Joey Wendle. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
The Boston Red Sox have finally reached a long-term extension with Rafael Devers, but what are the next moves Chaim Bloom and Co. can make?
Just as fans were emotionally bracing themselves for Chaim Bloom to begin tearing down the Boston Red Sox after Xander Bogaerts walked in free agency this offseason, the general manager finally bought himself some goodwill. On Wednesday, he and the team agreed to an 11-year, $331 million extension with superstar third baseman Rafael Devers.
Even if most fans would have preferred keeping the pair of Devers and Bogaerts together in Boston for the remainder of their careers, not losing the 26-year-old third baseman in the same manner they did the shortstop does breed some form of optimism. But now Bloom and the Red Sox must build on that and keep making moves.
For starters, these three Red Sox moves would make a ton of sense in the wake of agreeing to the Rafael Devers contract extension.
Red Sox moves after locking up Rafael Devers, No. 3: Trade for Joey Wendle
It’s been reported recently that the Miami Marlins have expressed interest in one of Boston’s top prospects, first baseman Triston Casas, in recent weeks for a potential trade. If that were to happen, then the Red Sox would likely need a hefty return, one that likely centered around someone like young right-handed pitcher Pablo Lopez.
However, it feels unlikely that the team that just locked Devers up to a long-term contract would now look to deal one of its best young assets, even after Casas experienced some ups and downs throughout his first big-league action in the 2022 season. There is still another trade that the Red Sox could potentially start working on with the Marlins, though.
It was reported earlier in the offseason that Boston had interest in trading for utility infielder Joey Wendle from Miami, seemingly with the idea that he could play multiple spots and either fill in at second base with Trevor Story filling the void at shortstop, or slipping into that role whenever Story is out of the lineup.
Wendle isn’t a superstar, but Boston has found great success with these types of versatile players in recent years and Wendle could fit well in the lineup. Likely not costing a ton in terms of return, making a trade for him could be worth the club’s while as an immediate fix to a shallow middle infield.