Red Sox Urged to Solve First Base Problem by Acquiring $14 Million, 7-Year Vet

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Alex Cora could soon see a solution to the Red Six first base vacancy.

On May 2, in a Fenway Park game against the Minnesota Twins, the Boston Red Sox’ 25-year-old first baseman Triston Casas ran out a soft ground ball, and took a tumble as he hit first base. But it turned out to be more than a tumble. Casas had to be carted off in a stretcher.

He was soon diagnosed with a torn patellar tendon, a relatively uncommon knee injury more likely to be seen in NFL football players than in baseball. Casas was out for the rest of the season.

The Red Sox did not have a viable backup at the position, so they asked their superstar designated hitter and former third baseman Rafael Devers to take grounders at first, with an eye to taking over there. But Devers flatly refused, and irritated the team by criticizing the Boston front office in the press for even asking him to try.

In fact, the Red Sox brass were so irritated that six weeks later, they shipped their three time All-Star to the San Francisco Giants, in a trade that sent shockwaves throughout baseball.

But where did that leave the Red Sox and their vacancy at first base?

Journeymen Platoon at First Base

So far, they have been able to keep a bandage on the wound by using switch-hitting Abraham Toro, a 28-year-old journeyman playing for his fifth big league team in seven years. Manager Alex Cora generally platoons Toro with righty-swinging Romy Gonzalez, another 28-year-old who was placed on waivers by the Chicago White Sox after the 2023 season and grabbed by the Red Sox.

The platoon has been rather effective so far. Gonzalez has crushed left-handed pitching with a 1.074 OPS, three home runs in 52 at-bats and a .352 batting average. Against righties, Toro has also done a good job, with an .837 OPS and five homers in 107 at-bats.

The problem is, chief of baseball ops Craig Breslow continues to maintain, as he said in a television interview Tuesday, that the Red Sox are still determined to “make that deep playoff run that we had anticipated.”

Will a platoon of two journeymen be god enough over the next 76 games to achieve that goal?

Possible Solution Suddenly Becomes Available

Red Sox expert and host of the Locked on Red Sox podcast Gabby Maljanian doesn’t think so, and on her program Wednesday proposed a solution that she says would also bring an element of veteran leadership to a Boston clubhouse dominated by younger players.

“I really like what I’ve seen from Romy Gonzalez and Abraham Toro this season with them platooning at first. It’s hard to really have that be sustainable for the rest of the season,” Maljanian said on the Locked On podcast. “Getting a solidified first baseman who you know can play the position for you consistently for the rest of the season is really what could separate a playoff team from a non-playoff team.”

That first baseman, Maljanian said, is Trey Mancini, who had been playing in the Arizona Diamondbacks minor league system, but chose to opt out of his contract Tuesday, becoming a free agent.

In his 831 Major League games over seven seasons, Mancini has played 315 at first base.

Mancini was the third-leading AL Rookie of the Year vote-getter in 2017, for the Baltimore Orioles, who drafted him in the eighth round four years earlier.

Former Fighting Irish Has World Series Ring

The 33-year-old, who played three seasons of college baseball at Notre Dame before Baltimore drafted him, last played in the Major Leagues for the Chicago Cubs in 2023. The Cubs signed him to a two-year, $14 million contract, but released him in August of that year.

But Mancini has a World Series ring, which he won after being traded mid-season to the Houston Astros in 2022.

“This is a guy who has a plethora of experience,” Maljanian said. “Why he should be part of the Red Sox today is because this could be a simple path for this team to a solution at first base. He kind of fell into their laps … and was once a strong hitter in the middle of that Orioles roster. He won’t cost much and he could potentially solve the Red Sox first base question mark.”

Mancini had compiled an .895 OPS with the Triple-A Reno Aces this season with 16 hime runs in 299 at-bats.

Jonathan Vankin JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist and writer who now covers baseball and other sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Press Association awards for sports feature writing. He was a sports editor and writer at The Daily Yomiuri in Tokyo, Japan, covering Japan Pro Baseball, boxing, sumo and other sports. More about Jonathan Vankin