Red Sox Rumors: 3 players who won't be on the roster by September 1

Red Sox: 3 players who won’t be on the roster by September 1

Chief Baseball officer Chaim Bloom of the Boston Red Sox speaks during a press conference during a Boston Red Sox spring training team workout on February 13, 2023 at jetBlue Park at Fenway South in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) /

1 of 3

Jul 16, 2023; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Boston Red Sox center fielder Rob Refsnyder (30) hits a single against the Chicago Cubs during the fifth inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports /

The Boston Red Sox will need to make some slight roster adjustments to better their odds of grabbing an AL Wild Card spot this year.

The Boston Red Sox are in the midst of a highly competitive playoff race for the AL Wild Card spot. As of today, they sit 5 games out of the third wild card spot with 48 games left to play. At this point, it seems like every game they play holds some sort of playoff implications, especially the 31 games they play against AL Wild Card competitors.

With this stretch coming down to the fine details, Boston is going to need to send out their best lineup possible for every game. This comes at the expense of some players that sit on the roster now that won’t be on the roster in the next few weeks.

Red Sox rumors: Rob Refsnyder could be on the hot seat to make room for a top prospect

The Red Sox have a really talented lineup of major leaguers, but their bench could use some work and versatility. While their lineup is talented, they could also use a spark to ignite them down the stretch of the dog days of the season. Both of these issues can be solved with one simple transaction that just makes sense for the Red Sox and it involves the veteran Rob Refsnyder.

The transaction would be designating Refsnyder for assignment and calling up their number two prospect (per MLB Pipeline) Ceddanne Rafaela from Triple-A. Refsnyder hasn’t provided much for the Red Sox and he’s not going to be a crucial part of their future while Rafaela has torn Triple-A pitching apart and looks to be a staple in the future of their organization.

On the year, Rafaela is slashing .303/.345/.520 in 93 games between Triple-A and Double-A. MLB Pipeline grades his fielding as a 70 on the 20-80 scale, making it his best tool to date. He also provides versatility that Refsnyder doesn’t by the way that he can effectively play infield and outfield at a high level. Getting this top prospect to the big leagues as soon as possible should be the Red Sox mindset and it would likely come at the expense of Rob Refsnyder’s roster spot.

Home/Boston Red Sox