Who is he and where did he come from?
The Red Sox, at last, have a young versatile infielder who gets on base at at least a replacement level … and they acquired Caleb Durbin! Kidding, kidding. But, another newcomer in the deal that sent David Hamilton, Shane Drohan and Kyle Harrison to Milwaukee is Andruw Monasterio. This is a deal that took some bloat in the pitching depth and turned it into a slight infield bloat, but perhaps some that was needed given last year’s eventual lack of infield depth and the repeated questions that plagued a lot of the positive moves from this offseason.
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Monasterio, 28, a righty from Venazuela, made his debut in 2023 and, since then, has been a viable platoon option for a Brewers squad that has emerged as a competitor. He’s played games at all four infield positions as well as left field, though he primarily spends time at second and third.
Is he any good?
He’s exactly okay. Which is fine! It’s a big plus that the Red Sox brought in Caleb Durbin and have the services of a healthy Marcelo Mayer, as well as a recently signed Isaiah Kiner-Falefa, to start 2026. That’s not even counting some other options joining the roster like old friend Mickey Gasper, Quad-A locker room guy Vinny Capra, a returning Nick Sogard, Taiwanese WBC representative Tsung-Che Cheng, Brendan Rodgers, and…. oh yeah! Kristian Campbell. After the monstrosity that was the infield’s defensive performance last year, a lot of these transactions signal a desire for guys who don’t commit many errors. Monasterio committed just 1 error last year in 68 games, affirming the Red Sox’s commitment to better defensive stability. But his paltry power does little to boost him into a lineup that has some shortcomings in the home runs department in 2026. Further, his WAR has yet to rise above 1, and he also simply doesn’t draw walks at an acceptable level (8.6% in his career.) That’s simply not going to cut it for a regular job on a Major League roster — but Monasterio is still relatively young and 2025 also marked the first time his WrC+ was over 100 (at 111.) His OPS also topped out at .756. So there’s promise yet!
Tl;dr, just give me his 2025 stats.
68 G, 4 HR, 9 2B, 16 RBI, 32 K, 7 BB .270/.319/.437, 1 E
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Show me a cool highlight.
He has ups!
What’s he doing in his picture up there?
Warming up in the Wild Card series. Monasterio actually was on a postseason roster in 2025! He didn’t actually play in any games, but he did play in one postseason game back in 2023.
What’s his role on the 2026 Red Sox?
There’s a reason David Hamilton was dealt the other way in this move for Caleb Durbin — the Brewers saw David Hamilton as a more viable option in the infield than Monasterio while also getting two rotation pieces that may have breakout years a la Quinn Priester. Still, Monasterio, who has options remaining, likely looks to spend the majority of the start of the season at Polar Park in Worcester. Again, that is fine! Last year’s woes with Marcelo Mayer getting injured were joined by calls that Mikey Romero was not far along enough in his development to be a key piece in Boston. He still may not be; the likes of Monasterio, Sogard, etc. make it so that the former first round pick is not rushed. Either way, it’s better to have guys with Major League experience at this level anyway for the best possible development for these prospects. It’s not the flashy portion of the Durbin deal, nor was the deal itself flashy, but this is the good type of depth to acquire.
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