The Red Sox’ number one prospect -- Casey Kelly -- has thus far been a dual threat, splitting his time between the mound and shortstop. To date Kelly has said over and over that he wants to play short. The Sox want him to pitch. According to Amalie Benjamin, the Sox have won this battle, and Kelly will pitch full time.
There seems to be a lot of spin about all of this, however. Kelly is on record as wanting to be a shortstop. The Red Sox say that they “wanted him to do what was in his heart” and that "[y]ou force someone to do something in a game as difficult as baseball, you’re probably not going to get good results.” Then Benjamin describes what was essentially a sit-down in which the Sox told Kelly that him pitching is what’s best for the organization. Then he decides to pitch.
Does that sound like a kid doing what he wants to do, or a kid doing what he’s told? I mean, it’s not like he can say “sorry, Boston. I’m going to New York now. They could use a young shortstop in their system.”