Photo (c) Kelly O’Connor sittingstill.smugmug.com
As you likely already know, the Red Sox are expected to open the season with Bradley on the 25-man major league roster. It hasn’t been made official just yet, but it’s almost a certainty at this point.
We’ve already heard both sides of the Jackie Bradley call-up debate, so that’s not entirely what I’m here to discuss (although I will throw my opinion out there, because of course I will). Instead, I want to take a look at what it means for the Red Sox moving forward.
This whole discussion regarding Bradley’s major league debut was necessitated by David Ortiz’s heel injury, which left a hole in the Red Sox lineup where everybody’s favorite DH should be. It would seem that Bradley’s call up shifts the defensively challenged Jonny Gomes in to the DH spot, with Bradley occupying left field.
It’s a sensible arrangement for the short term. The Sox will get a chance to see one of their top young prospects – I’m still not higher on him than Bogaerts – as well as their most exciting spring performer take on major league pitching, as well as eliminating Gomes’ biggest weakness – defense – in the process.
It’s when Ortiz returns that things start to get hazy. Barring injuries (HAH!), the Sox will find themselves in the position of choosing between Bradley and Gomes in left field, and it won’t be strictly determined by performance.
Part of the argument against starting Bradley with the major league club is his arbitration clock – namely, that if he remained in the minor leagues for 11 days prior to joining the Red Sox, the organization would gain a full extra year of service time.
I remain in the camp that Bradley should not start with the major league team. Without delving into too much detail, 11 games from 22-year-old Bradley do not outweigh what we hope to see in a full season from 29-year-old Bradley. It simply doesn’t match up.
Regardless, if the Red Sox plan to call Bradley up to open the season, there is a second option to delay Bradley’s arbitration, and it’s what would come into play assuming everyone is healthy when Ortiz returns – they can send him down for 20 days during the season.
If Bradley struggles – or is at least not as exciting as he was in Spring Training – it would be a relatively easy call sending him back to the minors.
If he’s on a tear, though? Well, let’s put it this way: if the front office succumbed to external pressure to start Bradley in the majors, I’m not so sure they’ll resist a push to keep him there.
At any rate, it would seem Jackie Bradley Jr, will be starting the year with the Red Sox, so we may as well be prepared for it. I do believe Bradley is ready for the majors, and I think he’ll be a quality player that Red Sox fans will enjoy watching in left field.
I think it would be wise for the front office to hold him back for those 11 days, but ultimately, I’m not the GM. While I know it’s the smarter decision to push that arbitration clock back, the fan side of me is still excited that Jackie Bradley Jr. will be a Boston Red Sox.
So for now, that will have to do.