Should Red Sox Circle Back With Recently Released Veteran?

It’s officially the time of year for teams across baseball to start turning over rocks with hopes of improving for the stretch run, and the Red Sox are no different.

Boston has been one of the more surprising teams this season. The Sox are 51-41 entering a huge weekend series against the Kansas City Royals. Team president Sam Kennedy recently said on NESN that the team would be willing to add ahead of the July 30 trade deadline if the move made sense.

The Red Sox could also add through other avenues, and a potential option presented itself Friday. The Phillies on Friday released veteran infielder Whit Merrifield. The Phils signed Merrifield to a one-year deal ahead of the season, but he has not played up to Philadelphia’s expectations thus far.

Now that he’s back on the market, might the Red Sox be a potential landing spot for the 35-year-old? According to a report from The Athletic in December, Boston at least checked in with Merrifield’s representation when he was still a free agent. All a team like Boston would be on the hook for would be the prorated minimum big league salary.

Whether the Sox reevaluate now that Merrifield has been cut loose might depend at least partially on whether Vaughn Grissom will return soon. The second baseman has had a forgettable first season with the Sox and has been out since June 1 with a hamstring injury. He hit just .148 (12-for-81) in limited plate appearances before getting hurt again.

A possible Grisson return still might not affect any potential interest the Red Sox might have. Merrifield is certainly a better defender, and he could be a valuable depth piece down the stretch, especially with an ability to play strong defense at multiple positions (second base, third base and outfield). The problem, at least to this point in the season for Merrifield, has been the bat. The three-time All-Star was hitting just .199 with three home runs and 11 RBIs in 53 games with the Phillies this season.

That being said, he’s just one season removed from making an All-Star team with Toronto where he hit .272 while playing 145 games for the Blue Jays. The underlying metrics this season aren’t great; Merrifield’s ground-ball rate has increased to 46.4% (it was 40.5% last season), and his line-drive rate is way down to 18.8% (from a career rate of 25%). He’s never been an exit-velocity stud, and while those metrics are down, too, his expected batting average of .235 is in line with his career numbers. He also remains very difficult to strike out.

He still runs well, especially for his age, and while his defensive metrics have dipped, he’s still a steady hand.

Merrifield obviously has seen a dip in his play, but as nothing more than a depth piece, it could make sense for the Red Sox — or a number of teams, probably.