Following Jacoby Ellsbury’s shoulder injury and word that the center fielder would be out for at least six weeks, rumors began flying that the Boston Red Sox would look to acquire an outfielder. With Ellsbury and Carl Crawford both on the disabled list, many thought the Red Sox would at least take a look outside the organization to see what could be had. While it was reported yesterday that Boston is “actively exploring” the outfield market, Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington told Nick Carfado of the Boston Globe that he doesn’t expect to add another outfielder to replace Ellsbury.
When the injury was first announced, different possible Red Sox acquisitions were floated. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports believed that if the Red Sox were to acquire an outfielder, it would be a player that would qualify as a “lesser move”. Rosenthal said players such as Brett Carroll and Scott Podsednik would fit this mold.
Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times speculated that the Red Sox could perhaps match up with the Cubs in a trade for veteran outfielder Marlon Byrd. The Cubs have reportedly been shopping Byrd, who can play all three outfield positions.
However, after Cherington’s latest quotes it doesn’t seem as though the Red Sox are actively negotiating with other clubs. While Cherington used the standard GM line of ‘we’ll always do our due diligence and keep our radar up’, he said that he doesn’t expect teams to be interested in trading a good center fielder this early in the season.
Cherington said the Red Sox are still hoping Ellsbury can recover from his injury without requiring surgery, but they won’t know for sure for another few days. Cherington said at this point he’s comfortable with the outfielders that are currently on the Red Sox roster. These players include Ryan Sweeney, Cody Ross, Jason Repko and Darnell McDonald.
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