some roster issues. An easy solution is having C.J. Chatham on Opening Day.

Welp, the Boston Red Sox pulled the trigger. They traded Mookie Betts, and David Price. Okay, technically there are a ton of issues with the deal. That could lead to it not happening.

However, it’s pretty clear that Boston isn’t afraid to make a deal, and it’s very very likely Betts and Price aren’t around by the time the season starts.

That marks the beginning of a rebuild of sorts. It’s not a complete rebuild, because this team could still compete.

Xander Bogaerts is a top-2 shortstop in baseball and Rafael Devers is a monster. J.D. Martinez is a machine at the plate and players like Andrew Benintendi and Christian Vazquez hold a lot of value.

Oh, and Chris Sale and Eduardo Rodriguez are still on the team as well, giving them two great starting pitchers.

All that being said, there are holes too. Holes in the rotation and bullpen especially. But there are also holes in the lineup as well.

The biggest one is at second base. Where the options are Jose Peraza and Michael Chavis. I really like Chavis still, but he’s much better at first base. Meanwhile, Peraza has a career slash line of .273/.312/.374. That’s not very good, especially considering the bulk of that came in his 2018 campaign, which was followed up with a dreadful 2019.

There are other options though. Jonathan Arauz is getting his name thrown around, but he’s a career .243 hitter in the minors, and doesn’t hit for power. Marco Hernandez is the other name.

There’s one more though, one that people aren’t talking about. C.J. Chatham.

It should come as no surprise that I’m a fan of Chatham’s game. This isn’t just me advocating for a friend of the website though.

Chavis has the distinct advantage when it comes to power and Peraza is going to steal more bases. Other than that, no candidate is beating Chatham in any category.

Chatham is a better all-around hitter than anyone. He’ll get on-base at a higher clip, and he’ll play smoothest at second base.

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He also has a chance to get the second-highest number of steals behind Peraza, and will by far be the second-best power hitter (thanks to being a doubles-machine) behind Chavis.

Chatham’s also a contact hitter, that’s something the Red Sox could use as they have quite a few hitters prone to the K. The right-handed hitter has never struck out even 90 times in a season so far.

He’s also coming off two fantastic years in the minors and is a right-handed bat that would be in a lineup featuring a ton of lefties.

Chatham already has the potential as a .300 hitter with 70-plus RBI (pending where he hits) and 100-plus runs scored. He gives the Red Sox their best option at second base. At the same time, it’s a signal to fans that Boston is ready to bring in a new wave of stars, but stay away from that “rebuilding” phase too much.

I’m not saying they have to start Chatham on Opening Day. Give him a chance in Spring Training though. He will prove himself and earn a roster spot. Even if he isn’t a starter right away, he’ll give depth at second (and shortstop) and will likely win a larger role in no time.

The Boston Red Sox need to do everything they can to fill the holes in the offense with Mookie Betts basically gone. C.J. Chatham is the right man for the job at second base. Make it happen.