It’s about time the Atlanta Braves find a replacement for former star shortstop Orlando Arcia.
Arcia was good in 2023 in which he slashed .264/.321/.420, but that has been his only great year in recent memory. Last season, Arcia was nearly unplayable for the Braves. This spring training, he’s been even worse.
In 28 spring training at-bats, Arcia has just two hits, both of which were singles.
The Braves could turn to the Boston Red Sox to bring in a star infielder to replace Arcia.
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The Red Sox have a lot of talent and not enough roster spots. In the infield, Boston is set to start Trevor Story at shortstop, but if it sees fit, it could trade Story and start top prospect Marcelo Mayer at the position. Mayer has an OPS near 1.000 in the spring and he’s much cheaper than Story.
Trading Story would be a huge risk for the Red Sox because if Mayer doesn’t pan out or isn’t ready for the big leagues, their lineup takes a pretty big step back. But some could argue Story hasn’t been healthy enough since joining Boston to be considered a “loss” if they trade him either way.
If Mayer isn’t ready for the big leagues, the Red Sox could operate in the same manner they did last season when the $140 million shortstop was hurt.
A trade for Story would likely cost the Braves a top pitching prospect like Hurston Waldrep alongside another top prospect like Nacho Alvarez Jr. It wouldn’t be cheap, but Atlanta needs to upgrade the position if it wants to compete with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League.
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