Breslow: ‘All options need to be on the table’ at first base
So far, the Boston Red Sox’ plan for replacing the injured Triston Casas at first base has been to split time between Romy Gonzalez and Abraham Toro. Gonzalez has certainly been a pleasant surprise this season (.308 average, .785 OPS), but whether he can be the long-term solution at first remains a fair question.
The Red Sox have not yet laid the foundation for any other plan, though. Trying Rafael Devers at first would seem like a worthwhile exercise, but manager Alex Cora shot down that idea earlier this week before softening his stance at least a little bit on WEEI Afternoons on Wednesday. Moving Roman Anthony or Marcelo Mayer, their top two prospects, to first and accelerating their promotion to the big leagues does not seem to be on the table, either.
Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow joined The Greg Hill Show for the “Front Office Report” Thursday morning and weighed in on the situation, saying the team will and needs to consider “all options,” but that right now they’re still talking things over internally before deciding to act. Listen to the full interview above.
“So, we've had that conversation kind of internally, and just batted around ideas as we're trying to surface every possible solution,” Breslow said of potentially moving Devers to first. “Now, I think what Alex is pointing out, rightfully, is we want to make sure that we're not creating one problem by solving another. And Raffy’s greatest impact is going to be what he can do in the batter's box. So, if and when the time comes to have that conversation, we want to make sure that we're mindful of all of those things. We need to consider all options, which doesn't necessarily mean that we're going to pursue them.”
Chris Curtis followed up by asking Breslow why the team is afraid to ask Devers to play first, a notion that Breslow did not agree with.
“I don't think anybody is afraid of Rafael Devers,” Breslow said. “Obviously, we had a difficult conversation with him in spring training, moving him off of third base and into the DH spot, because we felt like that was what's best for the team. And we'll continue to operate with what is best for the team front of mind.”
Wouldn’t trying Devers at first be what’s best for the team, though?
“It could be,” Breslow answered, “if Raffy is able to make that transition pretty seamlessly, if it doesn't impact what happens on the offensive side. Then sure. But those are all factors that we need to consider when making this decision.”
Wouldn’t it help inform the decision to at least get Devers some practice at first before games?
“I don't know that it's as simple as that,” Breslow said. “Because I think, you put a glove on his hand and he goes out there and he starts to get to work, and then there's a bunch of questions about, is he ready? How good will he be? When will he be ready? So, again, I would say all options need to be on the table, and we need to be anchored to what is best for the team, and we will do that.”
So, there you go. Devers playing first could be an option. Maybe. At some point. But right now, it’s a plan that’s only being discussed, with no timeline for when or if they’ll turn it into action.
