Every player on the Boston Red Sox is under an increased amount of scrutiny this season.
The Red Sox entered the year with too many position players to keep everyone around once all of the team’s top prospects are promoted. We’re still waiting on two of those promotions, as shortstop Marcelo Mayer and outfielder Roman Anthony approach the big leagues.
That means anyone who has a loose grip on a starting spot now has to do everything they can to stay in the organization’s good graces. And per a somewhat controversial report on Sunday, one young player is raising some eyebrows in the dugout.
According to MassLive’s Sean McAdam, 24-year-old outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela has caused “growing frustration” with his lack of plate discipline, including ignoring direct instructions to take the first pitch of his upcoming at-bat.
“There’s some growing frustration within the Red Sox organization about outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela. More than once, Rafaela has been advised in the dugout to take the first pitch in his next at-bat, only to swing freely minutes later,” McAdam wrote.
“Rafaela showed in spring training that he could be more selective at the plate, but that discipline has mostly disappeared in the regular season.”
The report is generating some blowback from arduous defenders of Rafaela, but the fact is that McAdam was simply quoting a source. And if people in the Red Sox dugout, coaches specifically, are frustrated with Rafaela, that has a way of making its way up to the front office.
Now, this piece isn’t being written to say that because the Red Sox are frustrated with Rafaela, they’re now going to trade him. But that could have already been in strong consideration as of a few months ago.
When Anthony comes up, the Red Sox certainly aren’t going to bench Wilyer Abreu, given his incredible numbers so far, and they still believe Jarren Duran will find his All-Star form. Do the math, and that leaves Rafaela as the odd man out.
The Red Sox gave Rafaela an eight-year, $50 million contract before the 2024 season. Soon, the question could become whether that’s too much to pay for a super-utility player/insurance policy. If not, the probability of a trade skyrockets.
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