Enmanuel Valdez

The Red Sox acquired Vaughn Grissom in the Chris Sale trade with the expectation that Grissom would be the Opening Day second baseman in 2024. However, it could end up being Valdez at the keystone instead, if the groin strain Grissom suffered early in spring training costs him the start of the season, as feared. After a long climb through the Houston organization, Valdez was traded to Boston at the 2022 deadline in the Christian Vazquez deal. Valdez finally debuted in the majors in April last year and played in 49 games with the Red Sox around missed time due to thumb and hamstring injuries. Although Valdez is not tall in stature, there is legitimate power in his bat. He muscled 16 home runs in just 106 games between Triple-A and the majors last season after blasting 28 long balls across three stops the year prior.

Valdez was acquired by the Red Sox in the trade that sent Christian Vazquez to the Astros, and the young infielder was added to the 40-man roster in November. The 24-year-old had a .731 OPS at Triple-A Worcester after the trade, but he had a strong campaign overall with a .296/.376/.542 slash line between Double-A and Triple-A. Valdez is a strong candidate to make his MLB debut in 2023, especially if Boston doesn't make a significant addition in the middle infield following the departure of Xander Bogaerts in free agency.