Top 3 Options At Shortstop For Boston Red Sox

Now that Trevor Story will be missing at least half the season, and Xander Bogaerts is on the West Coast, the Boston Red Sox have a real shortstop problem. Who will man the keystone in Beantown in 2023?

While they have a couple of internal options to try, like Kike Hernandez or Christian Arroyo, there are still three options on the free agent market with much more experience at short. Taking a gamble on any of these three could be the BoSox next move.

Elvis Andrus

The 34-year-old Andrus started to see a loss in playing time for the Oakland A's this past season, negotiated his release, then signed on with the Chicago White Sox and filled in more than admirably for the injured Tim Anderson. He batted .271 with a .773 OPS, 9 HR and 11 SBs in 43 games. He had an impressive 5.1 fWAR. 

José Iglesias

Was it the Coors Field effect? The 32-year-old Iglesias hit .292 this past season with the Colorado Rockies with a .708 OPS, a tick above his career norm. He is a lifetime .279 hitter, though his career 32% on-base percentage is middling at best, and his OPS+ of 88 over his 11 years in the bigs is well below average. 

His defense, which was his strong suit early in his career, has been declining as he's aged. He was well-below average the past two years in Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average. 

Didi Gregorius

Going into his age-33 season, Gregorius has fallen on hard times the past couple of years with the Philadelphia Phillies, suffering from a multitude of injuries, and poor play when he was on the field. Elbow and knee issues limited him to just 103 games in 2021 and only 63 this past season. His average has hovered around .210 and his OPS about .600 over those two years. 

It's doubtful he can ever get back to the 25+ home run seasons he had with the New York Yankees a half-decade ago. But perhaps, if he can get healthy, he can still loft some balls out of Fenway.

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