Needing additional depth in their middle infield, the Red Sox acquired infielder Adalberto Mondesi from the Kansas City Royals Tuesday in exchange for reliever Josh Taylor. The Red Sox will also receive a player to be named later or cash considerations.
Mondesi, a switch-hitter, has played shortstop, second base and third base. He gives the Red Sox an additional option to back-up KikΓ© Hernandez at short, while also providing the prospect of left-handed at-bats at second. Christian Arroyo, who stands to see the majority of playing time at second, bats righthanded.
Mondesi, the son of former Dodger great Raul Mondesi, is one of the fastest players in the game. with 133 stolen bases in his seven-year major league career while being caught just 26 times. In five of his seven big league seasons, Mondesi has been in the 95th percentile or better in sprint speed. At a time when rule changes -- bigger bases, a limit to the number of pickoff attempts -- are expected to lead to more stolen base attempts, Mondesi could benefit greatly.
In his best season, in 2019, he swiped 43 bases and was thrown out just seven times. He also led the American League with 10 triples that year, then led the AL in steals in the pandemic-shortened season of 2020 with 24 steals.
"Awesome defender,'' said chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom in a Zoom call Tuesday night. "He can run. It's all there, he will show you everything you want to see out of a major league player. The talent, the athleticism he has is really top of the scale in Major League Baseball. He has the upside to really, really impact us.''
The problem for Mondesi, though, has been getting on base. He sports a .240 lifetime average and an on-base percentage of .280.
He also has been somewhat injury prone, having played more than 100 games just once in his career. Last year, he appeared in just 15 games with the Royals after suffering a torn ACL in his left knee in April, forcing him to miss the remainder of the season.
Bloom said it's possible that Mondesi might not be totally healthy by Opening Day and the Red Sox will be conservative in bringing him along, then careful with his playing time thereafter.
Mondesi, 27, is under control through the 2023 season and is set to earn $3.045 million this year.
The Sox had been in search of a middle infielder to provide some alternatives to Arroyo. Arroyo has been a solid contributor in his three seasons in Boston, with an OPS of .747. But like Mondesi, he, too, has been limited by injuries, having set a career high in games played last season by appearing in 87 contests.
Taylor missed all of last season with back issues. In 2021, he appeared in 61 games with a 3.40 with one victory and one save. For the moment, Joely Rodriguez is the team's only experienced lefty in the bullpen, though the recent signing of Ryan Sherriff to a minor league deal could remedy that. A number of lefty relievers -- including Andrew Chafin and Zack Britton -- remain on the free agent market.