The fabled outfield logjam in Boston remains without a conclusion, and at this point, it appears Craig Breslow and the Red Sox are content to waltz into spring training with four starters for three spots.
It certainly doesn't help matters that, like Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu and Roman Anthony, the team's top designated hitter options (Masataka Yoshida and Triston Casas) are also left-handed hitters. There's a glut of those on the roster as well, and it feels like, eventually, the front office needs to try and strike a better balance.
So, with a black hole currently representing the team's starter at second base and one too many outfielders on the roster, is it time a square peg mets a square hole? Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller certainly thinks so.
Proposed Jarren Duran-Travis Bazzana swap is intriguing proof of concept for Red Sox
Miller includes a few wacky trade packages to pry Duran loose from Boston — including one that would require the Red Sox to give up Duran, Connelly Early, and Mikey Romero for top prospect Kevin McGonigle — but the one we're focusing on is the proposed three-team swap involving the Reds and Guardians.
In said trade, the Red Sox would land 2024 No. 1 overall pick Travis Bazzana and right-handed pitcher Hunter Gaddis while surrendering Duran. It's hard to know if any of the three parties would accept this deal, but it does introduce a wildly creative solution to solve the Sox's second base problem.
Bazzana is a 23-year-old middle infielder who ascended to Triple-A in his first full professional season while working a 137 wRC+ and 17.6% walk rate. Unlike other trade targets like Nico Hoerner and Brendan Donovan, he'd come with years of team control and lots of cheap pre-arbitration salaries. He is a left-handed hitter, but he'd immediately become the second baseman of the future.
For his part, Gaddis is a 27-year-old reliever who isn't arbitration eligible until 2027. He's no mere throw-in; over the past two seasons, he's covered 141 1/3 innings to the tune of a 2.29 ERA, making him worth 3.8 bWAR. He'd be a brilliant third high-leverage prong on the bullpen trident consisting of just Aroldis Chapman and Garrett Whitlock at present.
Of course, getting either player out of Cleveland figures to be a huge hurdle, particularly since the Guardians need Bazzana's bat for their 28th-ranked scoring lineup. In the three-team deal, it's actually Reds ace Andrew Abbott heading back to the Guardians (and Duran going to Cincinnati), which might make things more fair or exceptionally more complicated, depending on your perspective.
Either way, while such a trade is exceedingly unlikely, it is a proof of concept of how the Red Sox can turn one of their superfluous outfielders into a much-needed second baseman. It may not be quite as simple as trading for someone like Ketel Marte or Donovan, but a high-risk, high-reward bet on a top prospect like Bazzana should be on the table as the rest of the market continues to dry up.