Leandre: Major League Baseball Mailbag
Perhaps the start of a monthly series, I will be answering some questions about the Boston Red Sox and Major League Baseball at large.
As the Major League Baseball regular season creeps inside its final two months of play, there are many questions still to answer regarding some of the game’s best teams and players.
That, combined with my itch to get back into writing, brings forth this idea of doing an MLB Mailbag. People who follow me on Twitter can leave questions — many having to do with the Boston Red Sox — and I will answer them in a long-form way through an article.
Perhaps this is something I do once a month, maybe bi-weekly if people enjoy it.
Anywho, here are some of the questions I was asked on Aug. 7.
How would you manage the roster with Casas seemingly coming back soon. DFA Dom or option Sogard?
Obviously, prefacing this by saying I don’t know exactly what will happen and this is entirely opinion-based on roster construction.
To answer, what I’d do is send down infielder Enmanuel Valdez and designate catcher Tyler Heineman for assignment to clear both MLB and 40-man roster spots for Triston Casas.
I know that Dominic Smith is redundant with Casas; he’s a first baseman who bats left-handed and offers no positional versatility. He also is redundant with designated hitter Masataka Yoshida for the same reason. However, I believe in team chemistry as a means to get the most out of the players on the roster.
This group loves Smith, as do the fans. It would seem like malpractice to get rid of Smith, even if he’s only a one-and-done in Boston.
As for the decision to option Valdez: He’s only in MLB as a body to replace the recently IL’d Tyler O’Neill, so there’s no role for him beyond pinch-hitting, which could easily be re-assigned to Smith’s role with Casas back.
I’d designate Heineman for assignment because they already have the “luxury” of Reese McGuire accepting his assignment to Worcester, so if Connor Wong or Danny Jansen get hurt, they already have someone with loads of big-league experience they can re-add to the 40-man and thrust into the postseason race.
Designating Heineman also likely opens that roster spot in Triple-A for top catching prospect Kyle Teel.
With Duran, Abreu and soon Anthony all needing outfield spots, what future does Rafaela realistically have (in Boston)?
I got multiple questions similar to this one, so I’ll tag the other one here.
The Red Sox definitely have some difficult decisions looming as soon as this offseason.
Whether the reason behind extending Ceddanne Rafaela had to do with him or lack of certainty surrounding Jarren Duran and/or Wilyer Abreu, I do think that extension ultimately means he’ll be safe. After all, he’s the only one of the three who can play the infield, which is more up for grabs even if you want to have faith in Trevor Story staying healthy from 2025 to 2027.
They definitely could still trade Roman Anthony for a frontline starting pitcher, though I don’t think that’s a route they go since Roki Sasaki (maybe), Max Fried and Corbin Burnes, to name a few, will all be free agents this winter.
That leaves Duran and Abreu. While Duran is much more in the “sell high” caliber of player with his reliance on speed to create havoc in-game. I think the power is still developing and he’s a hard enough worker to adapt his game as his speed declines. That said, he’s still just 27 years old … it isn’t like decline in physical ability is imminent barring injury.
Abreu, unfortunately, seems like the odd-man out here. If they’re able to move off of Yoshida this winter, maybe they can hold onto him for one more year and rotate him at DH when Anthony is ready to impact the MLB level. But, for right now, I think Abreu is the player they trade, not Rafaela.
Who is your favorite prospect to keep an eye on for next season?
I’m pretty firmly on right-hander Yordanny Monegro watch next season from an ascension standpoint. He’s got all the tools to be great, it’s just a matter of staying healthy and continuing to put the work in.
From a draftee standpoint, it’s impossible to not daydream about what two-way prospect Conrad Cason can do. I wonder how long they’ll let him do both. I wonder what the growing pains will look like.
All I know is he’s the first prospect in my life I will genuinely travel down south just to go watch.
How much do Chris Sale’s HOF chances improve with a Cy Young this year?
I think pretty substantially, but regardless of the results of this year’s voting, he’s done wonders for his case.
If the season ended today, he’d have 51.6 fWAR, a 3.08 career ERA and 2,344 strikeouts. Through his age-35 season, all of those put him on a Hall of Fame trajectory. The only reason for skepticism is his track record with injuries; even one fully healthy year doesn’t undo six years of injury troubles and recovery.
If he wins it, plus potentially another ring this year with the Atlanta Braves, he’s definitely going to be taken more seriously as a future candidate. But if all those things happen and he only makes 12 starts in 2025, we’re back to Square 1 again.
What’s your read on Bryan Mata? Will he ever overcome his injuries to make it at the Major-League level?
I think at a certain point, luck has to break back into Mata’s favor, I just doubt that’s ever in Boston.
They have some serious Rule 5 decisions to make this winter. Is it worth it to give Mata a guaranteed roster spot just to rinse and repeat the cycle? I don’t think so.
It’s not my most well-thought out answer but from the Red Sox side of things, I don’t think the reward outweighs the continued risk. If he gets claimed, so be it. If he doesn’t, even better.
He’s got MLB-quality stuff, but now Wikelman Gonzalez is on his heels, in my opinion, for basically the same role.
