We're firmly in the "reading the tea leaves" portion of Boston Red Sox spring training, and there's plenty to chew on when it comes to projecting second and third base.
Before Caleb Durbin entered the fold in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday, widespread reports dictated that the Red Sox preferred to play youngster Marcelo Mayer at third base instead of second. But Durbin, despite playing more second base than third as a prospect, has to be more comfortable at the hot corner after starting there for virtually his entire rookie campaign.
It's clear that if healthy, these two players will be the regular second and third basemen. With 38 days to go until opening day, we've already got a couple of data points that could indicate the way the Red Sox are leaning.
On Sunday, Durbin took grounders at third and Mayer took them at second during infield drills, per Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic. That alignment was the same one the Red Sox used on Friday, the first time both players participated in infield drills together with the full position player group.
Take it all with a grain of salt, because when Durbin arrived earlier this week, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said it didn't make sense to pin either player down until they'd had a chance to try out both alignments. But it could be significant that they kept the same spots for back-to-back workouts.
There are long-term implications to consider for Mayer in particular, because his natural position is shortstop, and he remains the most likely successor for Trevor Story, who opted into his contract in November and is therefore under control for the next two seasons.