Report: Red Sox ‘actively marketing’ one of their players

At 22-19, the Red Sox are not your typical last-place team.

In fact, that record would be good enough for second in both the American League Central and American League West, as well as two of the three divisions in the National League. Above all else, it simply feels like the Red Sox are a deeper club this season.

They may even have a surplus of sorts, and it appears that they are trying to address that very real possibility, with the team ‘actively marketing’ infielder Bobby Dalbec, according to Peter Gammons.

• Two National League execs said yesterday the Red Sox are actively marketing Bobby Dalbec. That's being fair to Dalbec where his career and the club are now, but both execs believe Dalbec can harness his enormous power and fill and everyday 3B role. Alltime good guy

  — Peter Gammons (@pgammo) May 14, 2023

• Boston’s fourth-round pick from the 2016 MLB Draft, the 27-year-old Dalbec has been a man without a set role, and has split his 2023 season to date between Boston and Triple-A Worcester.

  At the MLB level, Dalbec began his 2023 season with two hits in two at-bats, but has since gone 0-for-9, with a .182 batting average and .308 on-base percentage, and one run scored in eight games.

  Dalbec was optioned back down to Triple-A Worcester on May 13.

  In Worcester, Dalbec has hit .238 with four home runs and 13 RBIs. Dalbec’s versatility has been on display, too, as Dalbec’s WooSox run in 2023 has seen him log significant time at both first and third base, as well over 40 innings at shortstop. Dalbec has even made a cameo in right field for Boston’s top minor-league affiliate.

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  ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA – APRIL 12: Bobby Dalbec #29 of the Boston Red Sox makes an error in the first inning during a game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on April 12, 2023 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

• The real problem for Dalbec as it relates to his MLB opportunity is that the Red Sox have a foundational piece at third base in Rafael Devers, and who they hope will be a foundational piece at first base with Triston Casas. And behind both of them, there’s MLB veteran Justin Turner. That doesn’t leave a whole lot of room for Dalbec.

  Dalbec’s game also bottomed out a year ago, as he had career-worst numbers in average (.215), slugging percentage (.369), and OPS (.652) during a 117-game run with the Sox in 2022.

  It was quite a dip from the 2021 campaign that saw the righty-swinging Dalbec launch a career-high 25 home runs out of the yard, as well as establish career-bests in RBIs (78), runs (50), doubles (21), triples (five), and hits (100).

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  Oct 3, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers (11) talks with first baseman Bobby Dalbec (29) before a game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park. (Brian Fluharty/USA TODAY Sports)

• A career .232 hitter, Dalbec isn’t going to fetch the Red Sox a haul on the trade market, and the biggest reason for the Sox doing it at all would be to get the former top Red Sox prospect a fresh start elsewhere.

  There’s also the idea of the Red Sox getting something for Dalbec while they still could, which is something that the Red Sox haven’t also maximized throughout the Chaim Bloom era of managing younger talents.