Red Sox Have Incentive Not to Call Up Franklin Arias

Shortstop remains the biggest question mark on the Boston Red Sox during their magical summer -- we even saw it in Thursday night's miracle comeback win.

Andruw Monasterio has had some shaky moments of late, and the Red Sox were lucky they didn't get burned on the ball that got through him in the top of the 12th inning on Thursday. Meanwhile, Trevor Story is trying to work his way back from sports hernia surgery, and the club's No. 1 prospect awaits in Triple-A.

Franklin Arias, the 20-year-old two-way talent, has become the most exciting name on most Red Sox fans' minds to take over the shortstop role in the near future. Some are sold on the Red Sox calling him up to help with the stretch run and playoffs -- and while that's not out of the question, there are factors keeping it out of the realm of high likelihood.

What could keep Red Sox from promoting Arias?

The question above has a few answers, to be sure -- inexperience, not wanting to rock the boat, keeping 40-man roster flexibility among them. But there's another potentially major consideration.

If the Red Sox were to call up Arias before the season ended, he'd be a new member of the 40-man roster -- and therefore ineligible to communicate with his team in the event of a lockout this winter. That could even cost him games that he'd otherwise be eligible to play down in the minors next spring.

Credit to Lauren Campbell of MassLive for being one of the first we saw to bring this up in a post from Thursday.

Meanwhile, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has already made it clear that Arias could use more seasoning, though there's always an opening for a player who never stops hitting.

“He’s 20 years old, and he’s only played two weeks in Triple-A. So the most important thing is for him to continue to develop where he is,” Breslow said on WEEI earlier this week. “And, separately, we’re constantly evaluating the play of our major league team.

“Often these things become really clear because there is an obvious hole on your major league team, or a player in the minor leagues is kicking down the door. We constantly evaluate those things, but I’m not sure we’re there yet.”

Ultimately, we know the Red Sox are pushing their chips in on this season, and if they think Arias is the best shortstop they have (and that he's ready), it's possible they'll pull the trigger. But keep this extra decision factor in mind in case it ends up not happening.

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