New Red Sox infielder Vaughn Grissom ‘excited’ to join Boston
New Red Sox infielder Vaughn Grissom was quick to post his goodbye to the Atlanta Braves on social media, following the trade to Boston on Saturday.
Grissom was traded to the Red Sox for left-hander Chris Sale and $17 million dollars. The move now gives the Red Sox a young controllable major league ready option to play second base.
“I want to say thank you (to the Red Sox) for believing in me and giving me a shot to play for this incredibly historic ball club and I couldn’t be more excited for this next chapter with new teammates, new coaches, new fans and family. I can’t wait to get started,” Grissom published on X, shortly after the trade.
The 22-year-old was selected in the 11th round during the 2019 Major League draft. Grissom’s path to the majors in Atlanta has seemingly been blocked due to having Orlando Arcia at shortstop and Ozzie Albies at second base. Which allowed the Braves to feel comfortable in trading the talented young infielder.
The Red Sox now view Grissom as their potential starting second baseman for Opening Day next season.
Craig Breslow told reporters following the trade that the organization envisions Grissom as an everyday second baseman.
“We do. Yeah,” Breslow said, speaking with reporters via Zoom on Saturday evening.
“Second base is an area of need for us,” Breslow added. “I think I’ve talked about the opportunity to upgrade there and we view him as someone that can play every day.”
Grissom played just 23 games for the Braves last season, batting .280 with .313 on-base percentage, .659 OPS, three doubles, one triple, nine RBIs with 15 strikeouts in just 75 at-bats.
He spent most of his time with Triple-A Gwinnett where he slashed .330/.419/.501/.921 with eight homers, 36 doubles, four triples, 74 runs, 61 RBIs, 56 walks and 66 strikeouts in 102 games.
“In Grissom, we saw someone that we felt was a dynamic athlete who could play all over the field and offered a ton of versatility but is most likely to settle in at second base,” Breslow said. “Someone with a really strong right-handed bat who’s been an elite performer in the minor leagues. And someone who comes with six years of control.”
Grissom will join Enmanuel Valdez, Ceddanne Rafaela, Pablo Reyes and David Hamilton as the other members on the 40-man roster to compete for the starting second base job during spring training.
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