But before McDonald and Lowrie ever made an impact on the Red Sox this year, there was Hall, the uber -utilityman for Boston and the type of player teams are increasingly reliant on in a sport that continues to see an increase in injuries.
Of course, the Sox were at the forefront of this plague in 2010. They led all of baseball by sending players to the disabled list 24 times and compiling more than 1,000 games missed.
It's what caused a guy like Hall, who was acquired for his versatility but never presumed to be the regular he was, to play seven different positions (including pitcher) in 119 games overall.
Manager Terry Francona joked with Hall early in the year that if he was in the lineup on a regular basis then something went extremely wrong. The fact that Hall played at least 20 games in four months of the season suggests that Francona's worst fears were realized. But the fact that Hall could do what he could do made it hurt that much less, and more teams are realizing this as time goes on.
While playing more positions than anyone on the team Hall ranked among the Red Sox' leaders in home runs (18), slugging (.456) and stolen bases (9). Where he lacked (.316 on-base percentage, 104 strikeouts in 344 at-bats) he made up for in the simple fact that he could man virtually any position that needed to be manned and provide some pop along the way.
Not bad for a player the Red Sox had to pay just $1.38 million.
Such production is becoming a commodity in the majors. The amount of DL trips has nearly doubled in the last two decades, with the Sox setting the standard in 2010. Due in part to this, but also in an effort to protect and coddle aging high-priced veterans who can no longer play 155-plus games in the field, more teams are becoming reliant on a rotating designated hitter.
For example, if Alex Rodriguez has some hip pain that limits his range at third base but still allows him to hit, the Yankees will utilize him at DH and stick someone like Ramiro Pena at third. While many pay attention only to what A-Rod does in that scenario, it's often just as important what Pena does — perhaps more so given the fact that he's also playing the field.
Of course, the Red Sox are one of the few teams still employing a full-time DH in David Ortiz, so Hall was not needed in such a capacity this year. But having a player who can fill an injury void or take someone's spot if he needs to DH for a day is proving invaluable.
Perhaps that is why Hall may have played himself into a pretty nice payday if and when he hits the open market, or at least one more lucrative than Francona ever imagined when he pegged Hall for limited work. Some team out there will find it worth its while to give a few million dollars to a utility guy.
How much will Boston value such a player in 2011? In McDonald and the supposed return to health of Jacoby Ellsbury and Mike Cameron, the team's need for another outfielder may be slim.
If Lowrie is not traded and Adrian Beltre is kept, then the former will be serving in Hall's role in the infield, or battling it out with shortstop Marco Scutaro and rendering Scutaro as the backup to multiple players.
Boston has a pricey $9.25 million team option on Hall, with a $500,000 buyout. There's a better chance of Hall turning his one pitching performance into a spot in the rotation than there is the club picking up the option. But figuring out a way to negotiate a new deal after the buyout might be prudent, both for a team that needs role players and for a guy that seemed to assimilate well into the clubhouse.
It's doubtful the Red Sox, or any other team for that matter, will have to place a player on the disabled list 24 times next year. However, being prepared for the inevitable injuries or the need to shuffle players from position to position has become increasingly important.
That's where Bill Hall comes in, just as he did 119 times in 2010.
