Michael Chavis played left field. Christian Arroyo was run out on the regular as their second baseman. And plenty of pitchers were auditioned in various forms or fashion.
But the Red Sox missed one opportunity during these crowd-less, stress-free September Major League Baseball games: They didn't try out Rafael Devers at first base.
No, this is not the reactionary, "He made more errors than any other third baseman in baseball! He's not a third baseman!" This is about making the most of what you have.
Facts are fact: Devers isn't morphing into the model of consistency some thought he might by the time the end of 2020 rolled around. He has 23 more errors than any other third baseman in baseball (73) since the beginning of the 2017 season, leading the pack once again this year with 13 in 53 games.
"It's confidence with him," Roenicke said Wednesday. "If he makes an error, he tries so hard to not make another error that he just — he's athletic — that he doesn't use that to field the next ball. … It's not mental focus. He focuses fine. You can see his setup that he's into every pitch. But once he has that error — and I've seen a lot of guys this way — once you have one error, you're trying not to make another, and that's the wrong way to think about it. …
"That will come with time. He's still really young. … The confidence will continue to get better and I know he's going to work at it to the point where I'm sure he'll end up being, hopefully he'll end up being an average third baseman."
An "average" third baseman? How the expectations have fallen.
So that brings us back to what should have entered into the Red Sox' month of trial-and-error.
You have a player in Bobby Dalbec who was always considered an above-average fielder when playing third base in college and for a good stretch in the minor leagues. He is far better at that spot than the current position the rookie is trying to learn, first base.
And while Devers has never played first base, and certainly wants to see it through at the only infield position he has ever known, there might be a new home waiting for him across the diamond. Work with him a little bit here, a little bit there and pick your spots in integrating into life as a first baseman.
Just see how it looks. See how it feels.
Even with all the errors, jumping ship from Devers at third base would be difficult. He was fourth in the majors among third basemen in above average outs (7) last year, improving from negative-seven the year before. (He sits at 0 in 2020.) And it certainly appears as though he is able to separate his defensive struggles when stepping into the batter's box.
But this is all about options and making the most of what you have. The Red Sox, however, seem to be intent on continuing down the current course.
Maybe next year.
"I think Raffy is gonna play better," Roenicke said. "We hope he plays like he did for the last four months last year. He continues to improve. I know he has these lapses where he goes through a game or two games where he's not fielding well. But I think, because of the errors, you look at him as, he makes a lot of errors and he's not good. But Raffy's got the tool set to be a good third baseman. If he can be even an average third baseman defensively, with the way he swings the bat, it's a huge value for a team."
