The Case for 3rd Base: Don’t Make (Another) Impulse Trade
June 8, 2017
We are now about 1/3 of the way through the marathon-length MLB season and the consensus is clear, 3rd base has been a problem for the Red Sox.
Over the summer, the Sox dealt 3B Travis Shaw to the Milwaukee Brewers for RHP Tyler Thornburg. At the time, this deal made sense, as most of us believed Shaw’s trade value had reaches its peak, while Thornburg represented a good replacement for Tazawa/Uehara in the back end of the bullpen.
Haven’t heard of that Thornburg guy yet? Makes sense, seeing as he has YET TO THROW A PITCH for the ball club. Thornburg was placed on the 60-day disabled list at the beginning of May with a shoulder injury, from which has been slow to progress. Seems like a trend with the arms acquired to this point in the Dombrowski era (looking at you, Carson Smith/Drew Pomeranz).
What of Travis Shaw? Oh you know, he’s only hitting .296 with 35 XBH and 36 RBI through the first 47 games. Meanwhile, the Sox have been left with a damaged reliever and a revolving door at 3B featuring the likes of Pablo Sandoval, Devin Marrero, and Josh Rutledge, with guest appearances from Marco Hernandez and Steve Selsky. The results have been disheartening. Marrero has flashed some serious leather, but his .182 batting average is laughable. Pablo, meanwhile, is hardly living up to even half of his $95mil contract with a .246 average and subpar defense and has been relegated to a platoon role. Hernandez has performed the best of the cast, but his role as a utility player in place of Brock Holt removes him from the conversation as a long-term solution at third.
Luckily, three of the Sox top prospects down on the farm man the hot corner. Rafael Devers is the top prospect in the system, where he is accompanied by B-level prospects, Michael Chavis and Bobby Dalbec. Unfortunately, none of these players have Major League experience and even Andrew Benintendi, who tore it up in his first stint with the big club last summer, is now experiencing his growing pains. Point is, you can’t expect an immediate fix from plugging in any of these inexperienced kids (although it would be pleasant).
Not to mention, a year ago, the Sox boasted the far-and-away deepest farm in the majors. Since then, the “win now” mentality has shipped off top-prospects Anderson Espinoza, Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech, and Mauricio Dubon. The result has left the Sox organization thin with talent in the prospect pool, and a nearly-complete depletion of trade bait. So yes, you can flip a couple more prospects for another sub-.200 hitter in Todd Frazier, but is it worth draining the pool?
Obviously the Red Sox are in the mode to win now, but they are sitting at 29-23 with the additions they mortgaged the future for. Everyone wants to trade for a proven 3B, but do we even have the pieces left to make the move for a rental? And if we chose to wait until the offseason, the 3B free-agent class this winter is nothing special either.
No one could’ve predicted this Thronburg conundrum, but was there any sort of backup plan for Pablo at 3B at all when Dombrowski sent Shaw packing? If there was, it clearly isn’t working out as Dave predicted. The Sox should either wait for someone on the 40-man roster to step up and take the role, or call up one of their trio of 3B prospects and hope for a spark. There isn’t enough talent left in the minors to hemorrhage the prospect pool any further.
Written by Liam Rose
