Alex Cora, Red Sox ‘Jumped’ At Opportunity To Claim Taylor Motter

The Boston Red Sox need some infield depth as COVID-19 has run through their clubhouse, leaving them without Christian Arroyo, Kiké Hernández, Xander Bogaerts and more. So it wasn’t too surprising to see them make a waiver claim.

Boston on Thursday claimed infielder Taylor Motter from the Colorado Rockies. He’s played every infield position, and amassed a .335 batting average with 24 home runs and 57 RBIs in Triple-A this season.

Manager Alex Cora told reporters Thursday that they’re still waiting for Motter to clear any COVID-19 protocols, but explained why they made the claim.

“Athletic, versatile. It’s one of those situations where we’re at right now, I think if we recognized talent it’ll be good to add it to our structure, right?,” Cora said. “We don’t know what can happen in two hours or three hours or tomorrow. He was having a good season in Triple-A, he got called up by the Rockies, he got put on waivers so we jumped into the opportunity. We’ll see. Obviously there’s other stuff that goes on before he joins us, so we still have to wait.”

Cora makes a valid point in not knowing what can happen, given their current situation — and you never know if anyone else will test positive or go down with an injury.

Regardless, having depth is crucial as the Red Sox enter their home stretch of the season clinging to the second American League Wild Card spot.