How Can the Red Sox Get Things Back On Track? Ceddanne Rafaela May Be the Key

The Boston Red Sox are 27-31, 9 1/2 games back of the New York Yankees in the American League East. The team is 4 1/2 games out of the final Wild Card spot in the American League as well, and one of their highest-paid players has not been producing.

Trevor Story is hitting .218 and has not lived up to the $140 million contract the Red Sox gave him in 2022. Manager Alex Cora has remained adamant that the team will not bench him or consider moving him to another position. However, replacing him could actually help get things moving in the right direction.

“No. He’s a shortstop. Just gotta get him going offensively,” said Cora, per WEEI’s Mike Monaco.

There is no easy fix to the Red Sox current offensive woes, especially with Alex Bregman now injured. However, their top prospect, and the top prospect in all of baseball, Roman Anthony, could help turn things around.

Anthony has a .979 OPS in Triple-A Worcester. He has eight home runs, 19 extra-base hits and 23 RBIs. He has nothing left to prove at that level, but the Red Sox have a logjam in the outfield.

Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu and Jarren Duran have been the team’s primary outfield trio. They, plus the impending return of Masataka Yoshida, make for a very complicated outfield. The Red Sox essentially need to create an outfield spot to make room for Anthony, and one way to do that is to move Rafaela to shortstop to replace Story.

Rafaela signed an eight-year, $50 million extension with the Red Sox in 2024. He is not having the best year at the plate either, but is still producing more than Story. The Curacao native is hitting .232/.286/.356 with 20 RBIs, and can play both middle infield spots. If the Red Sox were to make the bold choice to bench Story, that could get Anthony a spot in the big leagues.

The Red Sox also called up their No. 2 prospect, Marcelo Mayer, who is the No. 8 overall prospect in baseball. He is currently playing third base with Bregman out, but he is also an option to replace Story if the Red Sox choose to do so. Regardless of what the Red Sox do, the only way they are going to get Anthony at Fenway Park is by opening up an outfield spot.

Making Rafaela a utility player to add a high-upside bat to the lineup could start the turnaround for the Red Sox. There is still plenty of season left to play, but if things do not start changing soon, the Red Sox may have to start thinking about next year.

Rafaela becoming a super utility could also help the Netherlands out in the next World Baseball Classic. Rafaela was born in Curaçao, which is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The Netherlands has infielders like Xander Bogaerts and Ozzie Albies available to them. However, Albies did not play in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. If Rafaela started seeing more time in the infield, he would be better prepared to man the position in the 2026 World Baseball Classic if he needed to. He is already a great defender in the outfield, but that may not be the position the Netherlands needs him in the most.

Photo: Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman, left, cannot handle the throw as Boston Red Sox’s Ceddanne Rafaela, right, scores during the eighth inning in the first baseball game of a doubleheader Friday, May 23, 2025, at Fenway Park in Boston. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)