BOSTON — The Red Sox have stockpiled quality prospects, giving them a ton of flexibility this offseason.
The Red Sox have been hesitant to trade their prospects over the last couple of years. General manager Ben Cherington noted Tuesday at Fenway Park, however, that he’s not opposed to dealing away young talent if a good opportunity presents itself.
“I don’t think we’ve ever been unwilling to trade prospects,” Cherington said. “I just think it’s entirely contextual. For the right player, yeah, of course we would consider trading prospects. Clearly, there’s some areas that we’d like to add to this offseason. We have to figure out what we feel makes the most sense, whether that’s trying to add through free agency or trades.
“There’s definitely times when a trade makes more sense than free agency, and there’s times when it’s vice-versa,” Cherington added. “I think we’ve just got to get into the offseason and see where those opportunities are.”
The Red Sox have endured a disastrous season, but Cherington has made it clear he expects Boston to contend in 2015. Adding the talent required to make that plan a reality could mean trading away prospects, which the Sox can afford to do because of their loaded farm system.
Either way, the Red Sox already have an abundance of outfielders in the mix for 2015. Yoenis Cespedes, Allen Craig, Shane Victorino, Daniel Nava, Mookie Betts and Jackie Bradley Jr. are among those currently under Boston’s control, and Cherington acknowledged Tuesday that the club has interest in Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo, though he wouldn’t go into specifics.
“All we know right now is we want as many good outfielders in the organization as we can have, as many good players period as we can have,” Cherington said. “And all those guys you mentioned we think are more than capable of being good players and certainly would fit our team next year. We have a long way to go before spring training. … Right now, we’re just doing what we can to help all of those guys, particularly the young guys, settle in and establish a routine.”
Chances are the Red Sox will be extremely active this winter. That could mean a lot of moving parts.
