The Boston Red Sox may be new to logjams, but the Los Angeles Dodgers have been dealing with them off and on for years.
Not only are the Dodgers the defending World Series champions, but they’ve had what most would consider to be Major League Baseball’s most talented roster for a few years running. Things went to another level when Shohei Ohtani arrived in 2024, then another level still this winter.
But what the Dodgers seemingly don’t have at the moment is a starting-caliber center fielder. Andy Pages and James Outman have both failed to nail that role down over the past 13 months, and on the flip side, the Red Sox could be looking to deal their current starting center fielder away.
Red Sox 24-year-old Ceddanne Rafaela is in something of a precarious position, as the team prepares for the eventual promotion of top prospect Roman Anthony. Though Rafaela is a potential Gold Glove defender, he’s been the worst hitter in Boston’s regular outfield since the start of 2024.
On Monday, Newsweek’s Drew VonScio named the Los Angeles Dodgers as a potential trade suitor for Rafaela in the event the Red Sox decide the second-year speedster is the odd man out in the Boston outfield.
“Adding Rafaela would give the Dodgers another advantage they currently don’t have with Pages. Rafaela is also capable of playing shortstop and second base, so the Dodgers could get creative with him, Tommy Edman and Mookie Betts as to how they get deployed on a nightly basis,” VonScio wrote.
“Just a year ago, Rafaela posted 2.8 bWAR with the Red Sox with 544 at-bats. This puts him right on the edge between being a league-average player and above average. It’s a slower start to the season than he would like, but he has the upside to turn things around this year.”
Slow start is an understatement, as Rafaela is slashing .220/.291/.260 in 55 plate appearances to begin the year. He’s out of the lineup on Monday, as the Red Sox opted to put Kristian Campbell in center field to get lefty David Hamilton into the lineup over Rafaela.
VonScio’s piece didn’t mention a potential trade package that the Dodgers might have to send back in order for the Red Sox to consider the deal. But that would, of course, be the determining factor in whether or not Rafaela would actually be on the move out west.
