At some point soon, the Boston Red Sox are going to have to decide on Ceddanne Rafaela. With Roman Anthony expected to make his big league debut sometime during the 2025 campaign, there isn’t much room left for Rafaela on the roster. While the 24-year-old isn’t a bad professional and offers the Red Sox defensive versatility they certainly love, he isn’t good enough to keep Anthony out of the lineup for much longer.

That’s why in a recent trade proposal, the Red Sox would move on from him in a deal with the New York Mets, a squad that needs an outfielder after the latest news about Jose Siri. “On Thursday, the Mets centerfield crisis took another discouraging turn when Siri was placed on the 10-day injured list with a fracture to his left tibia, a bone in the leg better known as the shin…

“With their top prospect Roman Anthony seemingly with nothing left to prove at the Triple-A level, the Boston Red Sox, already stacked with outfielders, will soon need to make room for another one,” Jonathan Vankin of Newsweek wrote. “The Mets need a centerfielder, and the Red Sox have one in 24-year-old Curaçao native Ceddanne Rafaela, who has already proven himself one of the top defensive players in MLB at the crucial position.”

Rafaela is an elite defensive outfielder, and his bat isn’t bad enough to keep him out of the lineup. Sure, his 84 OPS+ a season ago and current 51 OPS+ aren’t ideal, but he hit 15 home runs last year in 544 at-bats. If he can get that number up to 20 and manage to be an 85-plus OPS+ guy, he’d have some value.