New Red Sox reliever Brad Ziegler is a throwback to former Royals submariner Dan Quisenberry, ESPN’s Keith Law writes (subscription only). Like Quisenberry, Ziegler has been an effective closer for years despite not having elite velocity or throwing overhand. He can be a good eighth-inning option for the team, or he can work multi-inning stretches. Law characterizes the Diamondbacks’ return in the deal as being good enough, given that Ziegler is 36 and will be a free agent at season’s end — second baseman Luis Alejandro Basabe runs well and has good plate discipline, and Jose Almonte’s fastball might not be good enough for him to start in the long run. Here’s more on the Red Sox.
- With negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement looming, MLB Players Association head Tony Clark recently offered his take on a few key labor-related issues, via Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald. In the wake of the Red Sox being punished for circumventing rules governing international amateur prospect bonuses (resulting in several players’ deals with the team being voided), Clark describes both international and domestic baseball prospect development as “the wild, wild west.” He names domestic amateur travel baseball — which he describes as both costly and time-consuming — as one problem. As Drellich notes, amateurs and minor-leaguers are not part of the players union, but they are affected by collective bargaining. “With respect to these young players, to say we are concerned about how they were treated, is an understatement,” says Clark. “So suffice it to say from start to finish we have been and continued to be engaged on everything that’s going on.”
- The Sox did well to hang on to All-Stars Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley and Xander Bogaerts, Peter Gammons writes. The team held onto all three despite some fans’ insistence the team make a big trade for a pitcher, and they’ve been key to the team’s resurgence this season. Of course, the Red Sox still have a need for starting pitching, partially because not enough of their prospects have developed into good back-end options. This time, though, the trade market is heavy on pitchers who don’t qualify as aces, which means that there likely won’t be much question of whether the Red Sox hold onto top prospects like Andrew Benintendi.
krillin
Do you think seeing Mancada own the futures all star game inflate or deflate Benintendi’s trade value? Or does it not affect it at all? My thinking is kind of like when a team wins a World Series some of the player’s value is inflated due to being surrounded by really good players. This is not to say Benintendi is over-rated mind you. I am sure he is not. I am just wondering what everyone’s opinion is on if Mancada has affected Benintendi’s value in any way
Gogerty
That is a fine point. I am sure it has been slightly affected to a degree, but still does not change how strongly Ref Sox admire the kid and want to keep him.
Niekro
I don’t think it has any impact Benintendi’s name has stood alone since draft day. Benintendi has far more substance to his name than Moncada does. If you look at players that have won both the Dick Howser and Golden Spikes awards you see a pretty solid list of MLB players.
chesteraarthur
I don’t even understand how you’d connect Moncada’s play in the futures game (sample size of 1 exhibition game) to Benintendi’s trade value, at all. MLB front offices are not run by fans who over react to things like this.
krillin
Because it’s the same farm system. There is so much hype surrounding Mancada that other teams that would be potential trade partners may be influenced in a way that would alter how they see Benintendi. FOs are influenced based on stuff that is not raw talent or scouting reports. Take panda for example. He was signed because of the hype he got from winning the world series, and we see how that panned out. Or, look at the other side. Scottie Pippen, he will never get the credit he is due because he played along side Jordan. He is in the HOF of course, but no one really respects him quite as much as he would have got had he been on another team in his prime.
Bruin1012
Cmon this is the definition of small sample size it doesn’t change either Moncada or Benintendi status it’s one game.
krillin
I am just talking temporarily. While the game is still fresh. Maybe I should have worded a little better. But, I see your answer is no. Thanks for the feedback:)
Fenway North
If they were competing for the same position maybe, but I dont think they feel the HAVE to trade either.
Niekro
Where is Swihart and Sandoval going to play? Is Sandoval going to spend the rest of his 90 million contract on the bench?
mookiessnarl
Or dfaed. The 63 million they invested in Moncada is just as valuable as whatever Sandoval has left on his contract. Slim him down, let him play for a month and trade him to whatever team is willing to pay ANY of the contract for a PTBNL or just outright designate him. He’s not Dombrowski’s mistake. There’s no attachment to him, and you’re better without him.
Fenway North
You dont play him just because of what he is getting paid, Sandoval wasn’t an issue this year when it was Shaw, and if Moncada is the 3b of the future Sandoval wont block him either.
Realistically Benintendi wont be blocked by Swihart in left either, they screwed up with Swihart in left trying to fill a hole and/or build value with a young player. I dont think someone with like half a season of LF experience will block Benintendi.
Niekro
How long can you have Pablo on the DL though, isn’t that the reason it hasn’t been an issue? It was a strange situation him being put on DL with no MRI, then it turned out he legitimately was hurt, what happens when he is healthy? This is a guy who is known as a winner and pretty well liked every where outside of Boston, I don’t think sitting him down while healthy is going to be taken lightly by everyone in the Boston clubhouse like a good friend of his named Hanley who has been a head case his entire career.
Fenway North
He was healthy when he sat to start the year.
EbenezerBatflip
Pablo lost his job. No one feels bad for him. He had multiple chances and refused to lose enough weight to field 3B.
Maybe when he comes back from surgery, Pablo can rebuild some value off the bench and we can move him at the deadline next year. But he’s not a concern or a priority.
Fenway North
Yea exactly. Boston made a mistake signing him, as of now he is still getting paid. If he can regain value he can be moved , but he will not block Moncada at 3b if that is the gameplan
aamays5
As a sox and giants fan I loved Pablo when he was in San Fran but I can’t love him on the sox. He was absolutely terrible last year (worst WAR in baseball) and now is injured all year this year. I’m sure Hanley understands that if a player hasn’t and isn’t performing at the expected level that they won’t play. I also think that they’ll give Pablo some at bats because like you said, he was really successful in San Fran and I think if he shows he’s back to his old self then they will find a way for him to play and if he can’t he’ll either be on the bench or in a new uniform.
chesteraarthur
Winning games tends to make people forget about things like being salty that their bestie is riding the bench because he’s obese and bad at baseball now.
Niekro
Maybe to a normal person, Hanley Ramirez is far from a normal person though, If Ortiz stays around in some advisory role I’m sure he could keep things controlled though as both players have high respect for him.
chesteraarthur
Where do you get this idea that HanRam is gonna go bonkers if fatty doesn’t play?
Fenway North
What are your qualifications to diagnose Hanley?
Niekro
Do you guys know literally nothing about Hanley Ramirez?
chesteraarthur
So, no where. Great!
He seemed to be mentally strong enough to handle it at the beginning of the year.
Niekro
bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/06/05/red-sox-missed-p…
guessing neither of you even live in Boston he has a long history of being a malcontent
chesteraarthur
Where does that say, “Hanley Rameriez is going to go crazy if Pablo Sandoval doesn’t play”? Perhaps i missed that portion of the article.
Fenway North
Oh right an article from over a year ago, I thought maybe there was some actual information you had…
chesteraarthur
And no, I do not live in Boston. I am also not even a red sox fan, at all. That doesn’t make me incapable of calling you out on your bull shit.
chesteraarthur
And no, I do not live in Boston. I am also not even a red sox fan, at all. That doesn’t make me incapable of calling you out on your bs
User 4245925809
That fielder family gut he’s supporting sure ain’t healthy for starters and no disrespect towards u there..
Send him to a fat farm easily take up the rest of the year.
yanks02026
It’s amazing the amount of live for JBJ. All sox fans hated him last year and waned him gone. Now he has ONE good season and they want to induct him in the hall of fame. The guy has still had a below average career so far.
Jac7178
By what standard has his career been below average so far?
kent814
More like average. While his offense wasnt always great, hes one of the best defensive players in the game, which almost offset his offense, except last year
Mo Vaughn
Below average career, before this season and last seasons post all star break breakout performance, he had a total of 509 AB’s, thats not much of a career, he was rushed to the majors all because of a monster spring training a few years ago. And don’t say all Red Sox fans because I didn’t want him gone, but I wasn’t as high on him as I am now either. Even if he was only hitting around .240, as long as he kept up his defensive work, I was fine with him.
Fenway North
I met him at Fenway in 2014 and I have been sold since then. He has a long career ahead of him and I think average offense and above average defense is in the cards.
onlyringsmatter
Again with hall of fame stuff.Amazing how every other fanbase uses that term for Sox players except our own.Level of envy here is huge.How’s Ellsbury doing in NY?
kyredsox17
Amazing? You’re an idiot. I think majority of fans would have agreed he was elite defensively last year and were frustrated his bat hadn’t developed yet. Not everyone enters the league like Schwarber did. You want to talk fans flip flopping? 1st of all, A-Rod/ you guys aren’t chanting his name too much this year.. Now take Jacoby, Tex, Beltran and McCann..all of which have been on a roller coaster ride since signing, something tells me your feelings have too.
vinscully16
If the right deal presented itself, I’d have no problem trading Jackie Bradley Jr. – sell high.
AidanVega123
Any idea what that “right deal” may look like? Just curious.
vinscully16
The “right deal” would be for a legit #1 starter or, better still, an ace. Now, JBJ alone will not land that pitcher, but if I were the Sox GM, the inclusion of JBJ in a package for such an arm would be negotiable – may not be applicable talent available come the deadline (I suppose there is a faint hope of Sale), but even an offseason deal would be appealing. Sox need pitching, I don’t see them winning the East, let alone the Series, without another big time arm.
bravesguru
I could see a deal for Julio Teheran for Jackie Bradley, Jr., Blake Swihart and the other Besabe. Could probably get a reliever from the Braves as well, Vizcaino or Cabrera.
Bruin1012
Stop it with Julio Teheran its old.
jedddu
Odd column. If the Red Sox could go back to this time last year and trade Swihart. Eduardo Rodriguez, and Manuel Margot for Cole Hamels they obviously would (at the time Betts was clearly off the table). Now the question is who would you trade for someone like Hellickson (we know Moncada, Benintendi, and Espinoza won’t be traded). No answer given.
chound
Way to reinforce the myth that Boston is the only team in baseball and Teheran, Moncada, Benintendi, Swihart are its only players… <— That's me sounding a bit bitter.
thebighurt619
The red sox should offer up devers and moncada to atlanta for some of their pitching.
No, not teheran.
But, devers and moncada plus travis and longhi and marrero for vizcaino plus wentz, muller from this past draft class, allard, soroka, ellis, sims, jenkins and foltynewicz. You can argue about what pitchers the braves would want to part with and who thw red sox want for moncada and devers but instead of paying the price for teheran see if the braves will part with surplus.
Use your best trade chips to cash in on pieces for now (folty and vizcaino) and future (wentz muller allard soroko ellis sims jenkins)
Otto371
what are you talking about?
bosox55
The Sox are not trading Moncada he is the #1 prospect in baseball.
bravesguru
Julio Teheran was #1 when he broke in and now has a fantastic contract to boot. That is why he is worth over $100 million.
Bruin1012
Sox aren’t trading for a fly ball pitcher in Fenway for what the Braves want back not going to happen.
Bruin1012
What???