The Boston Red Sox's upcoming offseason will be tumultuous for baseball operations boffins led by Craig Breslow.
The target will be the most cherished part of the baseball axiom of "strength up the middle." The possibilities and potential seem endless among Boston's many options.
The Red Sox double-play combo was slated to be Trevor Story and Vaughn Grissom. As with too many baseball plans, they go up not in flames, but injured list stints. Story, in particular, is cursed but has returned for September. Possibly for the naysayers, the real curse is the six-year, $140 million contract the Red Sox are locked into.
Grissom, as even the casual Red Sox fan knows, has spent much of the 2024 season in recovery. Some would say if Grissom were a horse, he'd be in a glue bottle or dog food, but the tide is changing, and a glimmer of hope is surfacing.
With Grissom and Story's injury woes, the Red Sox shopped both positions with moderate success or failure. The defense with David Hamilton and Ceddanne Rafaela was "meh," but it perked up with Story's limited innings. Second base was similar defensively, but Grissom was part of the mix. No Dustin Pedroia visions surfaced.
The Red Sox's middle infield competition will be mesmerizing
Rafaela is an intriguing defensive player who is occasionally erratic, but more often spectacular. His defensive game shows more in eyeball evaluation than advanced metrics, but is he the right choice at short? While Story is less spectacular, he is more consistent, and Boston's defense begs for consistency.
Offensively, the Red Sox squeezed moderate productivity out of the middle infield. In mid-September, Boston was sixth at short and fifth at second in the metrics scrum on Fangraphs.
For the lead ‼️ pic.twitter.com/vlCNrgRA12
— Red Sox (@RedSox) September 25, 2024
Second base has a variety of mix-and-match options, including Story. A personal favorite is Hamilton, with his game-changing speed and occasional surprise power. The downside is that Hamilton disappears when a fellow lefty is on the hill. He represents a quality insurance policy for shortstop or second base, probably at the expense of Romy Gonzalez and/or Nick Sogard.
Is Grissom a bust?
With Atlanta, Grissom showed he could hit and had some bite in his bat. A right-handed hitter who, like righty Story, could dramatically change the lefty-heavy lineup — great news for Rafael Devers, Triston Casas, and Masataka Yoshida. If Grissom can prove he is not a Fabergé egg, he'll get an extended attempt to make the Chris Sale deal look respectable. And don't dismiss Story, who went 30+ times in the longball department in 2018-19.
Rafaela's potential is fascinating. The Sox could be tempted to put Raffy II at short and Story at second, but it seems unlikely. Where he plays with a healthy Story, and Grissom will be an excellent storyline into next season, especially with the Red Sox possibly holding onto all four players. If trades take place, you may see Hamilton moving on.
Now, about that pitching?