With the countdown to Spring Training and Opening Day now well underway, let’s catch up on our reading with some noteworthy stories from around the web for Red Sox fans.
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He may be 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds, but Travis Shaw knows well that his best chance at big league action, at least with the Sox, is to morph himself into Brock Holt 2.0. Sox baseball president Dave Dombrowski agrees and says Shaw will spend some time in the outfield during Spring Training to see if he might be an option for right field play at shallow parks like Yankee Stadium or Camden Yards, for example.
- With David Ortiz‘ impending retirement, Red Sox GM Mike Hazen was probably not entirely truthful when he told Rob Bradford of WEEI.com that the Sox “haven’t targeted a DH market.” At least, one would hope he wasn’t, particularly with Blue Jay sluggers Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion both heading to free agency after 2016. Is it a foregone conclusion that Big Papi will be replaced by Hanley Ramirez? Bradford examines some of the options.
- Yahoo’s Jeff Passan thinks a marriage of the Yankees and Bryce Harper, who will become a free agent after 2018, is thought to be inevitable by most in the sport. But at Over the Monster, Marc Normandin wonders if it won’t be the Red Sox who may make a run at Harper, arguing that with $97 million in commitments for 2019 (at this point, anyhow), the Sox have greater financial flexibility. Right now, this is all little more than a futuristic chess game, but it’s a fun read.
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