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| San Diego 1B Yonder Alonso |
While starting pitching is priority #1 for the Boston Red Sox this off-season, there is another glaring hole that needs to be addressed—
first base. The trades of Kevin Youkilis and Adrian Gonzalez have moved Boston from having a surplus of first basemen to having—essentially—none. The team
could re-sign James Loney, but the prospect of the light-hitter, slick-fielder being around for a full season is bleak at best. Unfortunately,
the crop of available first-sackers is as limited as Joba Chamberlain's IQ. So, unless Boston wants to take a run at the likes of
Adam LaRoche,
Mike Napoli,
Ike Davis, or (heaven forbid!)
Nick Swisher, they need to get creative. We suggest re-kindling the still-warm trade embers with San Diego.
Last year, they gave
Anthony Rizzo to Theo to free up first base for newly acquired
Yonder Alonso. The 25-year old Alonso is an intriguing case. He was a first round draft choice of the Reds (#7 overall) in 2008. He's generally under-performed in parts of three seasons in the bigs—but does sport a career OBP of .349. He is one of those "up-side" guys still young enough to take a chance on. Padres GM Josh Byrnes (late of the Carmine Hose)
loves young prospects. Let's send him a few and get a possible diamond in the rough in Yonder Alonso to play first.
