Brennan Boesch Is a Good Fit for the Boston Red Sox

The injury that will likely delay David Ortiz's start to the regular season might allow for the Boston Red Sox to take a short-term look at a young power hitter.

The Detroit Tigers released Brennan Boesch earlier today and immediately speculation began as to where Boesch might end up.

The Red Sox currently have a potential opening for a left-handed bat who can hit out of the designated hitter spot and also platoon with Jonny Gomes in left field.

Boesch is a low-risk, high-reward type of player that will not require Boston to give up any assets in order to acquire him. Building depth is important for the Red Sox right now until they have a clear picture of when Ortiz might return and how his injury might linger throughout the season.

Given Gomes' career success against left-handed pitching and his struggles against righties, it might benefit the Sox to have another bat waiting to bat against the righties.

The 27-year-old Boesch is someone that I identified at the start of the offseason as someone who could help the Red Sox and still had some upside potential due to his age and initial success in his career.

His career batting line with the Tigers of .259/.315/.414 doesn't jump off of the page, but it also comes with Boesch having played half of his games at Comerica Park.

If the Sox bring in Boesch, he could be a potential upgrade over Daniel Nava, Ryan Sweeney, Lyle Overbay and Mike Carp.

This article from B/R's Ron Juckett also states that Boesch has minor league options that are still available, meaning the Red Sox could send Boesch to Triple-A and stash him there with the understanding that he would be back in the majors as soon as an injury occurs.

Given the age and injury history of the Red Sox regulars, he would likely get a chance to rebuild his value throughout the course of this season.

The Red Sox likely know what they have at this point with Nava and Sweeney. Given the soft camp that Overbay has had, it wouldn't hurt the Red Sox at this point to bring Boesch in and see if he is an upgrade over the other players at the end of the bench.

The biggest competition for the Red Sox figures to be other teams like the New York Yankees who could potentially give Boesch far more in the way of playing time and opportunity.

With a little over two weeks left in spring training, the Red Sox have little to lose by taking a look at Boesch.

Information used from Ben Nicholson-Smith/MLB Trade Rumors, Baseball Reference, Peter Abraham/Boston Globe