Boston Red Sox still have a problem with their lineup
The Boston Red Sox improved an already deep lineup with the additions of Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval last week. Even before they signed two of the best hitters on the open market, Boston had too many position players on their roster and inevitably people were going to be moved before the 2015 season commenced. Ramirez and Sandoval, while improving the Red Sox ’15 outlook, makes it likely that more players will have to be moved this offseason in likely exchange for starting pitching that the Red Sox so desperately need.
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More than anybody the Sox’ outfielders — Hanley Ramirez, Rusney Castillo, Shane Victorino, Mookie Betts, Yoenis Cespedes, Allen Craig, Jackie Bradley Jr., and Daniel Nava — are endanger of being dealt because there is simply no place for all of them to get the ample playing time they deserve based on their respective talents. The thinking, as far as I can tell, is Ramirez, Castillo and Betts will be the starting outfielders to open 2015. Cespedes, having just one year left on his contract, is probably going to be traded along with some combination of the others (Craig, Bradley Jr., Nava, and Victorino) during the winter.
Objective projections on Fangraphs based on current predicted depth charts says the Red Sox have the 26th-worst rotation in baseball, as they are slated to accumulate just a 7.0 fWAR total in 2015. Clay Buchholz, Joe Kelly, Rubby De La Rosa, Allen Webster, Brandon Workman, Anthony Ranaudo and Henry Owens are the seven pitchers who are seen to start according to the depth charts, and Buchholz is believed to attain the best ERA among them at 4.20; meaning, the other six are projected to have ERAs north of 4.20, which is not too good.
It is evident work has to be done to improve this glaring weakness and I am confident asserting work will be done. Whether they improve their rotation via trade, through the market or more than likely both, remains to be seen, but Boston has a surplus of position players that could (and almost certainly will) be used to gain a few talented starters. Starting pitching, however, is not the only thing Ben Cherington, Boston’s general manager, should try to extract with their bevy of outfielders; he should also be offering them for a left-handed swinging catcher.
Right now, Christian Vazquez is the assumed starting catcher for Boston in ’15 and beyond rightfully so. He is an excellent defensive catcher who grades as the third-best pitch framing catchers among those who caught at least 3,000 balls in 2014 — Hank Conger and the recently-released Jose Molina were the only ones who added more calls per game that season. His bat is suspect at this point but he has shown potential in the minors and he compiled a .736 OPS and 107 wRC+ in September. Granted, his September numbers are within a very small sample size (74 plate appearances) and should be looked at with a grain of salt.
The above paragraph favors Vazquez, sort of. I am a huge fan of him and his ability; however, Boston desperately needs another left-handed hitter in their lineup and catcher is the only position where they can feasibly place a left-handed without trading one of the current projected starting nine. If Vazquez was not a right-handed hitter but a left-handed one, it would have been perfect. Alas, he is not and the Red Sox have just one lefty in their lineup in David Ortiz and a switch-hitter who hits much better from the left side in Pablo Sandoval. For verification here is their projected “go-to” lineup right now brought to you by Roster Resources.
1.) Shane Victorino (Switch-hitter who hits much better right-handed)
2.) Dustin Pedroia (Right-handed hitter)
3.) David Ortiz (Left-handed hitter)
4.) Hanley Ramirez (Right-handed hitter)
5.) Pablo Sandoval (Switch-hitter who hits much better left-handed)
6.) Mike Napoli (Right-handed hitter)
7.) Rusney Castillo (Right-handed hitter)
8.) Xander Bogaerts (Right-handed hitter)
9.) Christian Vazquez (Right-handed hitter)
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That is not a very balanced lineup especially when you consider Mookie Betts, a right-handed hitter, in all likelihood will start instead of the switch-hitting Shane Victorino. Even if Victorino is to get the nod over Betts next season — depending, of course, if he does not get traded — Victorino has historically hit much better as a right-handed hitter than as a lefty. At one point as a Red Sox he even elected to give up switch-hitting entirely and just hit from the right-side.
Either way it plays out, I think we can agree that Boston should get a lefty hitter to slightly balance this thing out.
John Jaso, a left-handed hitting catcher for the Oakland Athletics, is presumably available and could be that guy. He consistently gets on-base at a high rate and has decent power. The 31-year-old is set to become a free agent in 2016 and is probably expendable for the A’s at this point considering they have Stephen Vogt, a versatile left-handed hitter, who can platoon with Derek Norris at catcher if need be. Oakland, though, seem pretty set with their outfield and would likely ask for an infielder in return. Well, Boston has Brock Holt who is extremely versatile and is under team-control for five years. A deal surrounding these two players makes sense for both sides; Boston needs a left-handed hitting catcher and the A’s need to improve their middle infield.
This is just one scenario. Boston could find a left-handed hitting catcher elsewhere and be fine. Keeping teams off-balance is key for success in the majors and creating a more balanced lineup could go a long way in making Boston competitive. Finding a left-handed hitting catcher should be a priority at the Winter Meetings for the Red Sox.