Former National League MVP Could Provide Red Sox Needed Outfield Depth
Who will take the field for the Boston Red Sox in 2023?
Boston surely has plenty of work to do if it wants to be competitive in 2023. The Red Sox already have lost arguably their best player in free agency as longtime shortstop Xander Bogaerts inked a deal with the San Diego Padres. Boston also lost longtime designated hitter J.D. Martinez after he signed a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Red Sox have made some moves of their own by signing star Japanese outfielder Masataka Yoshida, designated hitter Justin Turner, and closer Kenley Jansen, but after losing Bogaerts there are still moves to be made. Boston now must decide what it will do in the middle infield to match Bogaerts' production.
If the Red Sox choose an internal route, they could move Trevor Story back to shortstop and Enrique Hernandez to second base. If they were to chose this option, they likely would need to sign a new outfielder and one player they could look into is 2013 National League Most Valuable Player Andrew McCutchen.
If Boston moved Hernandez to second base, it would leave the squad with just Yoshida, Alex Verdugo, Jarren Duran, Rob Refsnyder, and Wilyer Abreu on the 40-man roster. Yoshida likely will be the team's starting left fielder, Verdugo will pencil in into right field, and then the team would have to choose what to do with Duran and Refsnyder as Abreu likely will be in the minor leagues.
Duran and Abreu both have shown solid flashes for Boston, but an insurance piece would be nice if Hernandez is in the infield. McCutchen is just that. While he may not be an MVP-level player anymore, he's a professional outfielder who has 14 years of experience and still can play any outfield position. McCutchen still has some pop in his bat and slashed .237/.316/.384 in 2022 while clubbing 17 home runs and driving in 69 runs across 134 games. He hit the third most home runs in a single season of his career just a year earlier when he smashed 27 long balls in 2021.
In a perfect world Duran would take a step forward and show he can be the team's everyday starting center fielder and McCutchen could be a perfect mentor in this case. If Duran struggles or Boston looks for a trade partner for the speedy outfielder, McCutchen could then be the perfect bridge outfielder.
Spotrac projects the 36-year-old to command a deal with an annual value under $8 million so Boston wouldn't necessarily be breaking the bank if it were to offer the former MVP a deal, but McCutchen could pay off in a big way.
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