The Dodgers approached the Red Sox earlier this offseason about a trade that would’ve sent Yasiel Puig to Boston in exchange for Jackie Bradley Jr., reports Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. The Sox, valuing Bradley’s elite glove and extra year of control (three years to Puig’s two), “quickly” declined the offer, and talks between the two sides never went beyond that stage. As Speier points out, however, the scenario is instructive when gauging the Red Sox’ valuation of Bradley, who is coming off a relatively disappointing season at the plate. Puig’s .263/.346/.487 slash and 28 homers dwarfed Bradley’s .245/.323/.402 output and 17 homers, but the Sox (who’ve been searching all offseason for an offensive upgrade), seemingly gave little consideration to the notion. Bradley’s name has been oft-speculated upon in various trade scenarios by fans and pundits alike, but it doesn’t seem as though the Boston brass views him in that light; president of baseball ops Dave Dombrowski has said at multiple points this winter that he’s in no rush to deal Bradley, Speier adds.
More out of the AL East…
- The Yankees checked back in with the Orioles on Manny Machado this week, per FanRag’s Jon Heyman, but the O’s have yet to receive an offer from any team that is close to what they’d hope to receive for Machado. The Yankees remain interested in Machado, though, believing that they have a legitimate chance to sign him long-term (even without an extension window being granted). The O’s reportedly want a pair of MLB-ready pitchers for Machado, though Heyman notes that third base prospect Miguel Andujar intrigues Baltimore to some degree. For now, Andujar is viewed as the Yankees’ starter at third base, though Heyman adds that the Yanks are exploring a number of avenues in the infield; in addition to Machado, they’ve shown interest in the Pirates’ Josh Harrison and are keeping tabs on the free-agent market in case Todd Frazier’s asking price drops to one year.
- ESPN New York’s Andrew Marchand writes that the Yankees would indeed “love” to bring Frazier back into the mix, but the organization has some reservations about his asking price (both in dollars and years). At present, the Yanks are poised to head into the season with Andujar at third base and one of Ronald Torreyes, Gleyber Torres or Tyler Wade at second base. “We are currently set up to go this route, unless something presents itself between now and whenever that gives us a change of position,” GM Brian Cashman tells Marchand. Certainly, that suggests that Cashman & Co. are yet open to additions, and Marchand calls it a “pretty good bet” that the Yankees will add an infielder to the mix before the offseason concludes.
- “Too many people” are assuming that Chance Sisco is a lock to open the year as the Orioles’ starting catcher, reports MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko. (I’m guilty as charged on that front, having referenced him as the likely starter on multiple occasions.) Per Kubatko, 26-year-old Austin Wynns has a “legitimate” chance to break camp with the team thanks largely to his defensive prowess. If that happens, then the O’s would seemingly take Wynns and Caleb Joseph north to open the year while giving Sisco additional development time in Triple-A Norfolk. The O’s are also still in the market for a veteran catcher, which could prove to be either a starting-caliber option or a backup to vie for a spot alongside Sisco and Wynns. Kubatko notes that some in the organization are intrigued by the Marlins’ J.T. Realmuto, though it’s difficult to imagine the O’s coming up with the type of package that’d beat the field for Realmuto when Miami has been targeting pitching prospects in other trades.
Tbh I’m hoping Andújar starts at third base for the Yanks. Someone start a Andújar hype train, please? No? Never mind
Below average gloves at 1st and 3rd? The pitching staff is going to love that.
Greg Bird is the 1st baseman. Are you suggesting he is a bad defender at first base? This is an excerpt from a Baseball America article from August of 2015:
In the latest Best Tools survey, Bird was chosen as the Best Defensive First Baseman, and scouts who saw him in the Eastern League noticed marked improvement as well.
“He does things really nicely over there,” one scout said. “It took me a little while to notice because I was enthralled with his bat. He’s an all-around guy.”
Overall, the people who saw him play this year picture Bird, at his peak, as a truly balanced hitter capable of hitting for average and with power enough for 20 or more home runs annually while not doing any damage in the field. His home run power is mostly to the pull side (all but one has gone to right field), but he can push doubles to all fields.
You need to add that it was NOT Baseball America that said those things, it was a SURVEY of Double A managers and an anonymous scout who said that. Bird has always and will always be a bat first player. Do people forget his defense when he came up in 2015 and played when Tex was hurt? His defense cost them games.
Here is Pinstripe Alley: “The only real concern with regards to Bird’s major league potential is whether or not he can improve his defense at first base, namely on ground balls..” pinstripealley.com/yankees-prospects-minor-leagues…
RiverAveBlues: ” Bird’s defense has not been good, which was expected, and it’s a huge step down from Teixeira. That was inevitable. Teixeira has few peers defensively.” riveraveblues.com/2015/09/lack-of-progress-means-y…
More from Pinstripe Alley: “On the 20-80 tool scale, where 80 is well above-average, 50 is average, and 20 is well below-average, Bird scored a 55 Hit, 50 Power, 30 Run, 45 Arm, and 45 Field, while scoring a 50 overall.. Basically what this means is he is an average-to-above-average hitter while providing below-average defense.” pinstripealley.com/yankees-prospects-minor-leagues…
I can go on and on and on…..
You need to add that it was NOT Baseball America that said those things, it was a SURVEY of Double A managers and an anonymous scout who said that. Bird has always and will always be a bat first player. Do people forget his defense when he came up in 2015 and played when Tex was hurt? His defense cost them games.
Here is Pinstripe Alley: “The only real concern with regards to Bird’s major league potential is whether or not he can improve his defense at first base, namely on ground balls..”
RiverAveBlues: ” Bird’s defense has not been good, which was expected, and it’s a huge step down from Teixeira. That was inevitable. Teixeira has few peers defensively.”
More from Pinstripe Alley: “On the 20-80 tool scale, where 80 is well above-average, 50 is average, and 20 is well below-average, Bird scored a 55 Hit, 50 Power, 30 Run, 45 Arm, and 45 Field, while scoring a 50 overall.. Basically what this means is he is an average-to-above-average hitter while providing below-average defense.”
I can go on and on and on…..
When you go from Tex to anyone at 1st it is a step down.
Are you basing this off of the 80 mlb games he has under his belt total? With one error? What games did his defense cost? From AA up he has owned no less than a .990 fld % – which is what a team wants at 1st. Arm strength is secondary.
No. I am basing it off every scouting report about him before he was called up.
Below average 1b? You know how many 1b had a positive def rating last year? 1 and he (Buster Posey) isn’t even a full-time 1b. Bird’s -4.5 would rank him about 15th for guys w/ at least 150 AB.
As for Andujar, they say his glove is at least solid.
I for one am not in love with the idea of trading multiple top 100 prospects for 1 year of a guy coming off of a 2.8 WAR .259/.310/.471 season. Sure, he might well rebound and have another 6 WAR season but with the prospect cost I have to go by what he is as of today.
I have no problem with the Yanks going with rookies at both 2b and 3b and bringing in a veteran that can play both positions (Jose Reyes ?) for a one year deal. There really isn’t much of a difference between the year Frazier and Machado had in 2018.
I would offer Frazier 2/$25 and see what he says. He can probably get 500 AB between 3b, 1b backing up Bird and DH. His contract probably wouldn’t be too difficult to move should Andujar press the situation by playing well.
I’m onboard the train! I’d love to see what Andujar’s got at the majors level. His one game in Chicago left me wanting more. I would be psyched to see an infield consisting of Andujar, Didi, Torres, & Bird
i’ll start it. us guys at riveraveblues.com love andujar! the only one that we would take over him is manny machado.
Arenado is better. Why doesn’t anybody talk about signing him. He’s going to be a free agent soon.
Andujar, Gleyber Torres, Tyler Wade, Thairo Estrada, heck, even Torreyes can play there. I don’t see the point in getting a 3rd baseman now if all those guys can play 2nd or 3rd. Just see what you have there and if, come July, none of those fit the bill, go get a 2B/3B. We are talking about someone that will bat 8th or 9th anyways.
If that’s true, I have a bit of renewed faith in Boston’s decision making. I would trade Bradley in a second in the right deal, but not for a mental midget and clubhouse cancer like Puig.
I agree 100% the really need to trade JBJ but there’s isn’t really anything out there for the Sox right now
I don’t think they NEED to trade Bradley. I mean, his bat regressed but he’s arguably a top 3 defensive CF in the AL. Instead, why not look at the positions where you normally expect power to come from? Right now the Sox are elite up the middle defensively at C, SS, 2B and CF. Meanwhile they had a chance to make improvements for power at 1b, 3b and DH and don’t seem like they are willing to step up and go after power bats via FA. Devers might turn into a 25-30 hr guy but he can also be moved to DH in favor of a proven power bat and glove guy like Frazier.
Yeah, uh, Bogaerts is not an elite defensive shortstop. He’s actually one of the worst defenders at that position in baseball.
No to Frazier. BA is horrible.
Ummm…huh? Bogaerts has had a def rating of +4 or better for the last 3 years. How is that not among the best at his position? Are there better? Yes. But he’s well above average and nowhere near being the one of the worst defenders.
Bogaerts had a negative DRS and UzR last year he was bottom half in the league at SS defensively
Yeah he .. Frazier not a good fit, sorry, prefer Moose!
Elite at catcher and c.f., Pedey isn’t elite anymore and boegarts is a good shortstop for a leftfielder. He has no range, he bounces way too many throws to first and I can’t begin to count how many times I have seen him bobble balls that he has to charge. He is not elite…in fact he is well below average defensively.
Ok but his power, OBP and defensive ability are much better.
Among all 3b with at least 300 PA.
Walks-Frazier’s 14% ranked 3rd behind Forsythe and Donaldson.
HRS-12th (27 hrs)
Defensive rating- +6 ranks him 10th..
Factor in who’s available and he’s a great fit.
He can also play 1B and can be a great platoon 1B vs LHP.
Moreland vs LHP in 2017 = .684 OPS w/ 1 hr.
Career vs LHP .675 w/ 18 hrs
Frazier vs LHP in 2017= .883 OPS w/ 12 hrs
Career vs LHP = .836 w/ 56 hrs.
Bogey is about average defensively Fangraphs a
Has him rated better then baseball reference but I would tend to agree more with Baseball Reference then Fangraphs. Pedey is very much still elite defensively when he plays for sure. JBJ and Vasquez also very good defensively. I don’t think Bogey is anything but about average maybe slightly below average as a shortstop defensively.
He’s nowhere near the worst SS in baseball, he’s pretty much middle of the pact in every stat.
Agreed.
Yeah my heart stopped for a second there, glad they shot it down quickly.
Don’t they already have a clubhouse cancer in David Price?
I’m sure Dodgers fans know about the situation the most, but I think Puig’s biggest problems were with Mattingly, and he’s been gone for 2 years.
With that said, I think that’s a fair trade, but with an extra year of control and with Bradley having slightly more value due to his CF defense, I can see why the Red Sox rejected it.
Sorry, that’s not even a fair trade. Like you said Bradley has 1 more year and is a superior defender. Look at their stats, not,much of a difference. So why give up a guy with another year on his contract for 11 more homeruns.
“Look at their stats, not,much of a difference.”
Offensively, there is.
JBJ’s career OPS+ is 93. Puig’s is 128.
JBJ has more HR over the last 3 years.
He’s been not so good after his sophomore year. On top of his baggage. Easy pass.
In nearly 150 more AB than Puig. I’m sure Puig will hit at least 3 HR in his next 150 AB.B
He wasn’t that bad last year, and he was far better than JBJ (Offensively).
because they struggle to hit homeruns? jd isnt on the team as of now, and they are in the same situation as they were last season, maybe in a worse spot with guys getting older
Only due to Puig injuries. JBJ has never been known for offense…
Steamer600, which assumes 600 plate appearances for each hitter, projects 2018 WAR of 3.5 for Yasiel Puig and 3.2 for Jackie Bradley Jr.
Fenway and Dodger Stadium two very different parks.
JBJ’s home run totals are helped greatly by playing 100 games of the season between Boston, Baltimore and Yankee stadium.
I don’t think it’s fair to call Price a “club-house cancer”. He seemed to be well liked by his teammates. He had an issue with a former player and current TV analyst. So what?
Puig is not a cancer anymore. he redeemed himself this season. You must be stuck in time if you think attitude is still his problem.
The largest issues were between Mattingly and Puig. Mattingly lost the clubhouse, Puig was demoted, and since his return and Mattingly’s departure, Puig has been a model citizen. The LA media is harsh, much like the East Coast – and the Puig situation was blown well out of proportion.
How is Puig a clubhouse cancer?
Because he’s a bat licker maybe?
The hot take of 2014 again. Seriously instead of regurgitating old narratives maybe watch Puig play. JBJ is a good defender too but Puig had a very strong case for Gold Glove in right this year (actually won the Wilson award). If Puig wasn’t “Clubhouse cancer Yasiel Puig” he would be recognized as the top tier defender he is. The fact that LA even brought this up is plain idiotic. They would be marginally (maybe) improving on defense and giving up substantial ground on offense.
Realmuto to Baltimore would be a gigantic mistake. I don’t think it couldn’t be done if we really wanted to do that though. Sisco + hunter harvey + hays is more than enough. Makes zero sense for us to do something like that though.
To be sure, they have enough top-end guys to get the Marlins’ interest. My point wasn’t that they couldn’t field a competitive offer but rather that it’s tough to see them beating out the field and thus gutting the top of their farm when they still have virtually no rotation of which to speak.
Gotcha. Head scratching decisions aren’t hard to find in Baltimore though.
Yeah Cisco + Hays + Scott + either Lowther or DJ Stewart would get it done, but i don’t see the Orioles doing that but if they do, Awesome for the Marlins. Get some position players from Baltimore in Cisco/Hays/Stewart and get some pitchers from Atlanta for Yelich. Even up that farm with top prospects of each side. Then Bour to Rockies for McMahon and either Vilade or Patterson. Boom, done.
If Jeter will trade Bour for McMahon and Patterson, I’d be satisfied. He wouldn’t be able to get McMahon and Vilade though..
There’s been a little debate this year from Rockies fans about trading McMahon for Jose Abreu straight up. Its an overpay by the Rockies, but I don’t think White Sox even take it. Bour’s extra year of control and lower salary makes it a better trade and worth throwing in an extra piece.
Boston must be smoking something to say no to that deal. Dodgers would have got fleeced. No idea what they were thinking with this one
Wow are you high ?
Well apparently both the front offices of LA and Boston disagree with you and value Bradley higher than Puig.
Puig redeemed himself in 2017 and to say he is still a cancer shows you just were not playing attention
Meant to reply that up there^
Apparently, you don’t watch much baseball. Bradley for Porky Puig would be a flexing by the Dodgers.
As a Sox fan I personally don’t hate a Bradley for Puig deal. Puig could provide some pop in the lineup and acquiring him now means that if they are unable to sign- or even less likely swing a deal- for a big bat at least you’d have Puig in the fold. I understand Bradley’s biggest value is is defense, and there would be a derop off in shifting Benintendi to CF and playing Puig in LF, but offensively it’s a major upgrade over Bradley, who outside of a 2 month stretch in 2016, is an anemic offensive player who actually seems to be regressing with a bat in his hands
Apparently, you don’t watch much baseball. Bradley for Porky Puig would be a flexing by the Dodgers. Even if Puiq redeem himself. Their batting is molar to one another, Bradley has one more year and is a superior defender to Puig.
LOL defense is not something you should bring up to try and say is not in favor of puig. Puig waa the better hitter last season and its really not close. Bradley had 1 season where he wasn’t a replacement level hitter and all of a sudden he is this good? No thanks.
What did Lamar just say?
I have no clue fox471, but it’s probably better that way. I’m just gonna go brush my molars and try to forget.
I think it would’ve been a bad trade for both teams tbh. Puig would’ve been eaten up in Boston and it’d be a disaster there. && as for LAD, Bradley is just not that good, sure his glove is amazing but that’s it. He goes on a good tear then falls back to earth
Puig’s every muscle twitch would be scrutinized to death and beyond by the Boston media and fans. They would drive each other nuts. I can see some of the appeal of Bradley to the Dodgers in terms of giving them more flexibility in playing Taylor but even if they made that trade some other things would need to move around in the OF for it to work.
Perhaps a stupid question, but would it be possible to get Ellsbury to agree to an extension at little to no total contract increase and then release him with a lower aav? It might make it easier to trade for bigger money contracts and still stay under the threshold. Perhaps an extra 3 years at 1 million per year? Basically cut his pay in half
Why would Ellsbury agree to that?
If they tell him they are going to release him anyway, why not get a few million extra for his troubles.
Union wouldn’t allow it if Ellsbury agreed to do that, which he probably wouldn’t.
Union would never allow that.
Union wouldn’t go along with that, nor would the league office.
Extensions and option years are considered new contracts and have no effect on the AAV of the existing years of the original contract. Essentially if it was a possibility to lower the AAV, teams would already be doing this.
If they really want Machado., they could trade. Jordon Montgomery, Sonny Grey, and Tommy Kahnle and then sign two of the upper tier free agent starters to make up for the starters they just traded. Won’t happen but the Yankees could afford to do it.
This is why you shouldn’t do drugs.
If you’re suggesting that they trade all three of those guys for a year of Machado, that’s a massive overpay. If you’re suggesting that they trade them all separately and not in the same deal for Machado, that makes no sense. And why would they sign two expensive free agent starters to replace Montgomery and Gray, who are both still under affordable team control?
Yeah agreed on the overpay, but that’s exactly what the O’s want… should have moved him at the trading deadline, and prolly get more of what they are looking for…. one season, not worth it
leave”crack”andjackburtonalone is more like it.
I’d take Grey & Montgomery over Darvish & Chance Adams/Arrietta. Cheaper and a more known quantity….and you don’t even know if Darvish/Arrietta wants to pitch in NY. In addition, removing Kahnle from the bullpen weakens it a bit, especially if Betances does not get back to form. You’re riding too much on nobody getting injured. Depth of the rotation and bullpen beats out Machado for me. Lets say Gleyber Torres hits .275, why give up all of this for a guy who is a career .279 hitter? Machado is great, but he’s not worth blowing up the rotation and bullpen over.
The Orioles have put themselves in a difficult position regarding Machado. Pretty much nobody thinks the Os can resign him after this year; now, they’ve whittled his controllable years down to one before considering trade offers. They’re asking a high price for only one guaranteed year, which is understandable to a certain extent… but if he comes out of the gate looking like he’s going to have another down year at the plate, the chance of getting any return for him could well almost disappear.
I don’t think Puuig is the match-up for the Sox and I would hate to be the GM to bring in a player that might create a heavier burden for my first year manager.
If you are the GM you have 600 ML players out there–perhaps in any one year there might be 300 available for trade purposes. If DD is trying to move JBJ and is being realistic about a trade match, he should be able to find an acceptable match. If he wants Yellich then he must come up with a package. Machado might be a little different.
I think with the O’s as a trade partner I would go after Trumbo for Hanley.
DD must know what it will cost him if he wishes to keep Betts, Bogaerts, JBJ, Bene, Devers, Sale, Kimbrel, Pomerantz and the list goes on.
Got to think lefty batter guys… too many rightys at the top of the order for the Sox
JBJ is slightly better than Puig offensively and significantly better defensively. Stats don’t lie, look at more than last year.
Offense its not even close. The stats dont lie. Bradley has been a replacement level hitter every season but 2016. This is why i cant take red sox fans seriously. All the bradley hype died down. They admitted a trade needs to happen. Now its harp on the 2016 stats like its everything
Where on earth do you see that Bradley is better offensively? It’s not even close. Puig has a career 128 OPS plus while Bradley’s is a below average 93
Why on Earth do you think career OPS tells the story of how good they’ll be going forward? Puig has gotten significantly worse over his career while Bradley has gotten significantly better. Puig has been slightly better than Bradley offensively the last couple years but if the trends continue then Bradley being better is a no brainer.
Not even close to true.
You sound clueless. Bradley regressed from his 1 good season. Puig i admit has been a roller coaster, but has come back to form these past few years
Ops plus is not the same as ops
Last 3 seasons ops+:
Bradley: 119, 118, 89 (107)
Puig: 110, 98, 118 (110)
Last 3 seasons bWAR:
Bradley: 2.2, 5.3, 2.8 (10.3)
Puig: 1.1, 1.4, 3.7 (6.2)
But yeah, I’m clueless….
So what happened in 2015 is still relevant? If thats the case put 2013 and 2014 in and then tell me who is better. 2016 is a total outlier so far compared to everything bradley has done
He regressed completely due to injuries in 2017 according to Alex Speier:
“There’s good reason to think that Bradley’s 2017 numbers were affected significantly by injuries. He landed on the disabled list with a knee injury in the first week of the season and upon his return had to wear a brace with which he never seemed comfortable.
At the end of the year, he landed on the DL with a thumb injury, and upon his September return, he sputtered (.172/.238/.280). Between those injured stretches, from mid-May through August, he hit .282/.368/.465 with 12 homers in 85 games — a stretch during which he was as good as any Red Sox player”.
As you can see these injuries can change completely your year offensively even though he managed an o-War=1.9 versus a defensive d-War=1.3 for a year Total War of 2.5 in comparison to a 5.3 TotalWar in 2016.
In conclusion: if he keeps himself healthy under Alex Cora and his new coaching team he should at least repeat his production of 2016 still being in his prime.
Higher WAR, OPS, more HRs last 3 years. At less than half the cost besides.
I’m not claiming that JBJ is great, but let’s stop pretending that Puig is the stud LA fans have always played him up to be because he finally hit 20+ HRs. LA would trade Puig for next to nothing. He looked like a star early and then faded. He played well last year. They both had 1 great offensive year. I’ll stick with JBJ based on defense in CF, acceptable offensive production, better contract value, and no history of attitude or diva issues.
They wouldn’t trade puig for nothing. These red sox fans are delousional. Puig has had an 863 OPS 2014 year in 140 games. 833 last year. And his mammoth rookie year. But thats 1 good year lol
You do realize jbj plays half of his games in one of the most hitter friendly ballparks while puig plays half in one of the most pitcher friendly parks if they switched places puigs hr numbers would skyrocket and jbjs would plummet it’s not even close puig is better offensively
Then why would they offer him to Sox for JBJ if they though he was so great?
I dunno, could be because the Dodgers are otherwise playing a converted infielder in CF?
JBJ hits most of his homers to right and to center. Boston is one of the tougher parks to hit out to right or center. My guess is JBJ would as many homers in LA as Boston. Puig would probably hit more if he is a fly ball right handed pull hitter if he goes the other way a lot then no he probably won’t hit any more homers then he does now.
Puig is a dead pull hitter to LF especially after Turner Ward worked on him lofting the ball more to left this past season.
Then he would do just fine unless he a line drive hitter to left if he lifts it then would do well in Fenway. JBJ is a dead pull hitter and I think he wouldn’t lose any homers in Dodger Stadium. When JBJ hits it he hits no cheap homers.
JBJ is not a dead pull hitter on fly balls and his spray chart shows it.
fangraphs.com/spraycharts.aspx?playerid=12984&…
Ground balls yes, fly balls not even close. It is a very even distribution left, center and right.
Two reasons the Dodgers made the offer 1) two more years of team control 2) JBJ has a considerable lower annual salary.
The point i was trying to make is when he hits homers they are to right field and center field most of the time and when hits them there is little doubt. He only hit 3 homeruns to left field where the short porch is so his power is right to straight away center for the most part and Fenway isn’t an easy place to hit homers there. His home run distribution is overwhelmingly as a pull hitter.
You are kidding right?
Puig had a strong rookie and sophomore season. After that? Regressions.
I like Puig’s bat, but wary of his presence in the clubhouse. I see that people think he redeemed himself this year, but that only goes to show how damaging his poor behavior was that we’re still talking about it. I still think Boston should swing a trade for Machado and sign JDM.
Same can be said about Puig offensively, 1 good year.
Try 3
I’ll give you 2. 104 game isn’t enough for me to give him as the 3rd. And he’s not the player he appeared to be in 13 and 14. Obviously, even the Dodgers believe that, hence the trade offer. If I’m wrong I’ll be the first to admit it. He’ll be back to underperforming in 18.
So building a 5 + WAR over 4 months isnt a good season. lol
He’s played 5 seasons. You don’t have a 128 OPS+ from 1 good year unless you had something like a 250 OPS+ that one good year, which basically not a single player but Barry Bonds will do.
Career line: .281/.357/.475/.833
I rest my case, your honor.
Agreed Puig is clearly the better hitter. And I agree Bradley is the better defender but let’s not act like Puig is some kind of liability in the outfield. He was a Gold Glove Finalist last year and there are plenty of people out there who would argue he is the best defensive right fielder in baseball whether or not he won the award. Bradley’s superiority on defense is mostly because he plays CF instead of RF.
Who is acting like Puig is a defensive liability, some kind of crazy person? He was even tried in CF for awhile. He has both the speed and the arm for the position but management decided he lacked the instincts or some such thing. He is however an elite defender in RF, as anyone who’s watched him play would know. With Pederson out of favor the Dodgers have been playing Taylor in that position. Clearly they’d prefer to fill it with a more natural CF’er and that isn’t a knock on either Puig or Taylor.
I agree that Puig is a very good defender and that isn’t a problem at all for him. The problem for Puig in Boston he would have to play left and that is tricky I personally think an aggressive guy like him would have trouble there. AB is a center fielder by trade and had a hard time judging when to go get the ball and when to play off the wall. There is no chance Puig would play in right because Betts is just better in right then Puig. That’s not a knock on Puig defensively because I believe Betts is the best right fielder in baseball and defensive metrics seem to beat that out. I just don’t think it’s a good match for Boston.
“Bear”
I’m not enthused by either one. One should keep that disgusting tongue in his mouth and the other is much too inconsistent with the bat.
I was replying to the thread in general. There seemed to be a perception by some that Bradley was vastly superior to Puig defensively when that isn’t true.
Jason Heyward plays a way better RF than Betts.
I’m no he doesn’t and it’s really not even close anymore.
It’s really no longer a question of if Betts is the best defensive right fielder because he is but if he is the best defensive outfielder in baseball which is debatable.
Is moose to the Sox out of the question? Atleast if JD doesn’t sign. We could move Devers to DH and platoon Hanley and Moreland at first. Moose could be signed for 4-75ish? He would add a lot of pop and a defensive upgrade for sure at third. And still leave us some flexibility for Arbitration.
There is no way the Red Sox are going to move a 21 year old to DH right now. I don’t see the fit Devers is going to play third next year.
Prado, Yellich and cash — RSox–Devers, JBJ and Brian Johnson
Perhaps an overpay by Sox.
I would’ve made that trade if I were the Red Sox. Puig is an upgrade in the batting order, and would be dangerous, in a good way, at LF in Fenway. Beni could slide to CF where he’d be better suited to his strengths.
Dodgers FO is very reasonable, they probably would’ve throw in a flyer or whatever if you pressed the extra year of control.
a flyer doesnt make it worth it.
I don’t think the Red Sox are really trying to trade Bradley. They value him very highly. They may look to move him if they sign JDM but probably only if they overwhelmed. He has a lot of value to Boston and unless somewhere else values him similarity then he won’t get traded. I think they made the right not to trade for Puig I think he would be a disaster in left in Fenway.
I’ll take JBJ’s future over Puig’s. We’ll see if I’m right.
Puig does have a cannon for an arm, and his athleticism is appealing. If it werent for his past clubhouse issues, the Sox would be throwing in an extra player to make this happen, imo
What past clubhouse issues?
JBJ has a cannon for an arm to btw.
not seeing where Todd Frazier would get anything close to years/dollars he’s looking for.
there could be a couple non-tenders who would give him a year or two to be a mentor to young players, and a couple contenders could be interested short term..
he’s got to love playing for the Yanks, close to home, on a contending team, so Yanks are wise to just keep acting like they are content with what they have, and wait for Frazier to find nothing else better out there.
I dont get the hangup on years for Frazier. Its not like he couldn’t be traded after a year
Why won’t anyone listen? SIGN MIKE MOUSTAKAS!!! He’s a plus fielder, a solid bat (his 2017 was comparable to Machado), and he’d come a LOT cheaper than Machado. In that lineup, he could hit 6 or 7, and his numbers will only go up playing half a season in Yankee Stadium. This should be a no brainer. Seriously.
his lack of walks is not popular these days.
Mike Moustakas was embarrassingly bad defensively last year… I would say he’s an OK defense at best.
That makes no sense. One, Moustakas plays the same position as one of LA’s best players, Justin Turner. Theoretically, LA could move Turner to 2B, but he’s only played a handful of games at 2B the last few yrs. Beyond that, LA has Forsythe under contract. Forsythe was awful last yr., but given how he played in the prior 2 seasons, he can reasonably be expected to bounce back. Two, LA is trying to limit payroll this season to avoid progressively increasing luxury tax penalties. The only big moves one should expect from LA this offseason would be moves where they further dump salary, like Kemp’s & possibly Grandal’s…
Remember when puig threw a temper tantrum because he couldn’t catch a ball?
You mean couldn’t dive into the corner and barley missed the ball. And throwing the glove is a tantrum. It was a big play in the world series. Let alone the playoffs which the angels have made 1 time in 8 years
Wow a dodgers fan bringing up playoffs? I’m not shocked.
The trade has ground but as a red sox fan the extra year of control isn’t my biggest fear it’s puigs health. Counting upgrading defense, extra year of control and health concern vs the clear upgrade offensively. I’d want a little more.
As for the proposed Bradley for Puig, We don’t need anymore Carl Everetts or Jose Offermans……Bradley’s defense plays, I would hang onto him unless a nice trade opportunity arises, Puig is not a nice trade up at Kennedy considering the intangibles
Sorry my post was butchered by auto text….Boston does not need any more head cases, let Puig stay in LA
Id b cool with Todd on a 2 year deal. He’s backup insurance for Bird and can DH every once in awhile to give Stanton and Judge a break. Andujar passed the eye test and seems ready. But no1 truly knows until he’s there for a month or so not a week or 2
I see we have a candidate to replace Pedey as the most overrated player in Sox history. Hold on to your .200 hitters Dunno and enjoy getting spanked 16-5 To the Yanks every game. But hey, we have Willie Mays Jr. In center.
Yankee fans…. Last year was an anomaly. Second year players have sophomore slumps. Sanchez sucked most of the year and came on late because it was his sophomore year. Don’t count on Judge repeating what he did, even a far better prospect like Benintendi dropped in year two. Judge and Sanchez are solid long term guys but the pendulum has swung. 2017 was low expectations and they over performed. 2018 is likely to be high expectation and they under perform, especially without Girardi.
JBJ for Puig is a fair deal but helps nobody. Neither player has the skills to be a starter in MLB. JBJ can’t hit and should be a late inning defensive replacement and Puig can’t field and hit consistently but he’s got a monster arm and pop in his bat if he makes contact. Great bench guys but not starters. Boston could use bench power but Puig has too much baggage and the Dodgers could use a fourth OF to use late in games but they have other needs that are more important. Fair but a bad idea for both teams.
Pedroia is not over-rated. He’s been an excellent player for many years. He’s not a HOFer but should be considered close. His best years came when the Red Sox needed him to be great and he was. Red Sox players don’t get enough recognition to be considered over-rated. You need to live in NY or LA to be over-rated. Remember, guys like Rizzuto are in the HOF and he couldn’t carry Pedey’s jock strap but he still got in because of who he played for not his skillset. Over-rated is hard to pin on guys from Boston, Chicago, KC, Cleveland and so many other great baseball cities because the spotlight shines so little on those players. LA and NY. Trout plays in KC and nobody knows him. Sanchez plays in Milwaukee and nobody knows him. Nobody knew Didi before he came to NY. Beltran was a good player in KC then a great player in NY. I could go one for a very long time with examples like this. It’s the media bias in baseball. It’s been there for years and isn’t going away soon. Just listen to the MLB channel and all the pro NY and LA announcers on it. It’s ridiculous. It’s the way of world so it’s not likely to change in the future. This will perpetuate itself as plays want undeserved notoriety by simply playing in NY or LA. Even guys from Japan know it!! .
Do you think Ben is a better overall player than Judge?
Jury is still out that one. Judge had a great year and looked real good could of one the MVP but it’s only one year. He will always hit for prodigious power and will also strike out a ton. Only time will tell but if you are comparing them let’s wait a few years to see where this goes. Judge has taken the early lead though.
Puig hits for better average, draws more walks, strikes out less, hits for more power, steals more bases, and is a year younger. Neither he nor Bradley own a GG, but both are very good defensively. Yes, Puig is immature & may be a headache in the locker room, but he made strides last season. Maturity aside, Puig is the superior player.