BOSTON — Red Sox baseball major Chaim Bloom continued his quest to make his team a stronger quarterback by acquiring a talented but often injury-plagued player. Adalberto Mondisi in a deal with the Royals on Tuesday.
In contrast, the Red Sox sent lefty reliever Josh Taylor—also a player with a history of injury—to Kansas City. The Red Sox will also get a player named or cash considerations as part of the exchange.
At Mondisi, the Red Sox got a player who led the Majors in triples (10) in 2019 and stolen bases (24) in 20 but hasn’t been on the field much over the past two seasons. With rule changes coming into play this season Stolen bases should increaseA player like Mondisi would be more valuable if he could stay healthy.
Mondesi tore his left ACL on April 26, 2022, which ended his season. It typically takes an athlete about nine months to return from an ACL tear, which puts Mondesi on target to be ready for spring training.
In his career, Mondesi has started 241 games at shortstop, 64 at second and 20 at third base. Although Hernandez has only made 64 starts in a short time compared to 187 in the second, Bloom recently said the veteran is a plus-sized defender wherever he plays. Cora was interested in how Hernandez’s first step speed affected the short time.
For the past two seasons, Hernandez has been Boston’s starting quarterback. But after the departure of Xander Bogaerts via free agency and Trevor Storey undergoing right elbow surgery that will keep him out indefinitely, the Sox decided to bring Hernandez back to the field while Agree to a deal With freestyle soccer player Adam Duvall to play midfield. Hernandez said a few days ago that he prefers playing on the field, because he enjoys playing the game at a faster pace.
Duvall’s addition of one year at the price of $7 million isn’t official because the deal is effectively on hold. But center and player alignment finally came into Korra’s focus.
The lineup could look like this:
Masataka Yoshida, LF
Kiki Hernandez, SS-2B
Raphael Devers, 3b
Justin Turner, Dr
Alex Verdugo, RF
Adam Duvall, CF
Triston Casas, 1b
Adalberto Mondisi, SS-2B
Rhys McGuire, C
Rover Christian Arroyo, defender Rob Refefsnyder and Connor Wong will be available on the bench. Cornerback Bobby Dalbeck and outfielder Jaren Duran will also be battling for roster spots.
Adalberto, the son of former MLB outfielder Raul Mondesi, has struggled with injuries throughout his career, playing in just 358 games while appearing in parts of seven seasons, all with the Royals. He will be eligible to become a free agent after the 2023 season. Known for making his MLB debut for Kansas City in the 2015 World Series, Mondesi posted a .244/.280/.408 slant with 38 homers and 133 stolen bases in the major leagues.
Taylor was a dominant left fielder for the Red Sox in 2021, but didn’t play in the Majors at all in ’22 due to a back injury. He has a 3.69 ERA with 129 KB in 102 1/3 innings pitched over 121 appearances (one start) for the Red Sox over three seasons (2019-21). Southpaw, who will be 30 years old on March 2, can be controlled until 2025.
Thomas Harrigan contributed to this story.
