Red Sox $50 Million Man Called 'At Risk' With Decisions Looming

What are the Red Sox going to do?

April 13, 2012; Boston, MA, USA; A general view of empty seats on opening day at Fenway Park prior to a game between the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images | Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox are pretty stacked in the outfield right now.

As of this moment, the club's outfielders at the big league level include Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, and Rob Refsnyder. Kristian Campbell also has gotten some time in the outfield to kick off the young season. This doesn't even include Masataka Yoshida who is rehabbing. The big name everyone wants to talk about as well is young outfielder Roman Anthony.

He's with the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox but his time is going to come at some point. Craig Breslow talked about a potential timeline for Anthony to make the jump to the big leagues on Wednesday, although there is no end in sight.

When the day comes that Anthony does make the jump to the majors, how will that impact the current status quo? FanSided's Kevin Stephan weighed on the subject and said Rafaela could end up being "at risk."

"Rafaela may have more time to heat up at the plate, given that last offseason, he signed an eight-year, $50 million contract extension with the Red Sox," Stephan said. "With that in mind, the Red Sox have the consensus top prospect in baseball, Roman Anthony, tearing up the minor leagues and itching for his shot with the big-league club. Last season, across two levels of the minor leagues, Anthony hit .291 with 18 home runs while driving in 65 RBIs.

"I don’t think the Red Sox will trade Rafaela after committing to him long-term. Even when Roman Anthony gets called up from the minor leagues, the team can ease him into the lineup and platoon him with Rafaela. Additionally, when injuries pop up, Rafaela has proven his glove can play anywhere on the diamond. However, if Rafaela’s hitting doesn’t improve, he may be at risk."

As the conversation has been brought up recently, this has seemingly been the consensus. Duran isn't going anywhere and Abreu has gotten off to one of the best starts in baseball this year, although he has cooled over the last few days. Abreu was in trade rumors a lot throughout the offseason, but the team opted to move him.

The day is going to come in the not-so-distant future when Boston has to make a decision.

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