Red Sox vets ready to pass the torch

As fans, it’s hard to understand that some of our favorites will no longer be playing the game. It’s difficult to imagine a Yankees team without Derek Jeter. It sounds strange to think of the Phillies without Chase Utley. The White Sox without Paul Konerko? That’s an odd sight.

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The next generation has to play, though. New ‘Franchise Players” have to be born and bred, regardless of whether they’re a fresh-faced kid out of high school or a six-year vet from overseas. These young guns are the future of the great sport of baseball, and the veterans on our favorite teams can see it when they play. That’s how the Boston Red Sox veterans are looking at it now.

When you think long-time Red Sox, career Red Sox, you’re thinking David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, and Jon Lester. Those are the guys that have worn the city of Boston in their hearts for 90% if not all of their career, and they will forever be remembered with an Olde English “B” on their cap. Even some of the more recent acquisitions, Jonny Gomes, Shane Victorino, Mike Napoli, have become synonymous with the legacy of the Red Sox. As much as we know these faces to be the faces of the franchise, they will all have to give way eventually to new blood.

Jason Mastrodonato at MassLive writes that these seasoned vets are excited and understanding of the need for youth in the game. They know it can’t just be all the usual suspects all of the time, and the patience displayed from within as new names like Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley, Jr. and Brock Holt start to form an identity is crucial to shaping the future of the players and the franchise.

"The Red Sox had to let their young guys play. If the plan is to build a dynasty, to have a chance to win every year, prospects have to develop, however slowly, into stars. There’s a break-in period for that to happen, and the Red Sox are going through it right now."

Sure, over his total of 86 games between last season and this season sees Jackie Bradley, Jr. hitting below the Mendoza-line at .199. He might be just above average defensively right now, but he won’t be a career .200 hitter and, as Mastrodonato writes, there will be Gold Gloves for him in the future.

Brock Holt is in his third season for the Sox and has played less games that JBJ has in two, and he’s only up now because of an injury to a player that may never develop fully in Will Middlebrooks. But Holt is looked to as a potential future franchise player, if not an incredible means to get one. If Middlebrooks ends up not panning out, or if the Red Sox choose to jettison him, the path is clear for Holt to be the household Hot Corner name.

This type of change has been key to baseball’s evolution. As we start to see stars of the past begin the twilight of their careers, it’s time to look forward to the next crop of players that we can call “seasoned veterans.”