With David Ortiz Out, the Boston Red Sox Search for Short and Long Term Solutions

News emerged during Boston's recent series in Baltimore that slugger David Ortiz would be out for at least the next month with the possibility of season-ending wrist surgery looming as a worst case scenario. Minor leaguer Chris Carter has been called up in Ortiz's place, but Boston's ultimate decision on what to do will rest on the early performance of minor league stopgaps, the severity of Ortiz's injury, and the strength of the market of available players.

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Boston's farm system is one of the best in baseball and they will try to use it as a first resort. As Ortiz was put on the disabled list, first baseman/outfielder Chris Carter was called up from AAA Pawtucket. Carter has hit well at every level of the minors and he has put together a great start to his 2008 season. With 209 at-bats, he had a .316 average with ten home runs, 14 doubles, and a .372 on-base percentage.

The top outfield prospect in the organization, Brandon Moss began the year with the Red Sox thanks to expanded rosters in Boston's early season series in Japan. He made an early impression by hitting a game-tying home run to send the Sox to extra innings in their first outing of the season. He was soon sent back to Pawtucket, but he was recalled when outfielder J.D. Drew was injured. Moss was sidelined with appendicitis shortly after rejoining Boston and he remained in Pawtucket after his rehab. Between AAA and the Majors, Moss is hitting .306 with eight home runs, four triples, and eight doubles in 157 at-bats.

In any event, centerfielder Coco Crisp and first baseman Sean Casey will provide additional at-bats from Boston's bench. Crisp's bat is a far cry from that of Ortiz's, but his defense is Gold Glove caliber; swapping the defense of Manny Ramirez out for Crisp's glove helps take a lot of the sting out of losing Ortiz's offense. Casey is a very good defensive first baseman, but he is not an upgrade over Kevin Youkilis or Mike Lowell, so he should see less playing time than Crisp.

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