Can the Yankees avoid the missteps of the Red Sox and Mariners?

A Player to Bett On

RF Mookie Betts, 25 next season, looks better than solid, for instance. He hit .264/.344/.459 last year to go with 24 home runs, fourth in the AL for right fielders. Betts is a top five offensive player at his position and top three in fielding; he won a gold glove in 2017.

He has become everything the Sox hoped for and is a truly dynamic, well-rounded player. But he’s not a superstar. And both Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton are. Mookie’s a free agent in three years.

Andrew Benintendi also looks like a great young; well-rounded left fielder. He hit .271/.352/.424 and 20 home runs in his truncated debut season; he’ll be 24 next year. He probably would have been rookie of the year, as predicted, if not for Judge.

But Boston was hoping that he could slide over to center field if they needed to jettison Bradley, as free agent corner outfielders are a lot less expensive than those who play up the middle. But Benintendi does not seem capable of handling center.

As mentioned, the Sox are already sacrificing defense at two key positions, maybe more. Would they risk a crucial third spot? Because second is also turning into a defensive liability.

Hard to Keep His Sox On

And that’s because luck and timing have worked against them with 2B Dustin Pedroia. He’s still in his prime, albeit the end of it, but might be breaking down. Pedroia will play next season at 34, but his knees seem to be at retirement age already.

To be fair, Dustin did a lot of hitting when he played, slashing .293/.369./.392. But he only played in 105 games. And he only hit seven home runs in those games. That plus his highly compromised defense makes Pedroia less than the player the Sox envisioned at this point in their run.

But unlike the young players, Pedroia is signed through 2021. That’s a backward situation and anathema to a multi-year campaign. It was a team friendly contract when he signed it, but any contract past 2018 might be an albatross around Boston’s neck.

That is not the only bit of bad luck and disappointed dreams the Sox have suffered through.