Red Sox could use upgrade at first base, but Abraham Toro and Romy Gonzalez have been complementing each other

Boston Globe

6 days ago

'They're doing an outstanding job,' said manager Alex Cora. 'You put them both in the blender, it's a good first baseman.'
Toro — evidently opposed to a Cubist dissolution of the self — offered a less violent portrait.
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'We complete each other,' Toro said of his first base partnership with Gonzalez.
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What are the dimensions of completeness? Since the Triston Casas injury, Sox first basemen have offered stability, with a combined .265/.307/.419 line overall — respectable, middle-of-the-pack production.
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However, the production has been skewed. Most of the impact has come courtesy of Gonzalez, whose self-described 'extremely locked in' status has been both the stuff of T-shirts among his teammates and tremendous contributions. Sox first basemen have posted a .333/.354/.533 against lefties since the Casas injury.
Against righties during the same stretch, Sox first basemen were hitting .236/.287/.371 — good for a .658 OPS that ranks 23rd among big league first basemen in that time. Those numbers have been trending steadily down. After the team's first basemen posted a .788 OPS against righties in the first four weeks after Casas suffered his injury, the team's production has cratered to a .204/.263/.301 mark since the beginning of June.
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Clearly, there's room for improvement. But will there be available players who represent upgrades?
It looks like a late-forming market — something that prompted the Phillies to move aggressively to sign free-agent righthander David Robertson after a workout for interested teams (including the Red Sox, who were represented by Breslow and assistant GM Eddie Romero) on Sunday. Teams are still deciding whether to buy or sell, and so the Phillies pushed forward with a bird in hand.
'A lot of things change daily at this time,' said Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. 'Some clubs, when we talked to them last week, they had one mind-set, and then after a weekend — good or bad — they had another mind-set. That may change a couple more times between now and the 31st. Ten days until the trading deadline, that's a long time.'
For the Sox, those 10 days could define whether the Diamondbacks elect to keep or trade free-agent-to-be Josh Naylor, a 2023 All-Star who entered Monday hitting .292/.361/.452 with 11 homers.
Because he is a pure rental (albeit one who could receive a qualifying offer from the Diamondbacks — thus entitling Arizona to draft-pick compensation if he departs as a free agent), Naylor is seen as the most prominent first baseman on the market.
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Ryan O'Hearn of the Orioles also bears watching, with Baltimore resigned to dealing pending free agents. O'Hearn, who replaced Devers as the designated hitter on the AL All-Star team, is hitting .282/.378/.458.
There have been rumblings that the Rays could consider dealing Yandy Díaz (.294/.352/.468 with 15 homers), and it's endlessly fascinating to imagine a scenario in which Tampa Bay packages Díaz (who is signed through 2026) and a starting pitcher such as Taj Bradley or Shane Baz for a Sox outfielder such as Wilyer Abreu. But such a scenario is seen by multiple major league sources as extremely unlikely, with a deal of such magnitude seen as a near-impossibility for division rivals who are competing for a postseason berth.
The A's merit watching both because they're one of the few teams without realistic hopes of contending this season and because they have a surplus of first baseman/left field/DH bats in 22-year-old rookie masher Nick Kurtz, long-term DH/corner outfielder Brent Rooker, and first baseman/corner outfielder Tyler Soderstrom.
There's roughly zero chance the A's would deal Kurtz or Rooker, but Soderstrom — a 23-year-old who crushes righties (.270/.357/.504 with 17 homers) — is seen across the industry as a potential trade target. With four remaining years of team control after 2025, the A's are in no rush to move him.
So, to circle back: Will the Sox upgrade at first between now and the deadline? It's still too early to say. Certainly, the Sox have learned never to be too comfortable at the position — but they feel better about the blend of Gonzalez and Toro than they've felt about many other combinations.
'We've had a lot of people at first base the last four years — a lot of them,' said Cora. 'From Kyle [Schwarber] playing first base, Franchy [Cordero] playing first base — we have tried a lot of stuff. [But] these two guys, in spring training they showed they can play the position, and throughout the season, they're getting better. … I think both of them have been great.'
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Te players know better than to assume what the team will look like by July 31 — or what roles they might play on the other side of the deadline.
'I think we've been doing a good job with that platoon kind of role. Romy has been really great against lefties, and I've been able to handle righties. Whatever the team does, if they're trying to add on, I just want to stay here and hopefully be a part [of it] for the playoffs,' said Toro,' who was part of a surprising deadline deal between the Astros and Mariners in 2021. 'Hopefully I stay on the team. Whatever role they want me to be, I'll be happy to do what they ask.'
Alex Speier can be reached at