The Boston Red Sox bolstered their third base depth Tuesday by trading with the San Francisco Giants for utility man Eduardo Nunez, but that means an infielder is going to have to be sent to the minors.
And the Red Sox might not have any choice but to send down Rafael Devers, who was just called up to the team Monday.
Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski spoke to the media in Seattle after the trade and said there’s no immediate plan of action for what will happen when Nunez joins the team Friday.
“Kind of wait and handle that question (about who’s sent down),” Dombrowski said, per the Boston Herald. “I think (Nunez) will play a lot for us. He’s been very hot. He’s one of the best hitters — since June 1 — one of the best hitters in baseball. But I think we’ll have to probably sit down and visit how he’s going to be used.”
Nunez definitely has been on a hot streak, as he has a .358 average to go with 10 doubles and 14 RBIs in his last 26 games from June 2 through July 25. And Dombrowski sees Nunez and Deven Marrero as assets who can play multiple infield positions if necessary.
“We have Marrero, who can protect us in that regard,” Dombrowksi said when asked if Nunez also would back up shortstop Xander Bogaerts, who’s been battling some injuries. “It was more a matter of a guy that we think is a good offensive player that can play a lot of different positions and give us speed in addition to the offense. So, right now we haven’t been scoring a lot of runs. (Nunez) is a good major league player.”
It seems a little strange that the Red Sox would call Devers up only to send him back down in the same week, but there’s been no indication of how quickly Boston’s trade for Nunez came together. It’s possible they were planning to keep the 20-year-old around for longer but that trade discussions got more serious while the Red Sox were on the West Coast taking on the Seattle Mariners.
Still, even if Devers does get sent back to Triple-A, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him come back in September when the rosters expand. The Dominican Republic native played just nine games in Pawtucket before his call-up and batted .400 with a 1.047 OPS and two home runs.
Thumbnail photo via Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports Images
