FORT MYERS, Fla. – With Opening Day fast approaching, the Red Sox are trying – without much success – to alleviate some of their roster crunch by offering two players around in trades, according to a source: infielders Brock Holt and Deven Marrero.
Marrero is out of options, and the Red Sox fear that with his defensive ability, he would probably not pass through waivers unclaimed. It’s possible he could get a brief reprieve if the Sox elect to open the season with 11 pitchers. But two weeks into the season, they would need to revert to a dozen pitchers, resulting in a bench player being squeezed out.
Other teams, however, know that Marrero is out of options and as such, are reluctant to give up anything for him when he might be on waivers soon, a second source added.
The Minnesota Twins lost starting shortstop Jorge Polanco to an 80-game suspension for violating baseball’s drug policy over the weekend and would seem to be in need of additional middle infield depth. But a talent evaluator with an American League club said Monday he didn’t envision the Twins moving on Marrero.
Holt has options remaining, and with major league service time at four-plus seasons, lacks the ability to refuse a minor league assignment. But at $2.225 million, Holt makes a lot for a bench player, and the Sox would like to find someone to take that salary off their hands.
That money, however, makes Holt difficult to move especially since other teams question what sort of player he is after suffering numerous concussions the past few years. Holt had a poor offensive season in 2017 (.548 OPS) and teams likely want to see further proof he has regained his offensive tough.
The Sox, meanwhile, are bumping up close to another luxury tax threshold – they sit at just over $230 million, with the threshold at $237 million – and are carefully watching every dollar in order to give themselves some flexibility to add to the roster over the course of the season.
If either Holt or Marrero is dealt, the Sox still believe they have adequate infield depth in Tzu-Wei Lin, who, while perhaps not as versatile as Holt, can play a number of infield positions along with center field. Marco Hernandez, whom the Sox like a great deal, is still recovering from a second shoulder procedure and yet to begin baseball activities.
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