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Ben Cherington discusses factors that will play into Jackie Bradley Jr. decision 03.21.13 at 7:53 pm ET
By Alex Speier

Jackie Bradley Jr.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — It’s been a relatively calm year in Red Sox camp, the day-to-day drama relatively limited. Perhaps that explains the constancy of speculation and discussion about the fate of Jackie Bradley Jr. come the start of the regular season, and whether or not he should be on the Opening Day roster.

For now, according to GM Ben Cherington, Bradley remains in the mix with several other players who remain in camp.

“We haven’t made any decisions,” said Cherington. “We’ve got spots still up for competition. Anybody who is in big-league camp this late in spring has a chance to make the team. There’s nobody that’s in camp now that isn’t somehow in the mix. Obviously we’ve got some paring down still to do. But those decisions are going to come as we get into next week. There’s still two or three spots up for competition.”

But while Cherington was unable to say definitively whether Bradley would or would not make the Opening Day roster — during a spring in which the outfielder has hit .444 with a .545 OBP, a homer, eight walks and five strikeouts — he discussed some of the factors that will weigh into the decision.

There are plenty of ancillary considerations, Cherington acknowledged. Among them: The team must weigh the idea of starting Bradley’s service time clock, potentially allowing him to reach free agency a year earlier than if he were to spend the first 12 days of the year (nine games) in the minors; it must clear a spot on the 40-man roster for him; etc.

But at its heart, the decision is fundamentally one about opportunity, talent and where Bradley is in terms of his player development.

“The standard for a really talented young player like him, someone who we feel strongly is going to be a really good everyday player in the big leagues at some point, the standard for a player like that should be that the opportunity in the big leagues is an everyday opportunity,” Cherington explained. “I don’t know that it makes much sense for a guy like that to be on the team if he’s not in an everyday or close to an everyday role. But that’s getting ahead of ourselves. There’s competition, and we’ll sort it out over the next week to 10 days or so.

“There’s all sorts of factors to consider. But the simplest ones are probably the most important, and those are: Is there an everyday role? Is the player really ready for it? And what’s our best team? If we use that to guide us, we’ll more often than not make the right decision. We have to see how it plays out. Yeah, there are other factors, but those that I mentioned are the most important.”

With David Ortiz sidelined for the start of the year, it would seem that, at the least, an everyday role could be created, with Jonny Gomes hypothetically moved to DH and Bradley assuming an everyday role in the outfield. As for the questions of whether Bradley is ready and whether he represents the best option for the team, that still appears to be a work in progress to evaluate.

Cherington acknowledged that spring training represents a challenging environment for talent evaluation, particularly while facing minor league pitchers or big leaguers who are working either on arm strength or to hone their arsenals for the regular season. Still, even with those asterisks, it’s been difficult to overlook what Bradley has been able to do in virtually every facet of the game.

“It’s hard to ignore what he’s done this spring,” said Cherington. “Every step in a player’s career is another step. We knew he was a good player coming off last year. We knew he was going to get his first experience in a big-league camp this year. Until it happens, we don’t know how it’s going to go. It’s hard to ignore what he’s done. Every time something like that happens, it’s a next step, and it’s one less thing he has to prove. It’s been fun to watch. There’s a number of young guys who have looked good this spring. It’s been very encouraging from that standpoint.”

PROGRAMMING NOTE: Jackie Bradley Jr. will join WEEI’s “Down on the Farm” on Sunday morning to discuss his rapid rise in the Red Sox farm system and the lasting impression that he’s making in his first major league camp. Ryan Lavarnway will also join to discuss his view of player development at a time when his path to the big leagues isn’t necessarily clear. Tune in on Sunday morning from 8:30-9 a.m. on WEEI 93.7 FM or WEEI.com, or listen to podcasts of the show at weei.com/podcast.

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  • Baltisonfire

    good idea – instead overpay for gomes, drew, victor, papi instead of developing real talent. jackie would bring people to the ball park, not these other overpaid, past their prime, yesterday’s news players. sox will lead the league in strikeouts, and i’m not referring to the pitching. 5th place is a lock.

  • louandjan

    JUST DO IT , who cares about 2018, the sox fans need something NOW. bradley has everyone excited. if ben sends him down the fans will revolt. ben is bearly holding his job. last year it was his actions and non actions not bobby v. who sabotaged the entire year, ben is constantly appearing as if the gm job is way over his head. it was a call to larry from la asking what would it take to get adrian. they were desperate and anyone could of pulled off that deal especially if larry was co handling it. ben needs to grow some and take a risk especially it is what the fans want.

  • KC

    It makes absolutely NO sense to bring Bradley up until after April 12th! Why would you let him become a free agent 1 year earlier.

  • http://profiles.google.com/nikcomp Tony Nicholas

    He shouldn’t come up until after April 12th, but Bradley “if as good as he’s looked” will make Jacoby trade bait. In the mean time a star should not be suppressed. We should be fielding the best players. To those who say just do it need to realize we aren’t going to win the division in April. If we can hold off until May and keep him under control longer we need to do it. With that said we can’t hold him back after that either.

  • Xander Bogaerts

    How about some Redsox beat writer ask Cherington about the factors that played into signing Ortiz to a 2 yr deal?
    It just seems to me the beat writers are in the Redsox ownership bag and refuse to challenge ownership/management on any bad decision. They just spin what the brass want them to spin.

  • http://www.facebook.com/Brett.Traycheck Brett Alexander

    You are a terrible sox fan to not want to sign Ortiz back.

  • http://www.facebook.com/Brett.Traycheck Brett Alexander

    The sox wont be good enough to compete this year, but they might be in a year or 2 when more of their prospects are up. No need to waste Bradley for a year when you only have to keep him in the minors 9 games. Can you really not wait 9 games?

  • http://www.facebook.com/Brett.Traycheck Brett Alexander

    Its 9 games calm down. Its also Spring Training. A lot of guys hit amazing during spring training and do nothing in the regular season, so he might struggle in the real big leagues.

  • KingKen

    I care about 2018, because the Sox should be a lot stronger overall team then than they are in 2013. Having a full season of Bradley then, when he’s in the middle of the prime of his career, will be a lot more important than a handful of games to start this season.

  • Anonymous

    Cherington brought out the fact that Bradley is facing some triple A pitchers and pitures who are trying to hone up.I suppose that there is some truth to that.But he has been better then the sure major leaguers who are facing the same pitchers.

  • Anonymous

    Why should Cherington be fool enough to allow them to question him about Ortiz? He sat there out of courtesy he did’nt have to be there.All he would have to say is we thought that Ortiz would be OK .Lets be honest if Ortiz was starting the season healthy we would all be happy.Cherington isn’t about to sit in to debate anyone he does’nt have to and i don’t blame him.

  • Anonymous

    Some people don’t get it.Jacoby isn’t going anywhere because his value is low at this point he would only be a rental.The Red Sox want him to have a great year with them period.Even if Bradley stays,jacoby stays.With an out field of Bradley,Ellsbury and Victorino you would have arguably the best outfield in the majors.If Jacoby has a great year and then walks the Sox get a couple picks and they can replace him with another gold glover.If he does’nt have a great year there is a good chance that he sticks as a good lead off man and what some poeple may not know is that Ellsbury loves playing in Boston.

  • Anonymous

    Some people don’t get it.Jacoby isn’t going anywhere because his value is low at this point he would only be a rental.The Red Sox want him to have a great year with them period.Even if Bradley stays,jacoby stays.With an out field of Bradley,Ellsbury and Victorino you would have arguably the best outfield in the majors.If Jacoby has a great year and then walks the Sox get a couple picks and they can replace him with another gold glover.If he does’nt have a great year there is a good chance that he sticks as a good lead off man and what some poeple may not know is that Ellsbury loves playing in Boston.

  • Anonymous

    If the FO thought that Bradley would get them over the top he would stay.But they know that pitching carry’s the day.

  • Anonymous

    If the FO thought that Bradley would get them over the top he would stay.But they know that pitching carry’s the day.

  • Anonymous

    I get a kick out of people saying that Cherington is barely holding on to his job.Where is this stuff coming from,some one says it and everyone follows suit.His job is solid.The FO people have already said on many occasions that they are all involved in decisions and thats probably the best way to go.They allowed Epstein to make all the decisions and look at the way it wound up.If i owned the franchise and i was giving away millions you can bet that i would be involved.Take a look at the great Yankee teams,Cashman aside it was George that made the final decision rest assured.

  • Anonymous

    I get a kick out of people saying that Cherington is barely holding on to his job.Where is this stuff coming from,some one says it and everyone follows suit.His job is solid.The FO people have already said on many occasions that they are all involved in decisions and thats probably the best way to go.They allowed Epstein to make all the decisions and look at the way it wound up.If i owned the franchise and i was giving away millions you can bet that i would be involved.Take a look at the great Yankee teams,Cashman aside it was George that made the final decision rest assured.

  • Anonymous

    Just to play the devils advocate.What if the Red Sox missed a wild card by two games would Bradley have made a difference in the first 9 games say if they went 3 and 7 in the first ten? If that were to happen we would butcher the FO for not starting him immediately.Thats the way it is in Boston.lol

  • Anonymous

    I think we tend to get a little to excited.I don’t think Bradley is a game changer at least not yet.He would probably bring a lot of energy.There is no doubt that this kid is going to be very good.But remember he is not yet a power hitter and he batted 277 in the few games he play’d in Double A which was only a small sample.But like it or not its guys like Ortiz when healthy that draws the crowds.People love to watch power hitters who do it in the clutch and thats Ortiz’s resume and thats why the Sox signed him because they thought he could do it again.And why should’nt they he was having one of his best years up until his injury.And what did he do when he came back for that 1 game? He got a clutch hit in his first at bat.Thats why they resigned him.

  • wfreese

    This sure sounds like Bradley’s going to AAA to start the season. The one thing I didn’t hear Ben says was a very important consideration: are the Red Sox a better team with Bradley, or without him? I think it’s obvious they’re a much better team with him in the lineup. He’s a spark plug and creates excitement on the field, an excellent fielder and a guy who appears to be someone who can get on base and potentially score a lot of runs. I’d start him over Victorino in a heartbeat and have Victorino be a bench outfielder, and platoon Gomes and Nava. That make sense, but the Sox probably can’t justify paying Victorino $13M to sit on the bench. With the Sox not really in contention this year, I think Bradley should start the year in Boston and see how it goes. But that doesn’t appear to be what Ben is thinking.

  • Doug Merrill

    No way do you make Shane a bench player, you simply plug Jackie into LF and see what happens, there really is much ado over nothing, why make drama over a simple decision.

  • Doug Merrill

    Who is to say the division can’t or won’t be won in April, just say Jackie is with us from the get go and is responsible for 3 RS wins in the month of April, we get a WC and the day has been saved, April is just as important as Sept, it’s just no one thinks so.

  • Doug Merrill

    True, he does like it here, but also Boras is his agent, does Ellsbury have enough guts to speak for himself or is he just a nead nodder at whatever Boras says? None of us know this.

  • Doug Merrill

    The answer is simple, you put your best 9 on the field, Jadkie is head and shoulders better than anyone on the RS right now, play him.

  • Doug Merrill

    The fans are revolting presently, they will stay away from Fenway in droves if no improvement is show, you bring up Jackie, you’ve got a star everyone wants to see, he’s light years ahead of anyone we have right now, especially as Ellsbury isn’t doing well. Bring him up so management can keep selling overpriced tickets & beer.

  • saintstephen11

    You are basing that on a few meaningless spring training games? He hasn’t played but a few games at AA. He needs more time in the minors regardless of how well he has played in ST.

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