The Boston Red Sox are putting a lot of pressure on their young prospects. It could either land them on a playoff run, as one baseball executive predicted, or result in a disappointing season. The Red Sox rebuilt their roster with their youth for this reason.
At the same time, Alex Cora is putting a lot of pressure on himself and the young core to perform well this season. I guess when you have four young players on the MLB’s top 100 prospects list, there’s a lot to believe in.
The Red Sox grand plan of relying on the youth is the right approach, they just haven’t gone about it the right way. Well now it seems they see the value in building while spending.
They added Garrett Crochet in a trade this winter and signed Alex Bregman as their full time third baseman. This is a team that is turning the corner. They know their youth will carry them. They also knew, now was the time to cash in for a season with so much promise.
FanSided has MLB Opening Day covered — from the players who dominate the day, the fans who live for it and the small details that make it special. Click here for more Opening Day stories around the league’s clubhouses and fan bases.
Alex Cora and the Boston Red Sox are poised for a breakout season as the years-long rebuild is ready to cash in
ESPN recently held a survey of 18 MLB executives and scouts ($) and asked a variety of questions. One of them was "who is most likely to take down the Dodgers." One voter had the Red Sox. And the reason for that vote? The youth movement.
"If the Red Sox prospects/young guys like Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, and Marcelo Mayer are all part of the lineup come October, I'm going with the Red Sox," said the one voter.
The Boston Red Sox have to put the rebuild behind themselves at some point. After last year’s promise toward the end of the season, it sparked the turning point. Now that the young core is a year older and Kristian Campbell already named to the MLB roster, it was time to take advantage.
Because the Red Sox have invested so much into their youth, they have no choice but to get it right. They should be eyeing a run like the Detroit Tigers had last year. The only difference is this year, they are expected to have a breakout year.
Boston added Bregman because they wanted better third-base defense. Rafael Devers was subsequently moved to DH. It looked like a good move, but two games into the experiment, Devers hasn’t quite looked as solid offensively.
Obviously no need to pump the brakes just yet. But everything has to fall in place. It starts with the young core playing at the level Cora believes they can. The Red Sox could be the best young team in the MLB and see their process come to fruition if they call up the likes of Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer later in the season.
Or it could fall flat and leave everyone wondering what happened and was it the right move to rely on the youth.