J.D. Drew will be forgotten. His number won’t be retired. A statue of commemoration will never stand outside Fenway Park. We might mumble something about his grand slam to our grandchildren. The history books will mark him as the right fielder for the Boston Red Sox from 2007 to 2011. That is all.
Advocates of home runs and RBI’s will tell you that Drew was a failure in Boston. Advocates of OPS and WAR will tell you that he was a pretty decent player. Either way, he will not be the Red Sox’ Right Fielder next year. His fourteen million dollar salary will come off the books and he will depart to an outfield in a different city. He may even retire. Someone will take his place. Someone will be penciled in the lineup in right field. Someone will track balls as far back as the bullpen, and will learn to play that tricky hop that the ball takes when it bounces off the right field stands. The only question is…who?
Ryan Kalish may have an answer to that question. The Sox’ ninth round pick in the 2006 amateur draft showed great promise in his 179 major league plate appearances two years ago. With Boston out of contention, Kalish was given the chance to play everyday after the 2010 trade deadline, and faired quite well. He only batted .252, but his .305 OBP proved that he could get draw walks, and his speed lends itself well once he’s on the base paths. Everything was lined up for Kalish to get regular time playing time this season. The front office derailed these plans when they signed Carl Crawford. (Against all of John Henry’s wishes…) Kalish was optioned to Pawtucket to begin the season, and things only went downhill from there. He slogged through an injury filled year that saw him come to the plate only 96 times, and hit only .209 with a .271 OBP in those appearances. He received surgery on his neck last month, and all indications are that he’s healthy and ready to start camp this spring. He has been compared countless times to Dirt Dog legend, Trot Nixon, but his skill set may elevate him past even those projections. Kalish’s speed makes him a threat on the base paths, and his ability to consistently get on base makes him a good fit for Boston’s lineup. And there’s this. A .285, 20 homer, 30 stolen bases, campaign is not out of the question, and the Sox would be more than happy with that production out of their right fielder.
Josh Reddick may have an answer to that question. The lanky twenty-four year old got plenty of time at the major league level this year. With J.D. Drew injured and Mike Cameron ineffective, Reddick racked up 278 plate appearances. He came out of the gate extremely hot, batting near .400 until mid-July when his average began to diminuendo towards the .280 mark he would eventually hold at the season’s end. The knock on Reddick has always been his ability to take walks. He has shown horrible plate discipline since his first year in the minors, often swinging at pitches far outside the strike zone. His career K% of 20.3 highlights this, and his .318 BABIP this year proves that his high average was due to a fair amount of luck. He has shown promising power, slugging .457 this year, while hitting seven home runs. His defense is solid too, as he contributed a 8.6 FLD this year, very good for a player that only played 87 games. If Reddick can continue to develop better plate discipline, and add even a bit more power, it would not be an unbelievable stretch to see him patrolling right field next year.
Someone outside of the Red Sox organization may have an answer to that question. As you read this, Ben Cherington and the rest of the front office are negotiating with the Chicago Cubs over what players they will receive as compensation for letting Theo Epstein walk. Brett Jackson would be a crown jewel acquisition. Selected 31st overall in the 2009 amateur draft by the Cubs, Jackson was ranked their second best prospect overall at the beginning of the year. While still only twenty-three, Jackson hit .297 for the Iowa Cubs (the Cub’s AAA affiliate), while hitting twenty homers and stealing twenty bases between AAA and AA this year. It seems unlikely that Chicago would be willing to part with such a talented player, but just two weeks ago, it seemed unlikely that we would even be discussing what players Boston would receive as compensation for the departure of Theo Epstein. Who knows what the Cubs would be willing to part with. On the other side of the country, Andre Ethier has only one year left on his contract, and has already said that it is unlikely he will stay in LA after said contract expired. He is Dustin Pedroia’s best friend, and college roommate, the move almost makes too much sense. Yes, he would be another left-hander in a lineup already full of lefties, but it seems trivial to look at that considering the talent latent within his bat.
So, the Sox have options. They may have too many, if there is such a thing. The smart money seems to be on Kalish adopting the role next year. Yet, with a history of injury, and only half a season’s worth of sample size, he is no sure thing. Kalish’s contact rate and speed make him a better option than Reddick, who may never escape his swing-free nature. Andre Ethier is certainly enticing, but the Sox may not have the pieces to make the move. Ironically enough, if the Sox did pull the trigger, Kalish or Reddick would almost certainly be included in the deal. It seems likely that one of the two will be traded soon, their times as prospects are running out, and it would be beneficial for the club to move at least one of them before their flaws manifest themselves for good (especially in the case of Reddick.) For a team in need of starting pitching and bullpen arms, having both of them in the system seems unnecessary.
Who knows, the right fielder of the 2012 Boston Red Sox may not even have been discussed in this piece. He’s waiting somewhere, whether that be within the Sox’ organization or not. Such is the nature of the offseason. The sad inevitably of the game is that whoever this player is, he is more likely to go the way of J.D. Drew: forgotten soon enough. After all, not everyone can have a statue. Maybe Drew will think that to himself as he stands in some other outfield, in some other park, on some other team, on April 1st of next year.