The Boston Red Sox traded relief pitcher Josh Taylor to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for shortstop Adalberto Mondesí Tuesday afternoon, according to Mark Feinsand.
Adalberto Mondesi is being traded to the Red Sox, per source. The Royals will receive Josh Taylor in exchange, while Boston will also receive a player to be named later.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) January 24, 2023
Adalberto Mondesí Is Shipping up to Boston
Another move by Chaim Bloom to keep the team competitive and the fans engaged. Boston acquired Mondesí for some much-needed help at the middle infield positions. Before today, they were looking at starting Kike Hernandez and Christian Arroyo at shortstop and second base. This trade gives manager Alex Cora much more flexibility with the lineup and defensive assignments. With one year of control left on his contract, the Red Sox did not have to give up much. Taylor would have been a nice lefty for depth in the bullpen, but he didn’t pitch a single inning last year after a short up-and-down career with Boston. In addition, the Red Sox will receive a prospect to be named later. The dream was to get Salvador Perez packaged along with Mondesí. They would’ve had to give up much more than a middle reliever if that was the case.
How Will Adalberto Mondesí Help the Red Sox?
Let’s cut to the chase. Mondesí has only played 50 games with Kansas City in the past two seasons. So on one end of the spectrum, one could question how to determine if this is even a smart move or not. On the other hand, look at what he has done when he is healthy. Mondesí has never been known to be an outstanding hitter, but he is quite the speedster and defender. The switch-hitting shortstop led the league in stolen bases in his last full season, which was the 60-game season in 2020. In 2019, he was in the 96th percentile in Outs Above Average and the 98th percentile in sprint speed. His best offensive performance was in 2018 with a .480 xLSG. Although he played about half a season, he had his career-best OPS+ of 115.
There have been flashes of what Mondesí can do for an organization. He will probably bat toward the end of the lineup and platoon with other guys to start off. If he catches fire and starts getting on base at a high clip, he could be a huge difference-maker for Boston in every way.
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
Players/ managers mentioned:
Josh Taylor, Adalberto Mondesi, Christian Arroyo, Alex Cora, Salvador Perez
