I think the short answer would be that he's not on the 40 man roster. Coupled with that is that he's played considerably more games at 2nd and 3rd in AA and AAA compared to SS.
As long as he's playing solid defense and the rest of the lineup remains productive, they could probably survive the season with him in there. So yeah, another month or so with Chang as the primary SS is totally workable. Not ideal and not fancy, but workable.
IIRC, the thread began after Duvall went out and the presumption was that Keekay would go back to being the full-time CF, which created a "stop-gap" need for that time period.
Yeah, they brought in a shortstop who they bought low on because of his knee recovery. That's your SS probably 4-5 days a week this year and fingers crossed full time next year. Chang is a proven backup, insofar as there is no reason to buy him in a larger role but that he'll be ready and has occasional pop. I suppose they could keep Kiké at short and play Mondesi less, but now you're junking the Mondesi acquisition because Duran has shown something? Seems less likely.
I think you are. If the plan was to have someone other than Kike or Story (or Mondesi) be the primary SS this season, they'd have addressed it during the winter. The only way they're going to address it further would be a deadline acquisition, which I don't think satisfies the thread's seeming objective. They're certainly not going to find a longer term solution in April when the only market is the scrap heap, hence the desire for a stopgap (which ain't coming anyway).
It will be Story or Mondesi. By most accounts, including doctors on this site, Story’s arm strength should be adequate or better when he returns. If Mondesi returns and looks good, they have options. If not, Story is the guy.
The problem with Kike at short against RHP till Mondesi's return is that Arroyo has been dreadful as well; not Chang levels of suck, but damned close. Almost seems a better choice to let Kike play 2nd, have Chang's solid defense at short, and hope Mondesi gets well soon.
Is there any reason to think that he might give this team anything more than Chang can right now?
No one wanted to sign him this winter so he had to take a minor league deal with the Marlins. Then he couldn't crack their roster. That's got to count for something too.
Fair point. I would just add that given Jose's track record, I'd take him over Chang.
I don’t disagree; but it seems likely that the roster spot Chang is holding down will only be his until Mondesi and or Story is ready. At that point, they will need to DFA Chang, maybe he ends up as a guy they can send down to Worcester. A long way of saying that I am not sure Iglesias would be happy with the role that he would be offered now and certainly not what it’s likely to be going forward.
Exactly and also there's the 40-man spot Iglesias would require for what conceivably be a relatively short stay
Yeah, the front office clearly doesn't view him as a starter, so that's problematic.
Yes. It was one thing when he signed on for a three week stint at the end of 2021 knowing that's all it was going to be. I can't see him signing on for a similar (arguably lesser since he wouldn't be a regular starter) role in the middle of the season that would likely put him back in the exact same spot, unemployed, by early July.
Arroyo is a league average hitter, but his constant injuries keep him from getting into a groove. He just needs some reps and he's better than Chang. Chang has never hit much in the ML.
Whatever we think, I'm pretty sure the Red Sox think they're bridging to Mondesi and Story.
Duvall got hurt, some here expected Kike' might be seeing more time in CF which led to the thought that the Sox might be looking for another SS until the return of Mondesi/Story. Dalbec was promoted and we were told that he would be seeing time at MI and it got folks to wondering.
He's also the poster boy for empty batting average. He had a walk percentage below 4% and a .089 iso. So that average doesn't count for much. There is a reason he's freely available right now.
Not much, though. Yu Chang has a higher xWOBA *this year* than Iglesias did while hitting .292. Also, at this stage Chang is certainly a better defender.
That is absolutely wild. I know he was a 2B for a long time before switching to the outfield, and has played the infield occasionally albeit infrequently, but still. Dude is such a pure baseball player.
As he's on the 60-day IL, the earliest he can return is May 29 (60 days from Opening Day).
I would guess you could say stop gap to a stop gap. This offseason I doubt the Sox are going to be looking Javier Baez, so giving someone like Tim Anderson 2 year contract would make sense. To Stop gap to the stop gap, a redundancy if you will.
Possibly, though he will be on the wrong side of 30 with zero healthy seasons to his name outside of the shortened COVID year.
Hm, well Mondesi is who you'd expect at short, but he's played some 2b too. You could also wonder whether they need set positions, or if either of these guys is OK moving between the two. Then you can get into matchup switches, since Mondesi switch hits and is about the same from either side, versus everyone else being RHH. Anyway, if the players are inflexible, then Story goes to 2b I'd guess, but we will see.
Trevor Story is signed through 2027 with a club option. He will be either the starting SS or 2B for the next 5 years.
If (BIG if) Mondesi is healthy I'd prefer to see him at SS and Story at 2B. Story embraced his positional change, played a GG quality second last season and the team was reluctant to move him. I think they keep him there if possible.
There's a "some other version of Chang" sitting on the Worcester roster already: Niko Goodrum.
Anderson has a cheap option for next year that probably gets picked up, but I do think he’s a potential in-season trade candidate, assuming his current injury isn’t a huge deal. The White Sox are not good at the moment, and their farm is pretty weak.
I was under the impression the glove is lacking at SS, but I'm happy to be proven wrong. The guy does have a .524 OBP in Worcester -- 22 walks in 63 PA.
