It was a bit of a head-scratcher when the Red Sox didn’t go after Edwin Encarnacion to replace David Ortiz -- especially after Papi was borderline tampering in 2016, promoted the move every so often.
At first it seemed they might not sign anyone, leaving the DH spot open. Then Dave Dombrowski signed the 2016 AL Gold Glove winning first baseman, Mitch Moreland. He provides a left-handed bat in a predominantly right-handed lineup and improves the team defensively.
One thing. He’s not exactly a slugger, in case you didn’t already know.
“When you look at your club, you don’t replace David Ortiz with one player,” Dombrowski explained. “You just don’t do those things. So you try to be in a position where you maybe strengthen yourself at other spots and I think Moreland strengthens our defense, too. We become a better defensive club, Hanley [Ramirez] likes to DH.
“We then in turn go out and Chris Sale, and try to go out and strengthen your eighth inning. So I think you try to go about it accumulating that. Hanley did a fine job, but we added a Gold Glove first baseman.”
Boston, however, didn’t lock Moreland up for the foreseeable future, just 2017.
With what’s waiting in the wings, there’s no reason to sign an Encarnacion-type player for the long haul.
Boston Red Sox
Find the latest Boston Red Sox news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Boston.
“We really like Sam Travis a lot,” Dombrowski said. “We don’t think he’s going to be ready this year in the beginning of the season because of the injury last year, but if you sign somebody for an extended time period that’s a first baseman/DH, you don’t have room for Sam Travis as you go forward. You just, you don’t because you’ve got Hanley and the other person. So for us, we really felt it would be better to go on a short-term basis for that guy.”
Travis was trending upward -- hitting .272 with 10 doubles and six home runs through 47 games in Pawtucket -- until he tore his ACL, ending his 2016.
But this is quite the change for Dombrowski, given he’s notorious for dishing out young talent.
“You never know what will happen,” he said.