Red Sox Alex Bregman whiff shines new light on one of Craig Breslow's biggest mistakes

Barring a drastic change, it appears as if the Boston Red Sox are all but out of the Alex Bregman sweepstakes. That outcome is a major disappointment, given Boston's vacancy at second base and its need for a big right-handed bat to compliment its left-handed sluggers. Kristian Campbell might be good, but we know Alex Bregman is good.

Assuming Bregman does not come to Beantown, it's anyone's best guess as to what Boston will do at the keystone. Campbell, David Hamilton, and even Ceddanne Rafaela all figure to have at least a semblance of a chance to be Boston's Opening Day second baseman right now, and they could always choose to sign a cheaper veteran on the open market as well.

One player who almost certainly will get little to no consideration for Boston's second base job is Vaughn Grissom, who came to the Red Sox as the return in the deal that sent Chris Sale to the Atlanta Braves last offseason. That simple fact makes the deal look even worse than it already is.

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Alex Bregman whiff makes Chris Sale trade look even worse for Craig Breslow, Red Sox

In Breslow's defense, the Sale trade made a good amount of sense at the time. Sale had made a combined 31 starts in the previous four seasons, pitching to an ERA just a shade under 4.00 in those appearances. The Red Sox traded him for a promising infielder in Grissom, who never really had an opportunity to earn playing time in Atlanta behind the likes of Ozzie Albies and Orlando Arcia. Unfortunately, the deal could not have played out much worse than it did.

Sale not only stayed mostly healthy in Atlanta, but he won the NL Cy Young award. Meanwhile, Grissom appeared in just 31 MLB games for Boston and had a .465 OPS. He spent most of the season on the IL and in the minor leagues.

Had Grissom been even close to the player Boston expected him to be when they acquired him, the Bregman whiff wouldn't be a big deal. Sure, Bregman would be better than Grissom, but Grissom certainly had expectations of, at the very least, being a serviceable option at second base.

Had Grissom proven to be a starting-caliber player, the Red Sox would've been fine, but that isn't the case. Assuming they don't acquire an infielder, they'll enter the season without a proven option at that position. Again, a guy like Campbell can be good, but we know Bregman already is good. For a team supposedly trying to win now, it isn't hard to see why fans prefer the proven star over the youngster who could be a star.