Trevor Story, who was expected to take over at shortstop this season for the Red Sox, had elbow surgery on Monday and is expected to miss significant time. Michael Dwyer/Associated Press
BOSTON — Trevor Story had surgery on his throwing elbow and is expected to miss most – if not all – of this season, delaying Boston’s plan to shift him across the infield to replace Xander Bogaerts at shortstop.
Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom said Tuesday that Story underwent an internal bracing procedure on his right ulnar collateral ligament. The operation is less drastic than the full ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction known as Tommy John surgery, which usually leads to a year of rehab.
“I certainly would not rule out a return some time during 2023,” Bloom said during a news conference, a day after Texas Rangers team physician Dr. Keith Meister operated on Story’s right elbow. “But it’s also not something at this stage we want to bank on.”
Bloom said Story experienced pain in the elbow just before Christmas while “ramping up” to get ready for the season. The internal bracing procedure is a more recent innovation than the ligament reconstruction pioneered on John in 1974 and has less of a track record that can be used to estimate a time for Story to return. Nationals reliever Sean Doolittle underwent a similar procedure last July, ending his season.
But even an optimistic four- to six-month timetable further upends the Red Sox infield in an offseason when Bogaerts signed with San Diego as a free agent. Story, a two-time All-Star at shortstop in six seasons with Colorado, had played second for Boston.
“It was still an open question, where we hadn’t set anything in stone,” Bloom said. “He was preparing to play shortstop. His hope was that if Xander left, it would be an opportunity that he would get. And that’s where his head was.”
Story moved to second base when he signed with Boston last offseason, batting .238 with 16 homers and 66 RBI, appearing in 94 games while fighting injuries to his wrist and heel. The Red Sox finished last in the AL East.
“When Trevor was out there, we were a playoff-caliber team,” Bloom said. “For all the ups and downs he had this season, he showed all of why we brought him here. … We’re still excited for that. It stinks that we’re going to have to wait.”
Another option at shortstop, Minnesota’s Carlos Correa, agreed to a deal with the Twins earlier Tuesday, though he has twice come to terms on deals that fell through after a physical exam.
Bloom said the Red Sox considered Correa but declined to elaborate. “You can bet that when there’s impactful players at positions of need, we’re staying engaged,” he said.
Kiké Hernández also is a possibility at shortstop. He played 173 games in the Boston outfield over the past two seasons, along with 58 at second base and 18 at shortstop.
“I would expect that we’re going to add” players, Bloom said. “We’re a man down, so we’re going to have to fortify ourselves further.”
Bloom also said that left-hander Chris Sale, who has pitched just 48 innings in the past three seasons, should be ready for spring training.
WITHOUT THE LATE Jerry Remy or the recently retired Dennis Eckersley in the Red Sox broadcast booth, NESN will venture into new territory in 2023.
Kevin Youkilis, the former Red Sox infielder who made a handful of appearances in the booth alongside play-by-play broadcaster Dave O’Brien last season, is expected to be the main color analyst during the 2023 season, according to reports.
Youkilis brought immediate energy and personality to Sox games in 2022, although he struggled to refrain from using the word “we” and was often rooting for the team while on the air, a faux pas in broadcasting.
With experience, the man affectionately known as “Youk” started to get the feel for it.
He was enthusiastic, interesting and found smooth chemistry with O’Brien, who set him up nicely for both baseball analysis and off-the-cuff conversations.
Youkilis will also be serving as the hitting coach for Team Israel under Manager Ian Kinsler for this spring’s World Baseball Classic.
It’s unclear whether or not Youkilis will sign a multi-year contract or if NESN will try him out on a season-by-season basis. An industry source confirmed to the Boston Herald that Youkilis would be returning to the NESN booth in 2023 as an in-game analyst, along with other roles. MassLive reported that Youkilis will do about half of the regional sports network’s televised games while former Red Sox infielders Will Middlebrooks and Kevin Millar will do about 10-20% of them.
Middlebrooks was slow to develop, but turned into a quality analyst during pre- and post-game shows last year, often adding meticulous details and high-level observations that were much-needed alongside Hall of Famer Jim Rice, whose commentary is typically short and to the point.
Millar calls himself a loudmouth and holds up his end of the bargain. He’s a fast-talker with a lot to say, and while it was often a struggle to identify chemistry between him and whoever was alongside him in the booth, he’s comfortable and experienced on the air and has the potential to grow into the role.
Tony Massarotti, cohost of 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Felger and Massarotti,” announced on his show Monday that NESN did not ask him back for the 2023 season.
THE RED SOX announced their lineup for this year’s Winter Weekend to take place at MGM Springfield on Jan. 20-21.
Among current and former Red Sox players attending will be Brayan Bello, Wade Boggs, Rafael Devers, Jarren Duran, Kiké Hernández, Kenley Jansen, Pedro Martinez, Will Middlebrooks, David Ortiz, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Trevor Story, and Jason Varitek.
The annual event begins on Friday evening and typically includes many opportunities for fans to meet players and take photos. NESN and WEEI will be broadcasting live from the event on Saturday.
THE LOS ANGELES DODGERS have until Thursday to trade the recently designated Trevor Bauer, but it’s hard to envision the Red Sox getting involved here.
They made an easy pass with regards to Roberto Osuna in 2018, when Osuna was suspended 75 games for violating the league’s domestic violence policy. Former president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said the Red Sox had no interest in pursuing Osuna, who was later traded by the Blue Jays to the Astros in a controversial move.
Bauer, who has a history of online bullying and has been accused by three women of committing disturbing acts of violence, recently had his 324-game suspension reduced to a 192-game suspension by a third-party arbiter. If he clears waivers, as he’s expected to, any team could sign Bauer for the league minimum salary.
But the potential damage his presence would do to the team’s image and the backlash he’d face in the clubhouse, the stadium and in the community doesn’t seem worth it for any team, particularly the Red Sox, who are in the midst of recovering from a public relations crisis following the loss of Xander Bogaerts and two last-place finishes in three years.
ADD ANOTHER player to the list of guys who turned down offers with the Red Sox this winter.
Yankees reliever Tommy Kahnle told The Athletic that the Red Sox offered him more money than the Yankees, but he signed in New York for two years, $11.5 million anyways.
“I was really close to going to Boston but in the end, I made the choice of the familiarity of knowing all of the coaches and knowing what role I would have going into this situation,” Kahnle said, later adding that “one of my big goals in my career is to win a World Series and be a part of one. I left in a weird way and I want to come back and help this team and city get a World Series ring.”
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