Red Sox Urged To Start Controversial Trade Acquisition For Rest Of 2024 Season

It's time to turn an eye toward the future...

May 3, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Boston Red Sox second baseman Vaughn Grissom (5) throws the ball to home plate for an out against the Minnesota Twins in the seventh inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images / Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

If there was one spot in the starting lineup that tanked the Boston Red Sox's 2024 season, it was second base.

From the minute offseason trade acquisition Vaughn Grissom was injured in Spring Training, the Red Sox's second base plans went off the rails. They ended up using a trio of first-year players (Enmanuel Valdez, David Hamilton, and Grissom) at the position, and rarely found any stability.

Given that Grissom was acquired via trade for Chris Sale, the runaway favorite to win the National League Cy Young Award, it's fair for the Red Sox to be disappointed in his .151/.207/.163 slash line, which puts him at an OPS+ of 5.

Grissom is still 23 years old, and there's time for him to develop as a big-leaguer. But a surging prospect, Kristian Campbell, is threatening to take over the second base job by next Spring Training.

That's why with only six games left on the regular season schedule, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic urged the Red Sox to start Grissom at second base for every remaining contest this season.

"On Sunday, Grissom started his first game at second base since returning to the team and went 1-for-4. The Red Sox should give him as many at-bats and innings in the field as possible over the next week," McCaffrey said.

"Regardless of how Campbell fits into the picture next season, giving Grissom a chance to translate what he did in Triple A to the majors might help him entering this offseason and will give the Red Sox more depth at the position going into 2025."

McCaffrey also quoted Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who indicated that Grissom is still a key part of Boston's future lineup, regardless of whether he wins the starting job to start 2025.

“Vaughn is a big part of it,” Cora said. “The big trade in the offseason, he didn’t have a great year, starting in spring training. He was banged up. But this guy has always hit, he looks stronger and he’s moving better. So we’ll see what happens in the offseason. But he’s part of this.”

This isn't about "winning the trade" anymore. This is about figuring out how the Red Sox can become a playoff team again in 2025, after three straight seasons of underperformance after the All-Star break.

If Grissom can help Boston achieve that goal in 2025, they need to find that out as soon as possible. And if he can't, that's useful information as well.

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