Red Sox Insider Pours Cold Water On Justin Turner Reunion Next Season

Boston might have to make some notable changes this offseason

Scott Neville | Aug 25, 2023

Red Sox Insider Pours Cold Water On Justin Turner Reunion Next Season /

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Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox have one of the worst defenses assembled in the modern era, and it turns out those deficiencies could cost them arguably their top slugger this offseason.

Red Sox designated hitter Justin Turner has a $13.4 million player option next season that he would be wise to decline after a career year. Boston will be hard-pressed to re-sign a pure DH with so many of its productive offensive contributors rating so poorly defensively.

"If they again lock Turner into the DH slot full-time, that means the Sox can’t utilize either Rafael Devers or Masataka Yoshida there and consigns them to playing two below-average defenders on a pretty much everyday basis," MassLive's Sean McAdam wrote Friday.

Should the Red Sox bring in Turner or another pure DH-type, they would have to slot in at least three below-average defenders into the lineup each day -- Devers, Yoshida and Triston Casas. Boston can't afford to keep those sluggers out of the lineup but will be hampered by consistent fielding blunders.

The Red Sox currently have -53 outs above average according to Baseball Savant. That total is more than twice as bad as the second-worst defense team, the Cincinnati Reds with -22. To say that Boston has a poor defense would be unstating how historically bad they are across every metric.

Turner's bat is not only highly productive but the team badly needs right-handed slugging to balance out the lineup. He's hitting .289 with 46 extra-base hits including 20 home runs, 83 RBIs and a .843 OPS in 115 games this season. He's also been a noted leader in the clubhouse.

Boston can't afford to lose Turner's bat or presence -- but it also cannot afford to keep running out the worst defense in the league. The Red Sox also cannot bank on a resurgent season for Devers in 2024 or a breakout defensive season for Casas.

The Red Sox might have to make some notable changes elsewhere to keep the middle of their lineup in order -- likely having to acquire some Gold-Glove caliber players to surround them just to stay afloat. A full season of Trevor Story at shortstop next season would help immensely.

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Published Aug 25, 2023

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu