Red Sox bring home JBJ

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 Written by: Matt Ferreira


Photo from Christopher Evans/ Boston Herald

Just 29 minutes before the first lockout in the MLB in 26 years, the Boston Red Sox made a stunning trade sending OF Hunter Renfroe to the Milwaukee Brewers for OF Jackie Bradley Jr., INF Alex Binelas, and INF David Hamilton. 



Hunter Renfroe was signed during the 2020 offseason and had a surprisingly good year for the Red Sox in 2021. Renfroe hit .259 with 31 home runs while driving in 96 runs all while being named a gold glove finalist. The 29 year old is expected to make around $7.6 million dollars in arbitration, a cheap cost for a horrendous Milwaukee offense. 


At first glance it seems the Red Sox got absolutely fleeced by the Brewers. Jackie Bradley had a terrible year in Milwaukee in his first and only year away from Boston. Bradley hit .163 with 6 home runs. While always seen as a defensive first player, this is still a terrible season from the 31 year old. On top of that, Jackie Bradley is getting paid more than Renfroe, he will be owed $9.5 million dollars in 2022 and has a mutual option for $12 million dollars in 2023 with a $8 million dollar buyout. 


Looking further into the deal it looks like Chaim Bloom is once again just buying prospects with the extra money he has. Last year Bloom traded for Ottovino and German, eating the $8 million dollar salary of Ottovino for the Yankees prospect. With a similar deal here, Bloom is willing to spend more money on Jackie Bradley to acquire two of the Brewers top 20 prospects. Binelas is a 3B/1B with a big bat, a third round pick out of Louisville in 2021, Binelas projects to be a utility player with his big bat and plus speed. On the other hand David Hamilton is a middle infielder that is known to be a speed demon. An eight round pick in 2019, Hamilton has reached up to AA in 2021 and is currently hitting .293 with a .916 OPS in the Arizona Fall League. 


This trade also potentially opens up an outfield spot for the Red Sox to sign a free agent after the lockout. Kyle Schwarber is still available and has been heavily linked to Boston, but there was a concern on where he would play if he came back to Boston, blocking Bobby Dalbec and Triston Casas at first base, replacing J.D. Martinez at DH, or kicking either Verdugo, Hernandez, or Renfroe out the outfield. Schwarber or any other outfielder now has hole to fill as a corner outfielder. 


It will be interesting to see what Chaim does after the lockout, will he go out and focus more on pitching and filling out the bullpen, or find other bats to fill the holes at second base and right field. Could Jackie play center and push Kiké back to second? There are still a lot of questions for the Red Sox to answer before the season starts. 



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