Red Sox sign Carlos Quentin to minor-league deal

Dave Dombrowski continues his thrilling offseason by signing Carlos Quentin to a minor-league deal. The former slugger is being brought on for more depth, but surprisingly isn’t being extended an invitation to major-league camp.

Quentin was a former first round pick way back in 2003. He made his name with the White Sox in the late-aughts where he made two All Star teams, finished in the top-five in MVP and won a Silver Slugger. The season most of us will remember him for is 2008, which was somehow nine years ago because the passage of time is a fickle beast. That was the year in which he received those MVP votes and won the Silver Slugger after posting a 149 OPS+ with 36 home runs. After that year, he continued putting up solid numbers with Chicago before being traded to San Diego. With the Padres, Quentin put up a couple of good stat lines in half-seasons before an atrocious 2014. That was the last time we’ve seen him in the majors.

This is the Red Sox scraping the bottom of the MiLB free agent market, and it’s likely Quentin’s last chance to make it in the majors. As for his role with Boston, it probably won’t be much of one. This became even more probable when it came out that he’d be in Triple-A camp. The Red Sox do need some outfield depth, so Quentin could be seen as filling that role. However, I’m not sure he can really move anymore. Realistically, he’s likely an emergency option in case something happens to Hanley Ramirez and they feel Sam Travis isn’t ready for whatever reason. The most likely scenario in my eyes is that he struggles in spring training and retires before the season starts.

As exciting as these moves have been, I think I’m ready for actual baseball stuff to be back.