The Red Sox invested heavily in Saidan Rafaela He signed the youngster to an eight-year, $50MM contract extension in April last season. At that time, he had played only 38 MLB games. They weren’t the most successful 38 games, either. Rafela has an OPS of .672, a wRC+ of 76, and a walk-to-strikeout ratio of 6:37. Despite his blazing speed, he’s only stolen four bases so far, and he’s been caught stealing twice. However, his defensive prowess must have helped the Red Sox overcome his struggles on the other side of the ball.
Rafela has long been praised as a defensive outfield prospect, and he’s lived up to the hype in the major leagues. By the end of the 2024 season, he had 12 earned runs and a +7 earned run average in just 748.0 career innings as a center fielder. For one thing, we have to be careful when looking at defensive metrics in such a small sample size. On the other hand, if Rafaela can maintain these numbers throughout the season, he will become one of the best outfielders in the game.
As if his performance in center field wasn’t impressive enough, Rafaela also appeared in 87 games at shortstop, 14 games at second base, and four games at third base during his brief MLB tenure. He has extensive infield experience in the minors. In fact, he started his career as a full-time infielder in 2018 and played outfield until 2021. When he debuted in the MLB, it was safe to say he was a full-time center fielder.
But not that fast. as Trevor Storey The Red Sox are spending a lot of time in Illinois in 2023 and ’24 and need help in the infield. Rafaela started five games at shortstop during his brief major league break in 2023. He ended up playing shortstop more than any position and more than anyone else on Boston’s roster.
Rafaela’s versatility will prove to be invaluable to the 2024 Red Sox. By almost every available metric, he’s poor defensively at the position. Rafaela has six fielding errors and four throwing errors in 692.0 career innings at shortstop beginning in the 2023-24 season. He had a defensive rating of -3 and a fielding rating of -8. Again, it’s important to take defensive metrics with a grain of salt in small sample sizes. Still, it’s impossible not to notice the difference between Rafaela’s performance in center field and at shortstop.
With this in mind, when Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow The Red Sox plan to keep Rafaela in center field “as much as possible,” told reporters (including MassLive’s Sean McAdam). Rafaela moves to center field full-time, Red Sox expected to reach 2024 Gold Glove final Jaren Duran Left field and 2024 Gold Glove winner Villier Abreu Right field, which gives them perhaps the best defensive outfielder in the sport. However, McAdam raises the question: What will Boston do once a star player emerges? Roman Anthony Already ready for the majors. That shouldn’t take too long considering Anthony posted a .982 OPS and 162 wRC+ in 35 Triple-A games last season. Neither Anthony nor Duran is as talented as Rafaela in the midfield, but both can handle the position. What’s more, Rafaela has shown far less promise at the plate. Duran has an .832 OPS and 126 wRC+ over the past two seasons, while Anthony has been shining in the minor leagues the past two years. Likewise, Abreu has a .794 OPS and a 117 wRC+ in 160 MLB games. No matter how strong Rafaela’s defense is, his .664 OPS and 79 wRC+ in 180 career games pale in comparison to those numbers.
Despite the possible congestion in the outfield, Breslow made it clear that the Red Sox don’t want Rafela playing in the infield (per McAdam). This isn’t a shocking finding. after all, Raphael Devers With a locked-in third base, Story should be a full-time shortstop as long as he’s healthy. Boston has no guaranteed starter at second base, but david hamilton In 2024, he is a stronger offensive player and a better infield defensive player than Rafela. Vaughn Gleeson There’s no indication he’s ready for a regular game yet, but he’s still young and presumably the Red Sox want to give him a chance to prove himself after an injury-plagued 2024 season.
Ultimately, however, this has nothing to do with the other options in the infield. In short, the Red Sox want Rafela to focus on his most valuable position. In fact, Breslow believes that moving between the infield and outfield may affect his performance at both positions: “I’m not sure we’re seeing his best defense because he’s playing in center field and shortstop. Switch back and forth between”.
It’s hard to argue with Breslow’s logic. In the meantime, it’s worth pondering what the Red Sox plan to do with Rafaela once Anthony asks for a promotion. Again, it’s worth pondering what this means for Boston’s purported pursuit of right-handed bats. Will a slightly crowded outfield picture prevent Breslow from adding a much-needed right bat to his lineup?
The simplest answer is that Rafaela could step into the fourth outfield role if/when he finds himself pushed out of the starting lineup. He could also be the short side of a platoon with Abreu, who struggles against lefties. Additionally, Breslow hasn’t completely closed the door on Rafaela returning to the infield. Maybe if Story gets injured again, Rafaela will return to the court after all. Such a role may not have been what the Red Sox had in mind when they signed him to a $5MM contract, but his $1.2MM salary through the 2025 season doesn’t seem high for a Gold Glove-caliber reliever. . Maybe Boston will eventually try to trade an outfielder, but there’s no reason to think they’re eager to get Rafaela — or Duran, Abreu or Anthony — off their hands. Additionally, Anthony has yet to make the 40-man roster, and there are a number of things that could happen between now and Opening Day that could affect Rafaela’s potential role.
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