By Jordan Long
The Boston Red Sox sit at 55-47 heading into tonight’s game against the Seattle Mariners. They are a game ahead of the New York Yankees for 1st place in the American League East. They made a trade with the San Francisco Giants acquiring 3rd baseman Eduardo Nunez for minor league right-handers Shaun Anderson and Gregory Santos. According to ESPN, Nunez said, “It’s exciting. You’re going to go [play] for a championship. That’s why we’re here. That’s the focus right now.”
Nunez is an above average batter at the plate. He is hitting .308 with 4 home runs and 31 RBI’s. Nunez won’t hit with power but will have solid base hits to get on base, allowing hitters behind him in the lineup to move him over into scoring position.
What makes Nunez a respectable player is he can play any position. The Giants had him at 3rd base, left field, right field, and shortstop. Nunez is more comfortable playing the infield. He started 427 of his 479 games in the infield or 89.1% of his career.
The Boston Red Sox were looking for infield help before the trade deadline on Monday. The Sox thought they had 3rd base covered with Pablo Sandoval. Sandoval hit a disappointing .212 with 4 home runs and 12 RBI’s in 32 games this season. When he was at 3rd base, the Red Sox couldn’t trust him with the glove. Sandoval had a total of 5 errors at third base in 25 games. Boston decided to cut Sandoval on July 14th for his poor play. That left Rafael Devers as the only 3rd baseman on the team. He only started in 1 game in his Major League career.
The Red Sox had to make this deal. Nunez is a veteran who can handle the duties of being an every day 3rd baseman. The Red Sox will not have him on the roster until Friday. Hopefully Nunez is the answer at 3rd base. If he isn’t, Boston will have a huge hole to fill if they make it to October.
What do you think of the Boston Red Sox trading for Eduardo Nunez?
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