BOSTON — Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom continued his quest to strengthen his team in midfield by acquiring a talented but often injured infielder. Adalberto Mondesi Traded to the Royals on Tuesday.
In exchange, the Red Sox sent left-handed reliever Josh Taylor (also with an injury history) to Kansas City. The Red Sox will also get player nominations or cash considerations as part of the exchange.
At Mondesi, the Red Sox led the majors in triples (10) in 2019 and stolen bases (24) in 2020, but got a player who has barely been on the field in the past two seasons. Due to the rule changes this season, robbery should be increasedPlayers like Mondesi are considered more valuable if they can stay fit.
Mondesi tore his left ACL on April 26, 2022, ending his season. It usually takes about nine months for an athlete to recover from an ACL tear, and Mondesi will be ready for spring training.
During his career, Mondesi started in 241 short-distance games, 64 at second base, and 20 at third base. Hernández is a shortstop who has only started 64 games, but Bloom recently said the veteran is a positive defender wherever he plays. Cora raved about how Hernández’s first-step speed plays at shortstop.
For the past two seasons, Hernandez has been Boston’s main center fielder. However, after Xander Bogaerts left via free agency and Trevor Story underwent right elbow surgery that kept him out indefinitely, the Sox decided to bring Hernandez back to the infield. accept the transaction Free agent slugger Adam Duvall will play in center field. Hernández said a few days ago that he prefers playing infield because he enjoys playing at a faster pace.
Duvall’s one-year deal is not official at $7 million, as the deal is pending physical. But for Cora, position and player alignment are finally starting to get noticed.
The lineup looks like this:
Masataka Yoshida, LF
Quique Hernandez, SS-2B
Rafael Devers, 3B
Justin Turner, DH
Alex Verdago, RF
Adam Duvall, CF
Triston Casas, 1B
Adalberto Mondesi, SS-2B
Reese McGuire, C
Rover Christian Arroyo, outfielder Rob Refsnyder and Connor Wong are off the bench. Corner infielder Bobby Dalbec and outfielder Jalen Duran also compete for the roster.
The son of former MLB outfielder Raul Mondesi, Adalbert has been plagued with injuries throughout his career, playing only 358 games in some of seven seasons with the Royals. He is eligible to become a free agent after the 2023 season. 244/.280/.408 with 38 home runs and 133 stolen bases in his league in the majors.
Taylor was the Red Sox’s dominant left-to-left pitcher in 2021, but didn’t pitch at all in the majors in 2022 due to a back injury. Scored 129K in three innings and appeared in 121 games (one start) for the Red Sox over three seasons (2019-21). The southpaw, who turns 30 on March 2, will be under control until 2025.
Thomas Harrigan contributed to this story.
