Verdugo is a decent bat with a career 107 wRC+, but finding a position for him is a challenge to say the least, which leaves him somewhere around a 2.0 fWAR on an annual basis. He walked 120 times more than he struck out, but there is a big gap between pitching in Nippon Professional Baseball and Major League Baseball, so we’ll see how he adjusts. 326/.419/.538 in seven seasons for the Orix Buffaloes in Japan. Suddenly, the Red Sox are asking a ton from Yoshida, who is projected for a wRC+ between 127 and 140 in his first MLB season after slashing. Trevor Story was exactly league average at 100, but he’s out until at least the All-Star Break after having internal brace surgery on his elbow. Of the other players on the roster with at least 200 plate appearances, the only ones left on the roster with a wRC+ over 100 are Alex Verdugo (103) and Christian Arroyo (102). Christian Vazquez posted a 110 wRC+ and got traded to Houston last July. JD Martinez posted a 119 wRC+ and he’s gone. With a power uptick and a launch angle adjustment, he has a great shot at really being in the AL MVP conversation after posting his second straight season with a Hard Hit% north of 50%. 362 BABIP was ripe for regression, but he filled every box on offense and also had one of the best defensive seasons of his career.īogaerts led the way with 6.1 fWAR, which was 1.2 more than Devers, who didn’t have the same defensive numbers, but had a better offensive season because of his better power production. In this era of low batting averages, Bogaerts had a. However, the Red Sox are going to miss Bogaerts in a big way. If the choice was between Bogaerts and Devers, I’d rather own the Devers stock long-term, as he’s four years younger and has more room to improve. Make Playoffs: Yes +300 / No -370 Boston Red Sox Offense Depth is virtually non-existent for the Red Sox, so they’ll have to stay healthy to come close to their ceiling.Įxplanations of the stats used in this preview can be found in my “ MLB Stats to Know” article. Time will tell if that move works out, but Yoshida will be joined by Kenley Jansen, Corey Kluber, Justin Turner, Adam Duvall, Jorge Alfaro, Chris Martin and Joely Rodriguez for one of the older rosters in the league.īarring any changes or injuries, the Red Sox look to go into the season with four starting pitchers over 30, including two significant injury risks, a lineup with boom or bust potential and a bullpen that could go any number of ways. Instead of signing a big free agent on the open market in the United States, the Red Sox opted to give five years and $90 million to Japanese import Masataka Yoshida. Locking up Devers was the least head-scratching move of them all. Instead of giving $280 million to the 30-year-old Bogaerts, the Red Sox extended 26-year-old MVP candidate Rafael Devers for 13 years and $331 million. That list included Xander Bogaerts, who signed a massive 11-year deal with the San Diego Padres. Boston started the offseason with 13 Major League free agents and only signed one - utility infielder Yu Chang. There are a lot of bald spots in Red Sox Nation because of all the head-scratching that took place over the offseason.
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