Red Sox 24-Year-Old Has Likely Played Last Game In Boston, Per Insider

Will the Red Sox find a trade or cut ties in a harsher manner?

Feb 18, 2019; Lee County, FL, USA; A general view of a Boston Red Sox helmet as Boston Red Sox center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. (19) walks on the field during a spring training workout at Jet Blue Park at Fenway South. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images | Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images

With a full 40-man roster, the Boston Red Sox have a few players who are almost definitely on borrowed time.

This is a team that expects to add, not subtract this winter. So if a player on the 40-man doesn't project to have much of a role at the big-league level, they're a strong candidate to either be traded to a team willing to let them take their lumps or straight-up cut.

It's definitely worth zeroing in on who those players closest to the cut line are at the moment, as they all dodged the axe in the Sonny Gray trade thanks to the inclusion of Richard Fitts. One insider believes there's a position player who is all but gone already.

If you like our content, choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.

On Wednesday, Christopher Smith projected that second baseman Vaughn Grissom had virtually no chance of remaining on the 40-man roster for the rest of the winter, and that the only way he might stay in the organization would be clearing waivers and getting outrighted to Triple-A.

"(Grissom is certainly a candidate) to be designated for assignment when the Red Sox add players via trade or free agency this offseason. If Grissom is DFA’d and clears waivers, he would remain in the organization as a minor leaguer," wrote Smith.

"But does Grissom, who turns 25 in January, still have some trade value? At this point, he’s a fringe 40-man roster member."

Smith also pointed to the examples of fringy players like Cam Booser, Chase Shugart, and Mickey Gasper getting traded in one-for-one swaps last offseason, providing hope that a similar process could unfold with Grissom.

As Red Sox fans well know, Grissom was the lone piece the Red Sox got in return for Chris Sale, who went on to win the Cy Young Award in year one with the Atlanta Braves. So far, Sale has produced 10.2 bWAR for the Braves, while Grissom has given the Red Sox negative-0.2.

There's no reason to try and rescue the Sale trade, though. Grissom has been surpassed on the organizational depth chart by numerous players, especially Kristian Campbell, and if Boston can flip him for anything at all, it needs to be done.

More MLB: How Red Sox's Sonny Gray Trade Affects Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu: Insider