Boston Red Sox fans should embrace the roster “retooling”

The near future is brighter than some may think for the Red Sox

We all know this Boston Red Sox team, as of right now, isn’t World Series material on paper by any means. Maybe even the next few years. Possibly not even playoff bound. While that all might be the case, we all shouldn’t totally write off the near future for this team.

The team’s farm system isn’t the greatest. Not to mention there isn’t one team that hasn’t gone through a rebuild at some point in there history. Even the rival New York Yankees, from 1989-92, finished below .500 every year during that stretch.

I’m not sure I would even call this a rebuild exactly. It’s more of a retooling, maybe barely, but still closer to that than a total rebuild. That in itself should put fans at ease, at least a little bit. Did the Red Sox ship off one of the best players in franchise history, Mookie Betts, last season? Yes, yes they did. Most of the time when a team trades its franchise player it’s the start of a rebuild.

Like I said earlier, the farm system isn’t the greatest, so they can’t exactly rely on the development of a bunch of players. Which is why it’s more of a retooling.  Though there are a few guys in the minors that could make an impact soon – outfielder Jarren Duran, corner infielder Triston Casas and shortstop Jeter Downs.

Casas and Downs were named to ESPN’s top 100 prospect list. Jeter Downs at no. 42 and Triston Casas at no. 52.  I outlined Duran as a possible replacement for Benintendi in an earlier article. With Benintendi gone to Kansas City now, it might be more of a possibility.

The jury is still out on whether or not any of the three will make an appearance at all this upcoming season. Spring Training will give us all a better  idea on that, with the trio getting a majority of the playing time.

Duran is a speedy outfielder who gets on base well, and can hit a bomb over the fence every once in a while. Casas is a power hitting corner infielder, who would complement either Dalbec or Devers well on the other side. Downs could come in and play second to pair with Bogaerts in the middle, hits for contact well and has good range.

The signings that have been made this offseason make it more of a retooling. While the players that joined the team aren’t the top free agents, there are players that have had solid careers that could make an impact in. Garret Richards, had a couple good years in LA with the Angels but was less than average with the Padres. Maybe coming back to the American League is what he needs. Kike Hernandez doesn’t hit that great overall, and might not get on base consistently but he hits lefties and can play almost every position. Which is exactly what suits the Red Sox at this moment.

The Red Sox are testing certain types of players to see what fits their future everyday players like the trio of Casas, Duran and Downs. It’ll be an interesting season, and I’m hopeful for the future.