Red Sox Promote Wilyer Abreu
The Red Sox are somehow still in the mix to make the playoffs. Boston sits four games out of a wildcard spot and will now need help from a former Chaim Bloom prospect acquisition to help get them in the dance. Jarren Duran has been placed on the IL with a toe injury which set the wheels in motion to promote outfield prospect, Wilyer Abreu.
Augusto Cardenas was the first to report the news:
Abreu, 24, is already on the 40-man roster so no extra roster move needed to be made. For those that have a good memory, Abreu was part of the Christian Vazquez trade last year. A trade we discussed at length. Abreu now has a chance to prove that trade wasn’t a waste of time. Enmanuel Valdez was the other piece of that trade but has failed to win the second base job with the big league club.
The guys at Sox Prospects do a fantastic job covering the farmhands in the system. They have more information on the kind of player that Abreu is. If you want more information there, I encourage you to check them out. They have great information on all the prospects in the Boston system.
At Triple-A Worcester this season, Abreu is slashing .274/.391/.539 with 22 homers, 11 doubles, a triple, and eight stolen bases. There is a chance that Abreu can help this team. It’s also an important promotion because Boston is facing a serious 40-man roster crunch this offseason. If Abreu fails to impress, it wouldn’t be surprising if he’s DFA’d this offseason. They just don’t have room for all of these guys. If Alex Verdugo is traded, maybe Abreu has staying power anyway. It just can’t be stressed enough how big of an opportunity this is for Abreu. If he fails, he could be off the team entirely next year.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but replacing Jarren Duran isn’t going to be easy. Karl wrote a really well-crafted post on Duran’s turnaround this year. Duran is slashing .295/.346/.482 with eight homers, 34 doubles, a pair of triples, and 24 steals. The former California State University, Long Beach product has been a total lightning rod for the team. These aren’t small shoes to fill here for Abreu.
