When the season concludes -- be that the regular season or however far the postseason takes them -- the Red Sox, like every other MLB club, will have some decisions to make.
There will be the usual choices to make about players' options (Garrett Richards, Martin Perez, Christian Vazquez).
There will be the matter of whether they present qualifying offers (Eduardo Rodriguez).
And, in time, they will have to make a determination about how aggressively they'll pursue their own free agents (Rodriguez, Adam Ottavino).
But some decisions will be at least somewhat out of their control, where the players have an equal or greater say about their own future. And that's where Kyle Schwarber comes in.
Schwarber, acquired from Washington at the trade deadline, has a unique mutual option for 2022, valued at $11.5 million with a $3 million buyout. Even with no obvious fit for Schwarber with the current roster configuration, the Red Sox would jump at picking up their end of the option. Schwarber's .927 OPS for the season (.964 with the Sox) and his OPS+ (148 for the season; 155 since joining the Sox) makes that number a relative steal.
For precisely that reason, however, it would make little sense for Schwarber to agree to his end of the contract, when his numbers suggest he could do far better on the open market -- both in terms of AAV and length. A lefty hitter, who turns 29 next March, with the ability to both get on base (,.342 lifetime OBP) and slug (.493 percentage for his career), Schwarber would be cutting himself short.
But that doesn't mean that Schwarber is closing the door to remaining with the Red Sox. In fact quite the contrary.
"I think I'd be pretty stupid just to say, 'I'm not going to come back,' '' Schwarber told BostonSportsJournal.com. "The way I view myself is, I want to be a good teammate and I want to win. You look at the fan base, you look at the history, your look at the organization and what they want to do on a year-to-year basis, and it kind of fits me and my mode in terms of they want to win. Everybody's been a really good teammate, from what I've seen so far, from the coaching staff to the front office to the ownership.
"This is definitely a place that I would love to see what happens and definitely wouldn't 'X' it off for talks or anything like that. But I'll wait (to address) that at the end of the year. I want to get to the playoffs (first) and I want to help this team get to the ultimate goal. But I'd think be stupid to say, 'No, I'm not coming back.' Or to not even listen. I would definitely be all ears, all the time.''
Though he didn't address it overtly, Schwarber knows that it would be ***premium** impractical -- if not impossible -- to start next season on the roster along with J.D. Martinez. Though both can play the outfield some, neither is a good defender and the Sox wouldn't want to weaken their outfield play by having either one play for a significant amount of time there. Meanwhile, first base has been a challenge for Schwarber defensively, and even if he had the winter and next spring training to spend more time mastering the position, there's the issue of providing playing time for Bobby Dalbec, whose second half has reinforced his value to the team going forward.
The Sox' best hope, frankly, would be for Martinez to do what he's twice decided not to do -- opt-out of his deal with the Red Sox, With a depressed market for veteran payers in recent years, along with the uncertainty of the DH in the NL, Martinez has opted to stay put. But now that he has only one year remaining -- at the pricey sum of $19.375 million -- there's a chance Martinez could get a team to commit to an additional year or two. If Seattle, a mostly young team that could use his veteran presence and production, offered Martinez three years for $45 million, would that be enough to entice him?
Even if Martinez decided to stay put, there's nothing to stop the Sox from trading him. And if the NL does, as expected, adopt the DH, that doubles the number of potential landing spots for Martinez. Even if the Sox had to take some of the money back to facilitate a deal, since they could then replace him with Schwarber, who would be both younger and at least a little cheaper.
But that's on the Red Sox to make it work. Schwarber sure sounded like someone who could envision himself at Fenway for a while.
"It's always nice when you can a nice big wall in left field and know that there could be a possibility that you might hit one that could be an out someplace else that could hit the wall here,'' he said. "I've been a guy who can go to left field, so I only see that as a benefit. And with all the space in right-center and right field, that doesn't bother me at all. That could only be a plus. There's a little bit more grass.''
But ballpark suitability and the hitting environment are only part of what has endeared Schwarber to Boston.
"For me to land here in terms of the position that the team was in and the position that we're in right now, you can't be more happy as a baseball player,'' he said. "You want to win always and to walk into a team that's in the playoff push, that's all you can ask for.''
Of course, at some point, Schwarber would need some assurance as to how, precisely, he would fit into the Sox' plans.
"I'm sure if that were to ever come around, I'm sure that they would explain what that would be,'' he said. "I would listen. It's pretty simple on my end. I want to win and I want to help contribute. If that happens, I'm sure they'll be able to lay something out. I don't know - I haven't been (involved) in that with these guys yet.''
But after nearly two months in Boston, he's seen no negatives and could envision himself remaining.
"I love playing here,'' he said. "I've loved playing here. I love the atmosphere and stuff like that, too. It's historic. You get goosebumps every time you walk in.''
___________________________
Another issue the Red Sox don't have a say in: their wild card opponent. That will be determined by what the Yankees, Blue Jays -- and perhaps the Mariners -- do in the closing days of the season.
Let's focus, for now, on the two teams from the East. And the results of the past two days notwithstanding, the better -- i.e., easier to beat -- opponent here is the Yankees.
The Sox won the season series 10-9 against Toronto, but assuming such a matchup would be at Fenway -- the Sox hold an edge in the standings and the tiebreaker with both clubs -- the Jays are a far more formidable outfit at Fenway than are the Yankees.
The Blue Jays were 5-5 in 10 games in Boston, but it's instructive -- and more than a little worrisome - to see how they performed offensively in those 10 games. In five of those games, the Jays scored five or more runs. In two of them, they managed double figures, including a highly memorable game in June in which the Jays scored 18 runs and hit eight homers.
For the season, the Jays averaged 6,1 runs per game at Fenway while slashing .296/.359/.536 there and belting 20 homers. And the Toronto lineup is almost exclusively righthanded, with any number of their hitters -- Vlad Guerrero Jr., George Springer, Bo Bichette, Marcus Semien, Teoscar Hernandez -- capable of banging balls off or over The Wall.
The Yankees, of course, have that same kind of righthanded firepower with Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sanchez, now balanced with deadline acquisitions Anthony Rizzo and Joey Gallo. But the Yankees are far more streaky, and have more difficulty making regular contact than the Jays.
And presuming that either team would have their No. 1 starter available for that winner-take-all exercise, if I'm the Red Sox, I'd rather take my chances with Gerrit Cole having an off-day than Robbie Ray.
____________________________
Even professional athletes thrive on being motivated by perceived slights. Take infielder Nick Yorke, for example.
Yorke was named Minor League Offensive Player of the Year by the Red Sox for a season that began at Salem and ended at High A Greenville.
Yorke slashed .325/.412/.516 with 14 homers over 97 games for the two affiliates. This, after a brutally bad start at Salem in which he hit just .177 for the first month of play, while posting a .440 OPS.
"I was lucky the season wasn't a month,'' recalled Yorke prior to being saluted on the field before Wednesday's game, "or else I wouldn't be here.''
Yorke stayed true to himself, realizing that the first month was, as much as anything, the result of some tough luck in terms of having balls being hit at defenders. Eventually, he raked, and even eventually dominated at the next level. This season has elevated Yorke to perhaps the second-best position player prospect in the organization, behind only Triston Casas.
You may recall that Yorke's selection in the first round in 2020 was something of a shock to some evaluators around the game, who had him ranked far lower. When the Sox chose him, many thought the pick was a reach and designed to spread around their draft pool money more evenly.
About 16 months later, Yorke hasn't forgotten the doubters, or those who had him regarded as far less than a sure thing.
"It's motivation,'' he acknowledged with a smile. "I still know the number. I was ranked 139th (best prospect) by Perfect Game (a prospect showcase organizer that also ranks amateur players).''
Still, Yorke understands that while such a slight may prove motivational, he has to earn his way up the minor league ladder.
"At the end of the day,'' he said, "that's not going to get me to the big leagues. So every opportunity that I got to be on the field, I try to make the most of it and prove to them that I'm better than 139th.''
____________________________
Congratulations to Jon Lester, who recently posted career win No. 200 while with the St. Louis Cardinals, his second team this season (he signed with Washington, and like his former Cubs teammate Schwarber, was auctioned off at the deadline).
Lester now will get a chance to participate in yet another postseason, having already won two rings with the Red Sox and another with Chicago.
His win total is broken down this way: Red Sox (110); Cubs (77); Oakland A's (6); Cardinals (4); Nationals (3).
Lester, 37, won't gain election to the Hall of Fame, but if this is the end, after 16 seasons and having overcome cancer at the start, it's been a commendable career indeed.
