The messaging from the Red Sox after moving Alex Verdugo is they’re content with the state of their outfield. Lou Merloni isn’t buying that.
After sending Verdugo to the Yankees on Tuesday night, Craig Breslow indicated they are fine with their current collection of outfielders. At present they have Masataka Yoshida, Jarren Duran and Rob Refsnyder as Major League locks, with Wilyer Abreu and Ceddanne Rafaela as prospects knocking on the door to becoming full-time big leaguers.
Yoshida’s defense was suspect, though it did improve over time, last season, and Refsnyder is best served as a fourth outfielder. There’s plenty of promise with both Abreu and Rafaela, but fully entrusting one or both of them as an everyday player at this juncture is risky at best.
It should hardly be a surprise then that the Red Sox have been linked to Lourdes Gurriel and Michael A. Taylor in free agency.
Merloni told Gresh & Fauria on Wednesday that the supposed comfort with the outfield is just talk.
“No, no it’s not (a serviceable group). To me, it’s like I heard them say that, I just sort of blacked that out like they never did,” Merloni said. “If you come out and say ‘Well, we just traded Verdugo and now we are desperate. We desperately need an outfielder’ and then you start making calls for trades and teams whip out the quote. You know what I mean, like how desperate are you? Now you start talking about trade values.
“To me, absolutely not. I would love to see them put an outfield together (where) Rafaela is Triple-A depth, he needs to clean some things up offensively. Eventually does he get there? Sure, maybe, if he’s still in this organization at that point.
“Abreu is a guy I absolutely love, but I would absolutely love if you put together an outfield where you have him in Triple-A. And I’m not trying to load up the Triple-A team, but the reality is that for last couple of years when something happened and somebody went down, there was nobody to come up.
“There’s going to be injuries, so you’d have a really good outfield if you have Rafaela in Triple-A, Abreu in Triple-A. Now, I actually think Abreu is probably going to be a starter, but I think you need another bat. But this is the one area I’ve said from the beginning I don’t know where they’re going. … This is an area where it’s really unknown, but they can’t be satisfied with what they have. I think it’s just talk.”
Abreu seemed more Major League ready last season than Rafaela. He might well be the Opening Day right fielder and fare just fine, but a Yoshida, Duran, Abreu outfield is not without its share of questions.
Merloni thinks this ends with Gurriel at Fenway.
“I think Lourdes Gurriel, in my opinion, will be here in Boston. I think he’ll be your left fielder," Merloni said. "He was really good out in Arizona, I think (Alex) Cora’s got a relationship with him as well, I can see him being here. I wouldn’t be surprised if they add two outfielders. Money-wise, I don’t really know if it’s a factor or not, I don’t think it has to be a certain level of player.
“My dream, my hope, I don’t know if you can get him or not,m would be putting Luis Robert in center field. But that’s a tough sell give he’s got four years left in his deal. I don’t think they’re done there, but I do think Gurriel is a guy they may end up looking into seriously bringing up here.”