MLB Notebook: Yaz is doing right by Yaz, Vaughn Grissom debuts & opining if Red Sox should’ve been in on Luis Arraez trade

(And for what it’s worth, I brought my wife for her first game at Fenway… and the first thing she sees is Yaz’s grandson homering in the direction of grandpa’s retired No. 8 hanging in right field. Now, she isn’t much of a sports fan, but I tried to tell her “What you just witnessed is (as Yaz himself said) really, really cool.” Shout out to Mike Yaz for making that memory. Maybe one day she’ll understand…)

It was the younger Yaz’s second home run in as many trips to Fenway after his much more publicized Boston debut on September 17, 2019, when he also hit a solo homer to right — the second of his young major league career — after meeting up with his grandfather inside the ballpark and catching a ceremonial first pitch from him before the series opener.

“I had the first one (home run). The first one was like super crazy where I actually couldn’t believe that happened. This one actually felt a little more normalized — especially with the crazy media I did the last time I was here, and thank you guys all (for) not killing me this week, I appreciate it," Mike joked. 

Yet even for those who get to call him family, the time they get to spend with the elder Yaz can be limited…

“Probably 10 minutes,” Mike Yaz said. “I think he left the car running when he was in here, but that’s normal. He’s quick to the point, and we didn’t really even talk about hitting. He just asked how I was feeling physically. Just good to see him and it was fun to have him around for a minute.”

To Mike, it’s one of the traits he appreciates most about his grandfather. The now 84-year-old Carl shows his love for his 33-year-old grandson in ways other than just the incredibly unique honor they both have experienced of getting to playing baseball for a living — and slugging multiple homers at Fenway. 

“Nothing, just catching up,” Mike Yaz said when asked about his pregame conversation with Carl. “Seeing how life’s going, asking about the kids and literally nothing about baseball. I think it’s one of the things he’s done incredibly well as a grandfather and is letting me have my career. He’ll pick up the phone when I call, and if I ask him questions, he’ll answer. But he’s never forcing anything on me, he’s never suggesting anything. He’s always told me, ‘When in doubt, talk to your hitting coaches.”

While seeing Papa Yaz is a fairly common occurrence for Mike — he said he probably sees him twice a year, once in Boston and again in Florida — it’s a rarity for many others in major league circles — including new Giants manager Bob Melvin. 

“I was just awestruck. … There are some cool days in baseball, and I’ve had a lot of ‘em. This was one of ‘em,” said Melvin, who added that Mike’s third-inning homer “got a smile out of me. Just the baseball gods, (and a) pretty good hitter too.”

The Andover, Mass. native was hitting .242 with three homers and 12 RBIs on the season after Thursday’s special game. He’s now hit 91 homers — a mere 361 fewer than Grandpa — across his six major league seasons, and he’s intent on enjoying every one of them…

“It was a little bit more normal this week and I actually got to enjoy it while I was here rather than reflecting on it and being like, ‘Man, that was really cool,’” Mike said. “So I got to enjoy it now more than ever.”

Introducing Vaughn Grissom 

Mike Yastrzemski and Vaughn Grissom have something in common: they both had memorable starts to their Fenway Park careers.

But unlike Grissom’s big league debut at Fenway — when he too homered, and what a homer it was — his long-awaited debut in a Boston uniform came and went fairly unceremoniously during the weekend series in Minnesota.

Grissom was activated before Friday’s series opener after missing the start of the season with a left hamstring strain. Batting seventh in the lineup, the 23-year-old second baseman had a quiet night going 0 for 3 with a groundout to second base in the second, a fly out to center in the fifth and a fly out to right in the eighth. He also logged an error-free performance in the field. 

“It’s been a long road. Me, the training staff, everybody’s been working to get to this point, so it’s really exciting,” Grissom told reporters in Minnesota. “I’m just glad to be ready.”

On Saturday, the man billed as the Red Sox’s “second baseman of the future” was held out of the lineup. No official announcement was made as to why Alex Cora opted to start David Hamilton at second instead of Grissom, but it’s most likely a case of being cautious to ease a player they deem a core piece of their future back into the fold.

Grissom isn’t an insignificant addition to this team as currently constituted. It stands to reason he should be able to help them right away, with a successful rehab assignment at the plate bolstering his confidence. But having missed a large chunk of spring training with the injury, it’s also going to take him some time to get his legs back under him… 

Luis Arraez goes to… not Boston

No, the Red Sox were never a likely — or even rumored, for that matter — destination for two-time defending National League batting champion Luis Arraez to be traded to. 

But with the seemingly underwhelming haul the Marlins got back from the Padres for the two-time All-Star, one can’t help but wonder… should the Sox have been in on him? 

San Diego parted with outfielders Dillon Head and Jakob Marsee, first baseman/outfielder Nathan Martorella and right-hander Woo-Suk Go in the deal. Head was the Padres’ No. 6 prospect, Marsee was No. 9 and Martorella No. 13 (all according to MLB.com's rankings).

From the Red Sox’s perspective, that’s the equivalent of giving up Nick Yorke, right-hander Luis Perales, shortstop Franklin Arias and a throw-in. You’re telling me anyone in their right mind within the Red Sox organization wouldn’t make that kind of deal? (Well, Chaim Bloom probably wouldn’t have…)

Arraez is 27 years old in the midst of his sixth big league season. He’s making $10.6 million on arbitration this season and is eligible for free agency next season. 

Re-signing Arraez will definitely cost a little dough, which we know this ownership group isn’y overly keen to spend of late. Even if he were only one-year rental, though, acquiring Arraez would have made plenty of sense for a Sox team that has shown some early-season life and certainly seems like it has the starting pitching to make a run at a playoff spot.

Of course, there’s the question of where you’d put him. A second baseman now — and not a particularly great one, consensus says — you wouldn’t slot him in over Grissom. That doesn’t make any sense given the investment (mostly verbal and emotional) you’ve made in Grissom.

Arraez has also played third base and first base. With the way Rafael Devers has been in and out of the lineup, and now a revolving door of first basemen including newly-acquired journeymen Garrett Cooper and Dominic Smith, the Sox certainly could have found a spot for Arraez (even if that meant quickly moving on from Cooper or Smith). 

There was also the possibility he could have been your regular designated hitter with the hand injury and ongoing playing time discrepancy for Masataka Yoshida, who is another guy I’ve been consistent about saying I wouldn’t hesitate to move on from in the right deal.

Now, Arraez certainly isn’t the kind of DH that Boston baseball fans have been used to (David Ortiz, J.D. Martinez, etc.), but he’s definitely a great hitter. And given his mediocre defensive reputation, that probably would have been the best option for what’s already been a shaky Sox defense. 

Yes, Arraez is off the table and you might ask “Why are we bothering with this, GC?” Fair enough, perhaps, but Craig Breslow and the Sox front office clearly had an opportunity to go out and acquire one of the game’s better hitters at a minimal cost. 

We weren’t talking about trading Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony and/or Kyle Teel here, either. Trading for Arraez would have been a potentially cost-effective way to breathe some energy into both the clubhouse and the fan base when you still had an opportunity to salvage both given the team’s surprisingly not terrible start…