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So far, the early-season second-base replacements for the injured
Dustin Pedroia have included:
Brock Holt,
Marco Hernandez,
Tzu-Wei Lin,
Blake Swihart,
Deven Marrero—and the newly signed Mexican Pacific League player
Esteban Quiroz. Not exactly the
"Murder's Row" of keystone options. Now, according to
The Boston Herald's
Jason Mastrodonato,
a bolder choice would be a trade for veteran Detroit second-sacker Ian Kinsler. In fact. given the horrific track record of the Red Sox "medical" staff (
Drs. Howard, Fine and Howard), Pedroia's projected return from knee surgery will likely be later than the late-May/early June target. Probably
much later. In fact, after the
All-Star Break is probably more realistic. So, a veteran presence like Kinsler might not be a luxury—it could be a
necessity. The 35-year-old Kinsler will be in the final year of a contract that will pay him $11 million in 2018. He still has pop (22 HRs) and is excellent defensively. Since
John Henry stubbornly refused to improve the 2017 team (to stay under the luxury tax threshold), he is
obliged to open the spigots in 2018 and make
every move necessary—no matter the cost to his other precious little toys (foreign soccer teams, the
Boston Globe newspaper, and the pathetically inept
NESN regional sports network).
Do it!
