As of Thursday, the Boston Red Sox are in a virtual tie for first place in the American League East. But make no mistake: They have plenty of holes to fill.
Dave Dombrowski admitted as much Thursday during a radio appearance on WEEI’s midday show. While Major League Baseball’s non-waiver trade deadline still is over a month away, the Red Sox’s president of baseball operations insisted the club already is “analyzing (its) needs.”
“We have strengths and our weaknesses with our club,” Dombrowski said, via WEEI.com. “… We need improved play at third base. It could come internal(ly), though, so I think the first thing, you look, you try and see with your needs, the help you can get can come from an internal perspective.
“We’ve had a lot of guys that have been hurt, so some of them are coming back. Will they be able to come back before August 1 and be in a position to help us the rest of the year? Some of those questions we just don’t know at this particular time.”
The hot corner has been a particularly troublesome area for Boston, as the team already has employed seven third basemen who are hitting a combined .201 at the position. The Sox have options, though: They could promote top prospect Rafael Devers from Double-A Portland, or turn to the open market to go after a player like Chicago White Sox third baseman Todd Frazier.
The latter option could threaten to put the Red Sox over the collective balance tax, but Dombrowski said he’s not ruling anything out.
“I have no mandate to stay below the CBT in our acquisitions,” he said. “But I will say from my own perspective, I would love to stay below the CBT because when you start talking about that, there are penalties that are attached to going above the CBT when you get into the winter time.
“It’s not only from a financial perspective; you’re talking draft choice compensation and what you get penalized if you sign certain players. Ideally, you would like to do that, but there is no mandate to have to do that.”
Dombrowski made a splash at least year’s deadline by acquiring Drew Pomeranz from the San Diego Padres. And with Boston eyeing another playoff run, the Red Sox’s front office could find itself in “buy mode” again over the next month.
Thumbnail photo via Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports Images
