This week's mailbag gets into the first base situation in Boston, Sandy Alcantara's rough start, options for the Cubs at third, lefty reliever possibilities for the Mets, and much more.
Clarke asks:
Surely the Gonzalez/Toro tandem is not the answer at first base for the Red Sox and Cora says Devers isn't moving out of DH. They are thin in the minors at 1B. Your poll yesterday showed pretty even opinions (inside and outside organization) for solutions. What say you? External options?
Cornelius asks:
Isn’t the only reasonable path for Anthony is moving Devers off DH (1st base) and using the DH for the 4th outfielders (Anthony, Abreu, Duran, and Rafaela)?
Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic noted, "Before Tuesday’s game, [Red Sox manager Alex] Cora said that he’s had no discussions with Rafael Devers about moving to first base. Devers has been asked by the media to discuss the matter, but so far he has declined to talk."
At the risk of sounding like a talk radio guy, this is the big leagues, and Devers should step up and volunteer to learn first base immediately. The Red Sox have a 45% chance at the playoffs right now, and making suboptimal choices or waiting too long could cause them to fall short. For the second time this year, the Red Sox seem to be scared of offending Devers by mandating he do what's best for the team. As of this writing, the Red Sox haven't even had the first base discussion with Devers!
Clearly, Devers does not take position changes lightly. From Boston's perspective, I get treading carefully with a star player who is signed through 2033. But Devers learning first base is better than putting it on a 20-year-old prospect like Roman Anthony. Anthony has little left to learn in Triple-A and can easily join an outfield/DH rotation in Boston. Opening up DH also works as a way of getting Masataka Yoshida's bat into the lineup sooner.
You've seen the speculation on external options. Chris Cotillo of MassLive had a reasonable list, naming guys like Anthony Rizzo and Jon Singleton. The Red Sox can also look at trading for older players who are mashing at Triple-A and haven't really gotten a shot in the Majors yet, like Otto Kemp, Tim Elko, or Matt Lloyd. Who else might make sense?
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