The Boston Red Sox are five games back of the Minnesota Twins for the third and final wild-card spot in the American League with just 21 games to go in the regular season.
With not much time left, Boston should be preparing for the offseason and thinking about who they want to sign to improve their chances of playing postseason baseball in 2025 and beyond.
Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter recently put together projected Opening Day lineups for every team next year, and Boston's had just one player not on their current roster - San Diego Padres infielder Ha-Seong Kim.
Here's what Reuter wrote about the Red Sox potentially adding Kim:
"Given all the issues the Red Sox have had finding stability at the two middle infield spots the last few seasons, Ha-Seong Kim could be the perfect offseason target thanks to his defensive versatility. Slotting him at shortstop and easing Trevor Story back into the mix at second base could also help keep the high-priced slugger healthy."
Kim has appeared in 121 games for San Deigo this season, hitting .233 with a .700 OPS, 11 home runs, 47 RBIs and 22 stolen bases. He's versatile in the field, playing third base, second base and shortstop.
In Reuter's prediction, here's what the full lineup looks like:
- LF Jarren Duran
- SS Ha-Seong Kim
- 1B Triston Casas
- 3B Rafael Devers
- 2B Trevor Story
- RF Wilyer Abreu
- DH Masataka Yoshida
- C Connor Wong
- CF Ceddanne Rafaela
It would be pretty disappointing if that was the only change to the lineup this offseason, considering the Red Sox have a quartet of prospects in Triple-A Worcester (Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony, Kyle Teel and Kristian Campbell) who are knocking on the door.
Mayer or Campbell could fill one of those middle infield spots at the start of the year, and it would probably make more sense for Boston.
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