Aneury Tavarez promoted to Pawtucket; Josh Tobias to Portland

A little bit of movement for the Red Sox minor-league system, with the first round of promotions being made on Monday afternoon. Aneury Tavarez gets the bump from Portland to Pawtucket to kick things off. Tavarez was a Rule 5 draft pick of the Orioles this winter but was returned right before the season started. By that point, the Red Sox had filled up their Triple-A outfield and were forced to put Tavarez back in Double-A. It was clear from the start that he had outgrown that level. He hit .377/.473/.475 in 75 plate appearances with the Seadogs. Since he’s already on the 40-man roster, there’s a chance he could be called up to the majors in short order if a need opens up and he’s able to smoothly transition to Triple-A. No he’s not. I forgot how the Rule 5 draft works for a minute.

Taking his spot on Portland’s roster will be Josh Tobias, who of course was the return in the Clay Buchholz trade from this past offseason. Tobias, like Tavarez, was repeating his level and was a clear option to be among the organization’s earliest promotions. An infielder, Tobias relies on a solid hit tool and the ability to play both second and third base. The ceiling isn’t huge, but there’s a possible major leaguer here. In 97 plate appearances with High-A Salem, he hit .345/.412/.494.

The final roster move for the organization was adding Trenton Kemp to Salem’s roster. Kemp was a 15th round pick back in 2014 and made his full-season debut with Greenville last season. He hit .244/.325/.447 in 349 plate appearances last year, showing off big power to go along with his 35 percent strikeout rate. He’s yet to appear at any level in 2017.