Devers safe at third
Dombrowski: ‘We love him’
MINNEAPOLIS — It sure doesn’t sound like the Red Sox are ready to part ways with Rafael Devers.
“We love him,” president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told the Herald yesterday. “We’re not looking for a third baseman. We like him. He’s our third baseman.”
The baby-faced 21-yearold began his sophomore year slowly, but he’s one of the youngest position players in the major leagues and has been heating up of late, hitting .327 with a .919 OPS and three homers in his last 13 games.
He’s a .261 hitter with a .765 OPS combined over his 533 big league plate appearances, offering plenty of promise for a player with such little experience. And while he’s made an MLB-high 14 errors at third base, the advanced metrics indicate he’s right around replacement-level on defense.
And still developing. It’s Devers’ upside that the Red Sox are counting on.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported last week that the Sox could be a player in the Manny Machado sweepstakes, wondering if they’d send Devers to the Orioles for Machado and another free agent-to-be Zach Britton or Brad Brach, and a prospect.
Asked about the rumors, Dombrowski said, “I don’t know where people get rumors. Rumors are just that. But we like Rafael Devers and feel that he’s going to be our third baseman for a lot of years.”
That doesn’t mean the Sox won’t be involved in the action come trade season.
Know this: When trade talks start to heat up in a few weeks, this team will have options.
It probably doesn’t matter that their farm system was considered one of the 10 worst in baseball entering the year, before losing top prospect Jay Groome to Tommy John surgery and No. 2 prospect Michael Chavis to an 80-game suspension for performance enhancing drugs.
The Red Sox still feel like they have a deep enough farm system to make acquisitions. “Yes,” Dombrowski said. “I don’t have any question about that.”
Maybe the Sox don’t have enough to pull off a Machado deal, but there will still be players to be had, often cheaply, as losing organizations look to shed payroll and trade veteran players with expiring contracts for any prospects with a chance to contribute.
The Red Sox picked up two key contributors last year in Eduardo Nunez and Addison Reed, while losing a combined five minor league pitchers, none of whom were considered top-100 prospects.
The Red Sox aren’t exactly in dire need of upgrades, given their 49-25 record was second-best in the majors entering yesterday. But when the only team better is division rival New York, the idea of losing the AL East and having to play a one-game wild card round after winning 95-100 games should be terrifying.
“We have a good club, so when we talk about going out and making big additions and all that, we have a good team as we are,” Dombrowski said. “So I don’t want to say we’re looking to make big additions. Now, will you look to get better? You always look to do that. I also think that when clubs talk to us I have no question that if we want to make a move, we have the type of players that can help us do that.”
Nunez is struggling at second base while filling in for Dustin Pedroia, but the Sox still think Pedroia will be a factor this year.
“I don’t think we really have a time frame on that,” Dombrowski said. “He saw the doctor, got another opinion. He’s in a position where he’s getting the swelling down, which is already happening. I talked to him today, he’s already starting to feel better. But there’s no time frame.”
Would the Sox need to entertain the idea of adding another second baseman?
“I really haven’t thought about that part,” Dombrowski said. “I’m really thinking more in regards to we’re counting on him to come back at some point.”
Drew Pomeranz is on the mend from biceps tendinitis and the Sox are still hopeful Tyler Thornburg will contribute, though pitchers often struggle coming back from thoracic outlet syndrome.
“They’re both doing pretty well so it’s just a matter of when,” Dombrowski said. “So yes, we do have the capabilities (to acquire a player), but also may have some of our own internal fixes too.
“I don’t think I feel I have to rush.”
The Red Sox rank 26th in OPS against lefties this year.
“I think we’ll be OK,” Dombrowski said. “Can we get better? Sure, we haven’t been very good so far. But I think we can be better than what we have been.”
Then there’s Jackie Bradley Jr., the Sox’ longtime center fielder who is having one of the worst offensive seasons in MLB history, hitting .182 with a .576 OPS.
“Jackie Bradley Jr. is a good major league baseball player,” Dombrowski said. “He’s an outstanding defensive player. He’s been better offensively here in recent times. He’s hitting more balls hard. And he’s a good player. We have gone through these times with him where he’s had some ups and down offensively, but he’s taken some good swings at the plate and I think he’ll be fine.”
Any concerns that he’s taken a step back this year?
“Not really, no,” Dombrowski said. “We still have a long haul ahead of us too. Recently it’s like one of those, he’s hit a lot of balls hard but he just hasn’t had much luck either. I think if he just keeps plugging along, I’m looking for him to go on one of his patented hot streaks.”