The Red Sox face a MAJOR decision...

The Boston Red Sox face a major decision this up-and-coming offseason, especially in left field. I'm here to break down all of the moving parts, including Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran, and a potential new suitor for this Red Sox team, Ian Happ. We'll break down all of the moving parts and how one Happ could be a really good fit for this Red Sox team, But also, the question marks surrounding this organization before that move can actually take place, including what is the plan with Roman Anthony, when will he return, as well as where will he play once he does, and also, what the heck are the Red Sox going to do with Jarren Duran? We'll break down all of that on this episode of Red Sox Digest, but first, before we get to the news and information, please do us a favor, scroll down and help us get to our goal of 8,000 subscribers, as nearly 62% of you guys watching this video are not currently subscribed. We do appreciate all the love and support, but now let's get to it and break down the major conversation at hand involving the Boston Red Sox and what a big decision like this in bringing in Ian Happ would actually do and what question marks surround this Red Sox team with it. So, the first one being, what annual value makes sense? And that is for Ian Happ. He is coming off of the final year of his deal. He will be an unrestricted free agent this up-and-coming offseason. And he's going into his age 32 season next year, which is very interesting. But the big question is, what is his overall appraised value? And what could the Boston Red Sox actually acquire him for this up-and-coming season? especially taking into account they've already paid the guy who's supposed to be the face of their franchise just less than a year ago Ian Happ was making 19 million bucks this past season this up and coming year based off the year he just had we could assume he's not going to get all the way up to 19 million once again now do I think it would be respectable to get him for less than that 15 16 million a year absolutely now we do have to take into account how the MLB is actually going to look next season in the sense of cap restraints there being a floor a ceiling and all of the other moving parts that are in the process of being implemented again we don't know how that's actually going to go but that is going to be a huge talking point for all teams considered especially the Boston Red Sox who are top 10 in spending now the next question is does Happ's power justify the strikeouts we'll get into the breakdown of the positives and the negative surrounding Ian Happ in just a second but the power that he maintains 24 home runs last year 25 the year prior 23 the year prior to that he's in that low to mid 20s every single year it feels like but the K percentage is absolutely abysmal so we have to break down if one is worth the other then we continue with signing him, block Anthony's path we alluded to this earlier Roman Anthony was signed given a big boy contract and was appeared to be the face of not only Boston but the entirety of baseball just less than a year ago and now he has been dealing with lower back injuries, hand injuries, wrist injuries, it feels like he just cannot catch a break and until he does and can get on the field healthy and for a long period of time, is he going to be playing left field, is he going to be playing DH, is there a world where Ian Happ and Roman can split reps in left field and then finally, could free agency preserve tradable prospects? It absolutely can and it absolutely has to because of how many good young assets the Boston Red Sox have given up, we'll break down all of those things in specific starting now so Ian Happ could be Boston's free agent power play and I truly do agree with that, now let's start with the negatives surrounding Ian Happ because there's less of them but also they they have to be made abundantly clear, and as I'm saying this I want you guys to know, please let me know down below in the comments how you guys feel about Ian Happ, you don't have to answer now, let us go through some of the positives and the negatives and the external factors like Roman and Jaron Duran, before you give your definitive answers but again keep it in mind: a yes at the right price, b no regardless of the price, and c go prior prioritize another outfield option so let's get to the negatives and break down the Ian Happ conversation in its entirety so there's three major flaws with Ian Happ that he would bring to the Boston Red Sox, the first one being is his strikeout rate, it is bad, we'll get to the actual analytics in just a second, traffic jam in left field Jaron Duran is currently there played the vast majority of games in left field for the Red Sox this past year we can only assume he's on the way out the door and we'll break down why in a second, second Roman Anthony obviously primarily a left fielder because Wilier is in right and say Don is in center you can add Roman in left field and have it be a consistent reliable option defensively while staying healthy and playing at the level of and have the level of offensive production everyone expects that makes sense but is it actually going to happen we have to wait and see and now he just went down with another significant hand injury that is probably going to sideline him for a few months big problems now third and final average with runners in scoring position if you look at Ian Happ in the totality of the season that he had last year things like home runs RBIs runs scored and overall hits they look good because it's green if it was on savant it'd be red it'd be bloody and that's exactly what everyone wants to see but if you look at things like OBP slug average and then OPS it's not good it's not even close to good Ian Happ's average this year was abysmal a buck or 218-210 I believe it is it just it did not work out for Ian Happ and if you look at the years past and what we have witnessed from Ian Happ it was considerably better two previous years consistently batting 243 the third year prior to that 248 the year prior to that 271 you look at some of these other numbers 342 OBP 420 slug 762 OPS across the board he slashed better in years past than he did this season now why is that well He couldn't hit with runners in scoring position. This is one of the negatives I pointed out. Again, this split you see in the top left is with runners in scoring position. He had a ton of opportunities playing with a really potent offense in Chicago with the Cubs. But if you look at the hits, you look at the average using the bottom 7th percentile, they bucked .58 average with runners in scoring position. Extra base hits, or excuse me, expected batting average, .120. 2020 Ian Happ just did not get the job done with runners in scoring position to save the absolute least if you look at by the numbers the dude barrels the baseball he walks at a high clip but he strikes out in the eighth percentile it just it there's some good there's some bad so again he can't hit with runners in scoring position he strikes out a lot and like mentioned earlier he there's a traffic jam in left field I will say Jarren Duran is probably on the way out of Boston or at least he absolutely should be, which will open up a two-man rotation in left field. And if Roman is dealing with injuries, this possibly gives the Red Sox a really good option to play in left field and possibly a DH candidate if need be. And again, Roman and Ian can end up splitting reps in left field. Let me know down below, do you like the idea of Roman and Ian splitting reps in left field? Or do you want to see Roman, the quote-unquote face of the franchise for the foreseeable future in Boston, and be the full-time left fielder rather than splitting reps at DH. Again, let me know how you guys feel about that down below because it feels like a lot of people are back and forth on it. Jason and I have had this conversation this past Monday discussing that actual idea and obviously Sam Kennedy, Craig Breslow, John Henry, they don't like the idea of a superstar being a full-time DH, but again, even splitting reps may even cause some problems. Now, Jarren Duran should be on his way out of Boston. and the reason being is because he just is not getting the job done. One of these comments from William Turner. I like Duran, but he has to go, unfortunately. I started to wish he would just bunt because I love his speed. I absolutely agree. I just, the inability to not swing and miss, the inability to walk is just, just was too potent this year for Jarren Duran, and that I truly believe it is time for him to get out of Boston, open up some rotation in left field, and really the outfield in particular. 7th in OPS, 27th strikeout rate, 23rd percentile in walk rate. Overall, just did not get the job done. Now, for Roman Anthony, Roman Anthony's a great player. We'll not argue that, but he has to stay healthy. If he can stay healthy, I would love to see him be the full-time left fielder. Possibly get a day or two off annually, accordingly, when need be. And he can then play DH, and Ian Happ can then play left field. The beautiful thing, oh my goodness, about Ian Happ is he has a lot of durability and he has the ability to play all around the field. If you look at his defensive metrics, he's played at first, second, third, everywhere but shortstop. He even has a game at pitcher. That was early on in his career, a position player on the mound. Left, center, and right field. But that's the point. He can play absolutely anywhere. He maintains switch hitting ability. He has great power. He can walk and he's a great leadoff candidate. Unlike his inability to hit with runners in scoring position, these are his splits when leading off the inning with no one on base. These are really, really good. When no one's on base, Ian Happ is hitting .275 with a .418 or a .410 OBP and a .548 slug. This guy could be hitting leadoff for the Boston Red Sox with a potent lineup behind him. And not to mention this is something that really isn't acknowledged look at his pull air rate percentage looking at it through the years constantly down in the lower percentiles of the league over the last three years and has progressively gotten higher it's progressively gotten higher in the league as a standard light red to even just a bit darker red to dark dark red at 25.3 percent pull in the air percentage for this past season in Wrigley Field he is a switch hitter so that it does not mean as a right-handed bat he's constantly going to pull the ball in the air it could mean for both sides both left and righty batting as a righty and a lefty I should say he can pull the ball in the air which is still a benefit but again adding another switch hitter having Adley Rutschman Nick Sogard and then Ian Happ both or all three being switch hitters with a platoon of righty and left-handed options I think Ian Happ brings you a very interesting case that could really make just for a very interesting season in Boston give you another option to play in the outfield also a candidate to DH like he could play anywhere in the outfield outside of maybe center because he's played in a corner position more than anything else in the outfield you can give Will your days off and play Happ in right you can play Roman in DH and allow Happ to play in left vice versa you can have Happ DH on the days he's not playing in the field he adds adds a switch hitting presence and this really not only clears room getting rid of Jarren Duran but you bring in a switch hitting power bat that maintains the ability to go out there and get something done offensively and also you don't have to give up any more prospects think about all the guys at the Boston Red Sox and Craig Breslow have given up over the last year and some change in order to get big trades done granted they were able to go out and get guys like Adley Rutschman they were able to go out and get guys like Eric Miller and various others William or excuse me Wilson Contreras, Sonny Gray like really good formidable names that have built a foundation around this Red Sox team that are going to be good for a long time because of the team control that they maintain. But at this point, you don't have enough prospects to go out there and continue to trade and make these big moves. Ian Happ is available via free agency and could be at a respectable price tag because of the regression we saw last year. And honestly, it fits the book. A bit of regression, strikes out a lot, walks at a high clip, has a bit of power, but there's a lot of swing and miss. Another switch hitter playing in the outfield. everything that Craig Breslow loves to grab an abundance of. Let me know down below. Again, let me know how you guys feel about Ian Happ and the possibilities of him landing in Boston and really what you guys want to see this offseason. Is it not Ian Happ or would you rather them go in a different direction? Make sure you subscribe to the channel to stay tuned for all the offseason updates surrounding the Red Sox and the rest of the MLB. And I'll see you guys on the next episode of Red Sox Digest.