Direction they will go uncertain
Five issues facing the Red Sox:
The Red Sox fired their general manager (Dave Dombrowski) less than 11 months after winning the World Series. Their owner (John Henry) announced the need to dump salary. Their manager (Alex Cora) has been accused of cheating with the use of electronic equipment with the Astros in 2017 and the Red Sox in 2018, according to The Athletic. The franchise doesn’t know whether it is contending or retooling.
This is a team at the crossroads. It is sitting with a payroll of about $232 million after spending just $10 million in free agency. The Red Sox want to be below the $208 million salary cap.
Mookie Betts? David Price? Nathan Eovaldi? All three of them? Stay tuned.
The Red Sox are letting teams know that their preference is to trade Price, who has $96 million remaining on his contract, but teams want Betts. Why not? Only Mike Trout has a higher WAR than Betts since the start of the 2015 season.
base: gamble:
How big of a gamble is it keeping Betts now and trading him before the July 31 trading deadline if the Red Sox are out of the race?
Well, Betts’ stock will plummet. Position players don’t bring the same return at the trade deadline, especially when they’re eligible for free agency after the season. Just ask the Tigers, who dumped J.D. Martinez and Nicholas Castellanos the last two deadlines and have painfully little to show for it.
base:
The Red Sox signed Jose Peraza, the former Cincinnati Red, to play second base. Yet what if Dustin Pedroia, who has played only nine games the last two years, comes back from his knee injuries. What if Jonathan Arauz, a Rule 5 selection, makes the team?
Michael Chavis hit .263 with 15 homers and 48 RBI in the first half but then fell apart after the All-Star break, hitting .221 with three home runs, 10 RBI and a .649 OPS and losing his starting job. He will have a chance to keep the job, but he might be more valuable with his versatility at second and third. The Red Sox also will give a shot to Bobby Dalbec, their second-best prospect. He hit 27 homers last year in the minors. The Red Sox also picked up Arauz in the Rule 5 draft.
The Red Sox are entertaining trade talks on Mookie Betts, David Price and Nathan Eovaldi. They want to keep Betts, but if they can’t move Price or Eovaldi, he might have to go. The Dodgers have interest in Betts and Price as a package. 84-78
Third place, AL East; missed playoffs
The outfield:
Will the outfield be destroyed if the Red Sox trade Betts and center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr.? Absolutely. They simply aren’t the same team
without Betts’ production, and their defense falls off dramatically without Bradley. Benintendi isn’t going anywhere, but the Red Sox don’t have the depth to cover their departures. They would need young outfielders in return.