Center of Sox attention
Holding on to Bradley is team’s top move
FORT MYERS — For all the criticism Dave Dombrowski has received this offseason for not making any moves, here’s one nonmove Red Sox fans should embrace: No Deal Dave didn’t deal away Jackie Bradley Jr.
Bradley was in the news during the late fall and early winter as often as Tom Brady, with the defensively brilliant center fielder rumored to be going to this or that team. And when J.D. Martinez entered the picture as a possible big-bat acquisition who might play left field, there was some absurd speculation Andrew Benintendi would shift to center and Bradley would ... well, Bradley would go away.
Martinez may well wind up with the Red Sox. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s lurking in the JetBlue Park parking lot this very moment, waiting for the white smoke to emerge from Dombrowski’s office window. But when/if he does sign with the Sox, he’ll be a designated hitter, which means one of the finest young outfields you’ve ever seen — Benintendi in left, Bradley in center, Mookie Betts in right — will continue with the great grabs, strong throws and funky postgame dances.
The key point here being that Bradley will remain in center.
At around 8:30 yesterday morning he was in the clubhouse, fielding questions.
If there was any real news to emit from this session, it was Bradley’s mild disagreement with teammates Betts and Xander Bogaerts over the dysfunction and lack of fun that was the Red Sox Way of 2017.
“I had fun winning 93 games,” Bradley said. “I don’t know how they felt, but we were in first place, won the division, didn’t get as far — we got beat by the champions. But I enjoyed it.
“Things are going to happen throughout the season that you can either grow as a team or you can let it affect you,” he said. “I feel like we grew.”
These remarks stand in contrast to the observations of Betts and Bogaerts.
Betts said, “We could have had more fun. I think we still enjoyed it, but we could have had more fun. I think through the rough times we could have had a little bit more fun instead of being down so much.”
As for Bogaerts, the young shortstop said, “We had a lot of stuff going on last year.”
Betts, Bogaerts and Bradley can hash this out over the next several days between cuts in the batting cage. If so, we’ll never know about it. What we do know is that Bradley is expected to be in center field on Opening Day, and that’s grand news for Red Sox fans.
Let me be clear on this, yet again: Jackie Bradley Jr. is the best defensive center fielder I’ve ever seen in a Red Sox uniform, probably the best they’ve ever had. Fred Lynn was a better overall player, of course, so hold off on the cards and emails. It’s just that Bradley, with the glove, with the reads, and, good Lord, with that arm, plays the better than anyone in Red Sox history, from Lynn to Tris Speaker. (Admittedly, I only saw Speaker play in the late 1920s, when he was wrapping it up with the Washington Senators and Philadelphia Athletics. He had lost a step by then.)
During his media session yesterday morning, Bradley was asked about the trade rumors.
“I didn’t have to go through it,” he said. “I enjoyed my offseason. It’s all talk. Until something happens, then if anything happens, then it’s out of my control.”
Fine. But he’s human. He must have been aware of speculation that the Sox were going to trade him to the Giants, or send him to the Cubs for Kyle Schwarber, or include him in a package to wrest Giancarlo Stanton from the Marlins.
Later, after the general media session ended, I asked Bradley about this.
“I mean, I have Twitter, I have social media,” he said. “I see things.”
He also sees his value to the Red Sox, and he isn’t afraid to tell you about it.
“I know what I bring to the table,” he said. “I know what I can do to help my team. But things are better left proven than said. I’ll just continue to work and try to get better.”
Bradley also sees the sunny side of all those trade rumors.
“Does it look like they were trying to trade me?” he asked. “Considering I’m still here, it looks like they were trying to keep me. From my perspective, if they were the ones saying no, I mean, I don’t know, it’s all speculation, right?”
At this point, even if the Red Sox sign Martinez, there’s no way they’d deal Bradley.
Right?
“I’m in the same situation as ya’ll,” Bradley told me. “We’ll all find out together.”
Red Sox fans should hope they all find out together that Bradley is in the Red Sox lineup on Opening Day.
Red Sox fans should hope Dave Dombrowski’s Dunkin’ Donuts buddies who keep telling him not to make any moves are especially vigilant about this as pertains to Bradley.
Yes, it would help Bradley’s case if he were a consistent offensive player. The man is streakier than the Blue Angels doing a flyover at a football game. He’ll hit and he’ll hit and he’ll hit ... and then he’ll disappear for a while. And even he admitted that his 2017 season — a .243 batting average, 17 home runs and 63 RBI — was “subpar.”
The year before, he hit .267 with 26 home runs and 87 RBI. That’s what the Red Sox would like to see from Bradley for, like, forever. But while I’m not rubber-stamping last year’s offensive season from Bradley I could live with it if he keeps playing center the way he does.
Each trip to Fenway Park offers the chance that Bradley might make a catch you’ll talk about all week. Moving him, then, instantly makes the Red Sox a little less exciting.