BOSTON — Craig Breslow and his assistants in the Boston Red Sox front office are usually in their seats at the start of each game. But as the first pitch of Friday’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers crossed home plate, the general manager’s suite at Fenway Park was nearly empty.
It’s that time of the year, of course, and the Red Sox were busy dealing with a new wrinkle in their deadline plans.
With less than a week to go before Thursday’s trade deadline, Breslow and company reshuffled their defensive alignment, a response to placing rookie infielder Marcelo Mayer on the injured list with a strained right wrist. Ceddane Rafaela, who has been brilliant in center, is moving to second base. And Jarren Duran is going to play more center, making it far less likely he will be moved for much-needed pitching help despite having his name at the forefront of trade chatter.
Though publicly Breslow has said he didn’t feel it was an absolute necessity to trade one of his four starting outfielders to clear playing time, Duran has garnered significant interest across the league and could have helped the club land a front-end starter to bolster its playoff run.
Mayer injured his wrist on a check swing in Philadelphia and had an MRI on Thursday. He is meeting with a hand specialist. The next course of action hasn’t been determined, but surgery is an option.
“It’s brutal,” Mayer said. “Obviously, this is not a spot I want to be in.”
It puts the Red Sox in an interesting spot as well. With Mayer out, Rafaela will see more time at second base with Duran moving from left to center and rookie Roman Anthony playing left. Wilyer Abreu will remain in right. What once had been a team with too many outfielders for available playing time will now have one outfielder in the infield most days. Duran was already a key part of the roster, but even more so now that Rafaela will shift to second.
Ceddanne Rafaela’s extraordinary defense in center has been an asset for the team, but he is moving to second base. (Winslow Townson / Getty Images)
After Mayer’s injury, the Red Sox recalled infielder David Hamilton, and though Hamilton will see some time at second, Rafaela’s offense has been too valuable to the lineup. Playing him at second and Duran in center makes the offense stronger. The moving parts have been a challenge for manager Alex Cora much of the season and even more so now.
“Things will take care of themselves,” Cora said. “I hate that this is the way … we’ll maximize the roster.”
Rafaela’s extraordinary defense in center has been an asset for the team, but they’ll have to live without it for now. Entering Friday’s game, he ranked second in the majors among center fielders with 13 Outs Above Average, trailing only Chicago’s Pete Crow-Armstrong (16).
In limited action in center this year, Duran has posted a plus-1 OAA but a minus-4 OAA in left. Last season, however, he finished as a Gold Glove finalist in center field but shifted to left to accommodate Rafaela this year.
“I don’t want to take away from what we’re doing in center field,” Cora said of Rafaela’s move to second. “But Jarren, you saw what he did last year … he’s done it before. We trust him.”
Meanwhile, Mayer had also served as a backup third baseman for Alex Bregman, who’s still building up playing time coming off the injury list two weeks ago. Bregman is a “full go” in regard to playing time at this point, but will still need regular days off. Mayer made his debut at the end of May when Bregman suffered a severe quad injury and took over third in Bregman’s absence, then shifted to second upon his return. Without Mayer, Cora will turn to Abraham Toro when needed at third base and Romy Gonzalez as another option.
Asked how Mayer’s absence might affect the trade deadline, Cora demurred.
“You know what? My job is to manage today, you guys are going to hear that for the next seven days,” Cora said. “Just got to be ready for today, and the impact today is Rafaela playing second, Jarren playing center … there’s a lot of moving parts right now, but let’s take care of today and the series. And then when we get there, we get there.”
What that means for the Red Sox trade deadline plans remains murky. The Red Sox still need rotation help to bolster the group behind Garrett Crochet, Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito. Walker Buehler has been better as of late, but rookie Richard Fitts has struggled.
Patrick Sandoval, who signed with the Red Sox over the winter while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, was expected to contribute in the second half, but Cora said Friday his progression has slowed. Given he will need to start throwing bullpens again once ready and is far from rehab assignment, Cora acknowledged Sandoval is running out of time to contribute in the majors this season. Hunter Dobbins is out for the year with an ACL tear, and Tanner Houck has been out since May and not close to returning after a setback around the All-Star break.
In Triple A, Kyle Harrison, acquired in the Rafael Devers trade, is the most immediate big-league-ready starter.
The Red Sox need pitching depth, and one of their most coveted players on the trade market, Duran, appears to be less of an option to trade. Boston still could trade an outfielder or send a package of prospects such as Jhostynxon Garcia, Franklin Arias and Connelly Early for a pitcher, but Duran’s three years of control and experience in the majors were valuable for teams.
“Whoever is making decisions and in charge of baseball operations, that’s their job, it’s not easy,” Cora said. “It’s not easy because you have the extra wild card, and you feel you’re in or you’re not. I don’t know how that works, but there’s a lot of work to do.”
Cora’s team has its work cut out for it this weekend, hosting the Dodgers. In the clubhouse, the Red Sox feel that despite a 2-4 record coming out of the break, they’ve played competitive baseball against the league’s best teams.
“From my end, I’ve never been sitting here and trying not to compete,” Cora said. “It doesn’t matter where you are at, which market or where you are at as an organization. You always have a shot. If you go to the dance, you always have a shot.”
(Top photo of Jarren Duran: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)