Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe conducted a Q&A with Red Sox CEO/president Larry Lucchino over the weekend, and the two discussed a number of issues with what has been an uninspiring roster for much of the season. Shaugnessy notes early on, before getting to the Q&A, that it seems that Lucchino’s role has diminished given his involvement in the building of a new Rhode Island stadium for the club’s Triple-A affiliate and his role in Boston’s bid for the 2024 Olympics. Lucchino, however, denies that he’s less involved than in previous years. “I’ve had to throw myself into Pawtucket quite a bit because of [PawSox owner] Jim Skeffington’s death,” said Lucchino. “…It’s part of my Red Sox responsibility. The Olympics take a very small amount of my time. They asked me to take a larger role, but I demurred.”
Some roster-related highlights from the Q&A, as well as a couple other notes pertaining to the 2013 champs…
- Lucchino said he understands the comparisons that are being made between the Hanley Ramirez/Pablo Sandoval signings and the Carl Crawford signing/Adrian Gonzalez extension, but the team certainly never intended to duplicate the aggressive philosophy they showed in 2011. Asked if the Red Sox need to question their evaluation skills in light of those signings as well as the Rick Porcello extension and John Lackey trade, Lucchino replied, “We’re not immune to second-guessing ourselves, but I do think a little more water needs to run underneath the bridge before you can effectively evaluate some of these most recent transactions.”
- Shaughnessy pressed a bit on the Lackey trade in particular, noting that both of the players received in that deal — Joe Kelly and Allen Craig — are now in the minor leagues. Lucchino admitted that the trade looks dismal: “It certainly looks like that deal didn’t result in the kind of gains we thought we’d have in the major leagues. But both of those guys still play for the [Pawtucket] Red Sox and no one has given up on the pitching contributions that Joe Kelly can make in the future.” This is likely reading too much into the comment, but I find it interesting that he didn’t voice a similar vote of confidence in Craig.
- Lucchino voiced the same confidence in GM Ben Cherington and manager John Farrell that Red Sox owner John Henry has previously expressed. He also repeatedly said he’s yet to wave the white flag on the 2015 season, and the team will reassess more at the tail end of July.
- In an interview with WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford, Red Sox vice president of player personnel took exception to the narrative that Rusney Castillo was signed based on workouts as opposed to in-game experience. Baird explains that the Red Sox saw Castillo in international play as well as on video from Cuba. Additionally, while owner John Henry has noted in the past that missing out on Jose Abreu may have played a role in Boston’s aggressive pursuit of Castillo, Baird says that the Red Sox did their homework on Castillo. While Castillo certainly hasn’t performed at the level of Abreu, or even fellow countryman Yasmany Tomas, I’d add that it’s still early in his contract, and he’s been slowed by injuries as well.
- The Red Sox were originally optimistic about Hanley Ramirez’s hand after X-rays came back negative, but as Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald wrote yesterday, Ramirez is traveling back to Boston to receive an MRI due to persistent discomfort. Ramirez was hit by a line-drive while running the bases last Wednesday, and manager John Farrell told him that the pain worsened over the weekend. A trip to the disabled list is possible, writes Mastrodonato.
Mark D
You know, before the season started I was extremely confused about how bullish people were on the Sox and Mariners. To my eye, the M’s didn’t have any hitting or D and Boston’s rotation looked flat-out some kind of joke.
Luckily for the Red Sox, they can just stand pat, call this season a loss, then go grab a couple of the ace-quality SP’s on the FA market this offseason and be good again. I don’t think Sandoval is as bad as people are making him out to be, and Hanley can just move to 1B once Napoli is gone.
rmullig2
They have shown no willingness to pay market prices for an ace. If they wouldn’t pay Lester why would they pay Price, Cueto, or Zimmerman?
mookiessnarl
They won’t. Or if they do it’ll be a huge surprise. They’ll probably make a trade instead.
Draven Moss
Unfortunately, they aren’t willing to trade their prospects for one either. I hope they just sign one of the aces available and keep all the prospects. That way, they make sure they don’t trade away a potential star. It always seems to happen.
double
Agreed. There are about 10 teams that want to sign the 5 TOR pitchers on the free agent market. I doubt anyone signs more than one.
Mark D
Because Lester can’t throw to first base.
thecoffinnail
Had he had the season he had last year Porcello would have received market price.. I still believe he will turn things around.. The pressure of that extension has probably been overwhelming.. I would like to see the Sox stick it to Cashman and go after Samardzija.. Cashman reportedly was chasing him hard last year and has another man crush on him this year.. I love the Yankees but sometimes its nice to see the Red Sox beat them out of a player.. Moncada was one that hurt though.. Mookie’s Lip is probably correct in assuming that they will probably just make a trade though.. With MacPhail getting hired in Philly I am assuming the price of Hamels is going to come down to earth.. Asking for Betts/Swihart was way too much.. I thought asking for Holt and another high ceiling prospect like Rodriguez was something both teams could live with.. Unfortunately, Amaro went of his meds and expected the moon.. Hopefully, he will be cashing unemplyment checks very soon and Philly will start making trades so the rest of the baseball world can get back to business..
stymeedone
The Red Sox “strategy” on starting pitchers precludes them from signing an ace-quality SP on the FA market. They don’t want to sign a 30 yr old pitcher to a 7-year contract, and that’s what it would take.
thecoffinnail
With all of the questions about their rotation during the offseason I couldn’t figure out why they didn’t get in on Shields when his price dropped so much.. I would be interested in the opinions of you and Mookie about the chances of the Sox going after Grienke if he opts out.. He will command a high AAV but I would think 4 years should get it done..
dylanp5030
I think it’s funny that Sandoval is getting blasted when all his numbers are pretty much in line with his averages the last 3-4 years. This is what they knew they were getting. They are almost identical to last year.
mookiessnarl
His defense has been fairly abysmal though. -10 DRS makes him tied for the 6th worse defender in all of baseball. Rest assured that was not in the brochure. He’s been a top 10 defensive third baseman for his entire career. Now he’s the second worst in baseball.
chico65
It’s only half a season of data, I would have a pretty wide confidence interval on that -10 DRS
mookiessnarl
He fails the eye test rather miserably too. We have lost at least two games due to his bad throws to first base. There is nothing misleading about that data. It perfectly describes his play up till this point. It doesn’t guarantee he will be a bad fielder all season, nor is it predictive of his play in the future, but rest assured he has been a fairly terrible third baseman for his first 67 games. He’s been charged with 6 throwing errors in 67 games. He had 6 in 151 games last season. He’s been bad.
chico65
Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t implying that his defense wasn’t atrocious. I just get a chuckle out of statistics from small sample sizes, that’s all.
thecoffinnail
Both Sandavol and Headley have had atrocious first halves with defense.. Headley has commited 16 errors so far.. Double what he committed for all of last year.. He was signed by New York mainly for his defense and he is going to have to seriously improve on 16 errors and a .680 OPS going forward..
Steve Adams
He’s had to (temporarily) give up switch-hitting due to his deficiencies as a right-handed hitter, though, and in terms of context-neutral stats, his offense has declined. His rate stats are identical to the ones he posted last year in San Francisco, but he’s in a much more hitter friendly environment, hence the drop from a 111 wRC+ to 102 and a 113 OPS+ to 103. Paired with his supposedly poor defense, it’s been a bad all-around season for him.
mookiessnarl
Agreed, and thanks for the explanation as to why the nearly identical stat line leads to a drop off in OPS+. He is hitting well lately, but his defense hasn’t been even close to what was expected when he was signed. The hitting numbers will likely improve and the defensive stats will likely go up with additional reps, but the defensive performance thus far has been a huge surprise/let down.
User 4245925809
When the blasting was coming out, his numbers were a lot worse and his XBH are still way down, not to mention his defense is close to terrible, yet fans are focusing more of Ramirez who has put up far better offensive numbers at a position that handles less defensive chances and isn’t quite as critical as 3b.
chico65
I think other than the defense, he’s been pretty much as advertised. Can’t believe all the abuse towards the panda. Next thing you know, the MSPCA will be involved.
thecoffinnail
Exactly.. I don’t follow the NL West as much as I probably should but from what I can remember about Panda from the last few years is that he has a decent bat during the season but nothing close to being a superstar.. It has been the post season when he truly turns it on and becomes a beast.. I mean 5/$95 is good money but not superstar money.. Its too bad Oakland told them Donaldson wasn’t available when the Sox checked in on him early in the offseason (bostonherald.com/sports/red_sox_mlb/clubhouse_insi… ) .. I am betting that Toronto is also pretty grateful about that..
edcl51
Boston proved yet again they don’t know how to sign quality Free Agents.
tribetime95
When are the sawcks gonna deal for Howard?
mike156
Kelly has real talent, although he may not be able to put it together. Craig may just stay there in the minors–there’s no real need for him right now, especially if he’s performing on this level.
Wanted to make one comment about commenting. As a Yankee fan, I’m missing some of those persistent, pesky, self-absorbed, over-valuing-their-prospects Red Sox commenters. Some of them were pretty smart baseball fans (if one can look past the tragic flaw of rooting for the Red Sox). I’d really like to see MLBTR do something to rationalize the commenting issue.
sascoach2003
^that last comment lol
daver4470
I’m still standing on a very empty, very lonely Joe Kelly bandwagon. He has a lot of talent — maybe not ace talent, but he could realistically be a solid #2 at some point in his career. IF he can put it together. Which, as each year goes by, is a bigger if.
The Sox have (IMHO) done him no favors this year, though. Kelly’s issues have mostly involved losing the strike zone with his breaking pitches, which leads to him overthrowing the fastball, which leads to him losing the zone with the fastball, and things go downhill rapidly for him. Farrell has had a very, very quick hook with him, and he hasn’t really been given a lot of opportunities to work his way back into control, which is what he really needs to do. (Admittedly, when given the opportunity, he hasn’t demonstrated any ability to notch down and gain the zone again.)
The reasonable fear is that Kelly is another Clay Buchholz — someone who has all the talent in the world, but lacks something mentally to properly focus that talent into consistent results. It’s WAAAAY too early to give up on him, though. For once, I agree with Larry Lucchino….
Another thing that nobody ever seems to mention in the context of the Sox starters: both the catchers who worked with all the pitchers for the entirety of spring training were gone by the middle of April. The guys handling these pitchers through the Red Sox’s horrible start were (a) a career backup acquired off of waivers from the Nats, and (b) a AA prospect who wasn’t tabbed for the MLB level in 2015. That has to have a negative impact on the staff as a whole.
Finally, to throw you a bone: Vazquez is as good as Buster Posey! Swihart is a super Buster Posey! I wouldn’t trade them for Mike Trout straight up!*
*satire.
mike156
Thank you, thank you! Of course, what you could have said was “I wouldn’t trade them for Mike Trout straight up–even if you paid all his salary, and thrown in Andrew Heaney” Now, that would have been credible…
thecoffinnail
Lol, love that bone you threw.. I had forgotten about the Sox catcher merry-go-round.. That explains quite a bit.. I completely agree with you about Kelly.. So, you are not alone in that bandwagon.. I think he has the A.J. Burnett sickness where he is a pretty rough pitcher in tough markets but if you put him in a smaller market with less pressure he shines.. Burnett was pretty much ran out of New York and turned his career around in Pittsburgh.. He then sucked in Philly, resigned with Pittsburgh and has again turned things around.. I would like to see Kelly go to Pittsburgh or Tampa.. I feel with no pressure he could be a star.. All the tools are there but like you mentioned he is missing something mentally..
thecoffinnail
Yankee fans are just as guilty about overvaluing their prospects.. I am a die hard Yankee fan and I suggested some time ago about offering Severino to the Cubs for Baez and Vogelbach/Almora and I was ripped apart.. I am just not sold on Severino’s body type holding up for several years and I was blasted like Severino was already a TOR pitching with a 2.50 ERA and a .900 WHIP.. Another time I suggested Judge to the Dodgers for Seager (which the Dodgers would be foolish to do) and I was ripped apart just as bad.. Prospects are just that.. Prospects and should be valued as such.. Back in 2010 I made a suggestion on another site about how the Yankees needed an OF prospect with power potential and suggested trading Montero and Banuelos to the Angels for Trout.. I received a tremendous beating for that one.. Several people said Montero’s bat will provide more overall quality than Trout’s and if he doesn’t stick at catcher (my main complaint about the farm at the time was that they had 4 catchers in their top 10) he can move to 1st and take over for Teixeira.. They had Banuelos in Severino’s current position and acted like he was already fronting the Yankees rotation (he too had a smaller body type and I had the same concerns with him as with Severino)..
mike156
I really was having fun with it. Every team’s fans overvalues their prospects. If they didn’t, they probably wouldn’t be fans. I think it’s just more fun to see someone from your farm system come up and be a star rather than just buying him (or trading for a monster contract)
utleysk
How the heck do you get hit by a line drive running the bases unless you are not paying attention to the play? The man seems to be made of glass and seems always hurt.
Draven Moss
I don’t know either. After watching the play, I laughed quite a bit. I believe he ranks as one of the worse baserunners in baseball, so I guess it isn’t overly surprising. What is funny is that it was a hit-and-run, he looks in to see where the ball is (as you are supposed to do in that situation), and continues to run straight into the ball’s path. You would figure he would’ve stopped to let the ball pass him, but he didn’t.
Bronx Bombers
He turned it into a double play ball by getting hit, the ball ricocheted off him and right toward the second basemen. He probably would have been on third base if he didn’t get hit.
Draven Moss
It wasn’t a double-play ball. The ump immediately gave Bogaerts first-base after it had happened. You are right though in that Hanley probably would’ve been at third had he watched where the ball was instead of getting hit. Such a funny play.
rmullig2
His misjudged the ball. Been doing that all year.
Cam
He can’t play liners in the OF, he couldn’t play liners while he was at short..no surprise he can’t handle one while running the bases.
thecoffinnail
^ that comment