Inside The Red Sox

Red Sox Bolster Lineup By Signing Left-Handed Bat Amid Carousel Of Roster Changes

Boston has had a solid start but needed to make some changes

Scott Neville

Sep 24, 2023; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals first baseman Dominic
Sep 24, 2023; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals first baseman Dominic / Reggie Hildred-USA TODAY Sports
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The Boston Red Sox have refused to show signs of weakness despite suffering a plethora of significant injuries to begin the season.

Boston enters May with a 17-13 record, good for third place in the American League East -- just one game behind the New York Yankees and 2 1/2 games behind the first-place Baltimore Orioles.

With that said, the bottom of the roster is incredibly underwhelming and was overdue for some changes. Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow finally has decided to overhaul the infield to kick off a new month.

"Free-agent first baseman Dom Smith and the Boston Red Sox are in agreement on a major-league contract, pending physical, according to sources familiar with the deal," FanSided's Robert Murray reported Wednesday.

Smith hit .254 with 34 extra-base hits including 12 home runs, 46 RBIs and a .692 OPS (93 OPS+) in 153 games for the Washington Nationals last season.

The left-handed slugger will be paired as a platoon option with Garrett Cooper. Smith posted .263/.338/.398 slash line against right-handed pitching in 2023.

The 28-year-old's acquisition not only all but guarantees the departure of Bobby Dalbec to Triple-A Worcester, but is not the only transaction of the day.

The Red Sox traded for utility man Zack Short to switch up the infield depth and will be just days away from promoting second baseman Vaughn Grissom -- who currently is battling the flu. Those moves would imply that the trio of Dalbec, David Hamilton and Enmanuel Valdez will all be back in WooSox uniforms by the end of the week.

More MLB: Red Sox Reportedly Were Finalists For Ex-Blue Jays Fireballer In Free Agency

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Scott Neville
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