By Mike Devarenne
Editor-in-chief
Lost amongst the fireworks and ensuing media storm of last
night’s game against the Yankees, the Red Sox called up their most highly touted prospect
since Hanley Ramirez: Xander Bogaerts. This move has been a long time coming,
with some people even calling for the promotion in June while incumbent
shortstop Stephen Drew was slumping. The Bogaerts move is certainly exciting,
but there are some tough questions that need to be answered.
The first question is where he will play. Obviously the
correct move is shortstop, his natural position. However, Drew has picked up
his play the past couple of weeks so it makes the switch a little tougher to
decide. The next logical decision would be to slot him at third base, which I
wholeheartedly disagree with. Bogaerts deserves to be at shortstop where he is
comfortable. The pressure on him to perform is already high enough given all
the hype he has produced, we don’t need him worrying to adapt to a new position
in his first couple games in the MLB. So if Bogaerts can’t play third, the next
logical step would be to just platoon Will Middlebrooks and Drew at the corner.
Well, that’s wrong too. Drew has played every single game at shortstop in his
major league career save for one, when he started at DH. Speaking of DH, there
are whispers that the Red Sox might move to David Ortiz to first base for
Bogaerts to take command of the DH role. Again, I disagree. Ortiz is playing
out of his mind for 37 years old (while Red Sox fans look the other way) and I
don’t want him wasting energy at first base and risking a useless injury. So I
think the Red Sox should eat the rest of Drew’s $10 million contract this
season (I didn’t like the signing, but Drew played better than I thought he
would) and ride or die with their young guns. Middlebrooks went 2-3 for last
night, and you just have to hope he gets back some of the potential he showed
the previous year and make people buy all those t-shirt jerseys.
Second, what can we reasonably expect from him? Well, this
is where the unfortunate part comes in. Bogaerts was called for for so long and
was hyped too much for people to appreciate whatever he ends up doing. Even for
me, I think it will be hard to be subjective when you hear all these great
things he’s been doing in the minors. The only time the Red Sox has called up a
prospect this young was in 1972, and that was Dwight Evans so I think that
turned out pretty well. Despite the overall performance that he will produce
this season; it’s a good sign he excels against lefties (.298/.452/.474 splits
in the minors) something the Red Sox have been miserable at this year and is
their Achilles heel if they make it into the postseason.
So where do we draw the line with Bogaerts? It’s tough to say. After
all, he's the same age as me starting his first game in the thick of a
pennant race on a team that desperately needs a spark. The Sox need to do
everything in their power to keep him comfortable, meaning plugging him in at
the bottom of the order and starting him at a position in which he feels
comfortable. In terms of the numbers people expect him to put up, that’s a
subjective question and fluctuates between people you talk to. In the long run,
Bogaerts could be the latest prospect to exceed expectations by a mile; where
names like Mike Trout and Manny Machado come to mind. I think that’s something
to expect next season when he can relax in April in the first month of the
season. This is August and soon will be September, and the bright lights will
be shining down directly on his shoulders. The only thing I want him to do is
put up numbers better than Stephen Drew and get acclimated in a contentious
environment this season. Being 20 years old, he has all the time in the world.
Here’s to the Xander Bogaerts era, for better or worse.
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