When injured players return from the disabled list, the Red Sox will have to make room on the active roster. Who will stay and who will go?
As good as the 2013 Red Sox have been so far in 2013, the team is about to face a series of personnel decisions.
Four injured players, David Ortiz, Stephen Drew, Craig Breslow and Franklin Morales are all on the mend. They're getting healthy, and once they are healthy the team will have some decisions to make.
The math is really quite simple: If you add four players, then you have to subtract four players.
These types of decisions are never simple, though, and all too often the decisions can be easy to criticize. In the end, someone has to be removed from the active major league roster in order for another to be added.
Adding Stephen Drew will likely result in the demotion of Jose Iglesias. The return of Red Sox star David Ortiz will probably mean that either rookie Jackie Bradley Jr, or recently acquired Mike Carp will be sent down to the minors.
The pitching situation is more complex.
Franklin Morales and Craig Breslow are both going to be activated once healthy. If a pitcher such as John Lackey were on the disabled list then one of them would probably be put on the active roster in Lackey's place.
What about the other spot?
Clayton Mortensen doesn't have any options left. In order to remove him from the active roster the Red Sox would have to waive him. That doesn't seem likely.
Junichi Tazawa has been impressive, but he also has options. If the Red Sox see Tazawa as a closer of the future then they may want to have him closing in Triple-A Pawtucket rather than have him coming out of the big league bullpen in the sixth and seventh innings.
Don't forget about Alfredo Aceves. Aceves has a lively fastball, and an even livelier personality. He's shown an ability to start and close games. That might make him valuable not just to the Red Sox, but to other major league teams as well.
Even if Lackey does hit the disabled list, it appears he won't be out for too long. The Red Sox are going to have to make some tough choices in the bullpen.
The more one looks at the situation the more apparent it becomes that Alfredo Aceves could end up as the odd man out.
In spite of his past success he hasn't looked great in his limited appearances this season. Aceves has come out of the bullpen twice and on both occasions he allowed home runs. The long ball has always been an issue for Aceves. He throws hard, but his fastball doesn't always have a ton of movement and his reliance on it allows hitters to sit on the pitch and drive it.
Those are the types of problems that a lot of teams would be willing to put up with, if not for Aceves' other issues. The issues regarding his temper and his conflicts managers both past and present make Aceves a tough guy to see the Red Sox retaining.
Breslow and Morales are not returning this week, but they're getting closer. Look for the Red Sox to make some decisions in the next few weeks.
Here's what will likely happen.
Stephen Drew activated and Jose Iglesias sent to Pawtucket. Better to have Iglesias getting daily starts as a shortstop than languishing on the Red Sox bench.
David Ortiz activated and Jackie Bradley Jr sent to Pawtucket. Similar to the Iglesias situation. The best way for Bradley to continue his development is to play every day. Not to be used as a pinch hitter, pinch runner, and spot starter in the majors.
If John Lackey is on the disabled list then one of either Breslow or Morales will take his spot. Eventually that will change and when it does the Red Sox will send Junichi Tazawa down to the minors and look to find a taker for Alfredo Aceves.
Personnel decisions can seem small when they're made, but over the course of an entire season every major league baseball team will go through a series of changes. Some will be small and ultimately inconsequential, others will seem small but turn out to be a bigger deal.
It will be interesting to see how the decisions the Red Sox make in the next few weeks impact the 2013 team and beyond.