With the recent callup of first baseman Aaron Bates to the club, it’s clear that the Sox are concerned about their offensive viability.
With the All-Star break around the corner, the club could have opted to keep Jeff Bailey on the roster despite his high-ankle strain and go a couple days against a left-handed starter with Julio Lugo at short or Mark Kotsay at first (despite the latter’s left-handed bat).
Instead, the club chose to promote a 25-year old struggling in Triple-A. Bates’ numbers so far on the year are .182/.273/.295 with only 24 games at the level. And yet, the Sox brought him up to get his right-handed bat in the lineup against lefty pitchers.
Could Julio Lugo have done better at short both defensively and with the stick? Maybe. Could Mark Kotsay have held his own against a lefty pitcher? Probably, given his career .730 OPS against lefties (.757 against righties).
And yet, Bates got the call.
Look, Bates is no slouch. He was impressive enough in Portland to get promoted to Triple-A. At 25 years old, it is probably time to see what he can do in the bigs, especially for someone as talented as him that draws comparisons to Conor Jackson.
“What’s the big deal,” you might ask.
This decision has lasting ramifications because with Bates placed on the 40-man roster, someone else will have to get the boot once Jed Lowrie is activated from the 60-day DL. That could very well be Chris Carter, Travis Denker or Gil Velazquez.
Now, the first two are probably unlikely to clear waivers, while Gil has a great chance of doing so. But is the risk involved worth bringing Bates up and having him sit on the pine until left-handers pitch in the game?
Or would we have been better off slotting Kotsay in there and letting Bates get comfortable in Triple-A?
What this decision tells me is that the Sox are not comfortable giving any additional playing time to Julio Lugo and Mark Kotsay. Since they’re bench players, that’s understandable enough. But to be more comfortable giving Bates playing time than those two really sends warning bells off in my head.
The Sox are holding off on making a deal until Mike Lowell comes back; what Lowell can do out of the gate will dictate their trading strategy, but irrespective of Lowell, it’s becoming more and more clear that the Red Sox feel they need to bring in a bat.
Where would that bat fit if not for Lowell? Would you be surprised if I said shortstop? Lugo is on the outs, Lowrie’s rehab keeps getting delayed and he has an option for Triple-A which he might be best served using at this point, and Green is playing over his head. (Sorry, but true).
The Sox reportedly view Lowrie as their shortstop of the future, but if the Red Sox are this concerned about their offense, they could simply have Lowrie be the infield backup next year who would see a lot of time given Mike Lowell’s question mark. The Brewers need pitching and might be convinced to deal J.J. Hardy with Alcides Escobar in the minors.
Would the Sox give up their pitching depth? Even with Clay Buchholz and Michael Bowden blowing away batters in Triple-A, it seems as if the Sox are averse to giving up any — any — pitching. (This is a topic for another time, but given all the injury potentialities of the starting pitchers, this is probably the right move.)
If Hardy enters the equation, though, don’t you almost have to think about a Penny/Jed Lowrie deal? Or a deal structured around Bowden? (No thanks on dealing Buchholz, he could be our ace in three years.)
The recall of Aaron Bates when they didn’t have to makes it clear that the Red Sox are not happy with their offense, and even when Lowell returns from the disabled list, they will continue being unhappy.
After all, look at the current situation:
- The third baseman (Lowell) is a question mark for the rest of the year
- They have a shortstop with no range (Lugo) and a career minor leaguer currently starting, with a young, still unknown player (Lowrie) struggling to rehab
- Their DH just had two of the worst months known to mankind (Ortiz) and despite his success over the last five weeks, he’s not out of the woods yet
- Bay is entering a significant slump which is turning him back into the All-Star he is, but not the transcendent hitter the Sox need/want
That’s four out of nine spots, and that’s a significant amount given that three of these four members in that list comprise the power spots in the lineup.
True, Aaron Bates is just a temporary stopgap, but reading between the lines tells a lot. It tells you that you should prepare to see a move to get an offensive bat before the month is out.