The Milwaukee Brewers non-tendered Travis Shaw earlier this week, making him a free agent ahead of the Major League Baseball winter meetings.
Will the Boston Red Sox consider bringing back the 29-year-old slugger?
The Red Sox could use a left-handed-hitting first baseman with Mitch Moreland reaching the open market this offseason, and Shaw, who fits that criteria, certainly comes with high offensive upside despite an abysmal 2019 campaign. Plus, Shaw can play second base and third base, too, making him even more appealing, especially if Boston loses superversatile utility man Brock Holt in free agency.
As such, Shaw isn’t ruling out a return to the Red Sox three years after being traded to Milwaukee in the ill-fated deal that brought oft injured reliever Tyler Thornburg to Boston. In fact, he agrees a reunion is logical.
“I got non-tendered this week. It was kind of a hard decision. The Brewers did offer me, but I decided I kind of wanted a fresh start and was willing to risk to see what was out there free agent-wise. Just wanted a fresh start after everything that happened last year,” Shaw explained this week to WEEI’s Rob Bradford on the “Bradfo Sho” podcast. “Like you said, (signing with Boston) makes sense on paper, now we’ll see with who else calls or what other teams call. That’s kind of what we’re sorting through now. We’ve had quite a bit of interest so far over this week, which is an encouraging sign for me. We’ll just go from there.”
Shaw is coming off a 2019 season in which he hit .157 with seven home runs, 16 RBIs and a .551 OPS in 270 plate appearances across 86 major league games. He represents a decent buy-low option all things considered, though. He hit .273 with 31 home runs, 101 RBIs and an .862 OPS in 2017 and .241 with 32 home runs, 86 RBIs and an .825 OPS in 2018. A change of scenery could be exactly what the doctor ordered in terms of bouncing back.
“Right now I have the control. I can kind of figure out which fit is best for me. Where it looks right, where it feels right,” said Shaw, who was expected to earn $4.7 million in salary arbitration, according to MLB Trade Rumors’ projections. “I know I’m probably going to take a little bit of a hit financially this year compared to what I would have made in arbitration with the Brewers, but that was something I was willing to risk to re-establish myself on the market hopefully this coming year. Kind of like a one-year show-me deal.”
The Red Sox drafted Shaw in the ninth round in 2011. He made his major league debut with Boston in 2015 and appeared in 210 games across two seasons before being traded to Milwaukee, where he really flourished until this past year.
Currently, the Red Sox’s first base options include Michael Chavis, who burst onto the scene with a strong rookie showing in 2019, and Bobby Dalbec, one of the organization’s top prospects heading into 2020. Both are right-handed hitters with pop and an ability to play multiple positions.
