Free Agency officially began for Major League Baseball and last week, the Red Sox announced their new Chief of Baseball Operations, Craig Breslow; during his introductory press conference, he said the Red Sox need starting pitching, infield depth, and a right-handed bat. The other day, I mentioned that they were rumored to be interested in Whit Merrifield and he would cover the right-handed bat and infield depth as he can play second base. There’s been talk that the Red Sox have an abundance of outfield depth, and they could trade one or two of them to acquire a starting pitcher since they may not be able to sign two starting pitchers with the other teams going after pitching. If they trade two outfielders, they should go after Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who could slide into left field and allow the Red Sox to move Masataka Yoshida to Designated Hitter.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. By The Numbers
Gurriel wrapped up his sixth season, having played five games with the Toronto Blue Jays. This past season, he played for the Arizona Diamondbacks after the Blue Jays traded him with Gabriel Moreno in exchange for Daulton Varsho. In his career, he has played in 613 games and has a slash line of .279/.324/.466 with a .791 OPS; he has 136 doubles, seven triples, 92 home runs, 336 RBI, 289 runs scored, 19 stolen bases, and 139 walks. With Toronto, he played in 468 games, slashing .285/.329/.468 with a .797 OPS; he had 101 doubles, five triples, 68 home runs, 254 RBI, 224 runs scored, 14 stolen bases, and 106 walks. This season with Arizona, he slashed .261/.309/.463 with a .772 OPS; he had 35 doubles, two triples, 24 home runs, 82 RBI, 65 runs scored, five stolen bases, and 33 walks. In his career at Fenway Park, he has played in 40 games and has a slash line of .320/.344/.456 with a .800 OPS; he has nine doubles, one triple, four home runs, 17 RBI, and 21 runs scored.
Wrap Up:
He has an excellent swing for that Green Monster and can be a guy you write into the lineup in the sixth spot of the order, and he can produce. What do you think? Could Gurriel be a solid right-handed bat in the Red Sox lineup if they were to open some things up with trades for starting pitching?
