Boston has had a carousel up the middle

The Boston Red Sox have surpassed expectations through one full month of the season despite sustaining 16 injury list stints through 32 games.

The pitching staff, led by pitching coach Andrew Bailey, has been remarkable and the bats have been up and down — which was the best-case scenario given the time missed by star players. One area that has been a sore spot offensively and defensively has been the middle infield — which seems to by occupied by a new pairing every few games.

If the Red Sox can stay in the race, the middle infield will be on the short list of areas to enhance. Could a trade with the Los Angeles Angels aid their pursuit of infield stability?

“Among the Angels players who drew trade interest this winter include infielder Luis Rengifo, outfielders Taylor Ward and Mickey Moniak, as well as reliever Jose Suarez and catcher Matt Thaiss,” FanSided’s Robert Murray reported Thursday. “Relievers Matt Moore, Luis Garcia and Adam Cimber, all signed to one-year contracts this offseason, figure to emerge as potential trade candidates as well.”

Rengifo has 321 career games at second base, 96 at shortstop, 82 at third base and 42 in the outfield across six big-league seasons with the Angels. The 27-year-old switch hitter is hitting .326 with eight extra-base hits including two home runs, 11 RBIs and a .841 OPS (139 OPS+) in 27 games to kick-off the season.

The primary infielder will be a free agent after the 2025 season, which would fit well into the Red Sox’s long-term plans of eventually handing the infield over to Marcelo Mayer and a wave of young talent.

So would Rengifo make sense as a trade target for the Red Sox?
I’d vote no. Rengifo is off to a strong start offensively but his underlying metrics are poor outside of his impressive chase and whiff rates. Most importantly, defensive versatility becomes less intriguing when you are equally poor at each position. The veteran already has negative-4 defensive runs saved and has been a terrible fielder his entire career.

The Red Sox have proven time and time again how badly poor defense can break a team. It’s also worth noting that the middle infield could be improved internally. Vaughn Grissom was finally activated off the injured list and will make his team debut against the Minnesota Twins this weekend.

Ceddanne Rafaela is far from an All-Star but appears to be stabilzing the shortstop position defensively.