In today’s game of baseball, the 25th spot on each team’s active roster is arguably more valuable than it’s ever been. Managers are turning to their bullpens sooner than ever before, platoon situations have become commonplace, and defensive replacements and pinch runners remain a vital part of strategy late in close games. Most teams manipulate their rosters with painstaking attention to detail in order to maximize the balance of value and efficiency that each spot on the active roster yields.
That’s why dead weight on a roster can be damaging to a team in many ways. In essence, three major league clubs have committed to operating with 24 active roster spots so far during the 2018 season. Those teams are the Tigers, Red Sox and Angels, and their commitment to players who aren’t providing value (and aren’t likely to provide any this season) have not only cost them wins, but also but a strain on their teammates. Let’s explore these situations in depth…
Victor Reyes, Tigers- The number one overall pick in this past offseason’s Rule 5 Draft, Reyes must remain on Detroit’s active roster for the entire 2018 season or be offered back to the Diamondbacks. Prior to the season, he’d never played about Double-A, and ranked as the Tigers’ #25 overall prospect according to Baseball America. The biggest knocks on his game have always been his lack of power and his tendency to swing at bad pitches, which are fair concerns but fairly easy to stomach considering his speed, corner outfield defense and great contact skills.
That said, it’s painfully clear to everyone in baseball that Reyes doesn’t belong in the majors even a little bit, at least not right now. On the year, he’s hit just .241 with a nightmarish .547 OPS. Sure, it’s commonplace for Rule 5 draftees to struggle in the majors. But the difference here is that the Tigers are barely even giving Reyes a chance to work his issues out. While the young outfielder has appeared in 47 games, 16 of those have solely been as a pinch runner. In fact, Reyes has only been given 68 plate appearances, and he’s simultaneously been an offensive black hole and a defensive liability, according to Fangraphs. Those factors have led to a -0.5 fWAR figure that’s shockingly poor for someone with so little playing time. Speaking of playing time, it’s tough to expect him to develop properly if he’s getting such inconsistent opportunities, and with the way the Tigers are utilizing him it seems almost as though they’re willing to punt this year of his development entirely and wait to option him to the minors next year when the Rule 5 restrictions no longer apply.
The trade-off is that they’ll be able to add an upside contact player to their farm system if they can simply roster him at all times during a year when they’re not trying to win anyway. But even amidst a clear rebuilding phase, that roster spot could be used to give playing time to other young players who can actually be used; some of the talent they have at Triple-A at least deserve a look. Keeping an extra arm in the bullpen could also help prevent injury or exhaustion for a relief corps that’s been forced to shoulder a workload within the top 50th percentile in MLB. Sure, the whole point is that they get to keep Reyes if they hold onto him all year, but there’s a chance he’ll never develop into a useful player anyway. Is it worth the trouble if he hasn’t shown much promise yet?
Blake Swihart, Red Sox- We’ve discussed Swihart at length here on MLBTR, and while the roster around him has changed a bit, the situation has largely remained the same: Swihart’s presence on the roster is negatively impacting Boston’s contention for the AL East crown. The former top prospect’s star has dimmed dramatically since his MLB debut in 2015, and he’s only managed to scrape together enough offensive output to post a .185/.250/.210 batting line. Much like Reyes, Swihart has hardly been given any real playing time; he’s amassed just 88 plate appearances and 110 defensive innings.
Even with top backstop Christian Vazquez’ recent placement on the DL due to a fractured pinky, there’s no indication that Swihart’s benchwarming role with change any time soon. Although he came up through the Sox’ system as a catcher, he’s only appeared behind the plate a grand total of fifteen times in the past two seasons. This puts his team in quite a complicated predicament right now. On the surface, one might think the injury to Vazquez would force them to play Swihart more often. That would finally give the former top prospect one last chance to break through and prove he can stick behind the plate in the majors. However, there’s been no indication to this point that Swihart will actually receive that opportunity. The problem is that if Boston decides to acquire another catcher, they’re openly admitting to other teams that they don’t think Swihart deserves any opportunity to catch in the majors, even as a backup. That wouldn’t be a huge issue in a vacuum, but the Red Sox have been trying to trade Swihart in order to reap some value out of him, and giving up assets to acquire a backup catcher could theoretically expose their selling points on Swihart as pure bluff.
Regardless all the speculation and theory in the above paragraphs, it’s remarkably clear that Swihart is in the majors for one reason and one reason only: he’s out of minor-league options, and the Red Sox aren’t likely to sneak him through waivers with so many teams in full teardown mode. So they must either think that Swihart still retains some sort of high-ceiling potential, or that some other team will trade them something of value based on his top prospect pedigree. That might seem like a reasonable way to operate a ballclub at first glance; it’s certainly important to wring value from any place in which it can be found, after all. But problem in this situation is that the Sox are locked in a tight AL East race with the Yankees, and with each passing day he’s putting a drain on their ability to compete. To date, Swihart has been worth half a win below replacement level, and that’s in the meager playing time detailed above. If the club cuts bait later in the season, the choice to retain him for this long could be looked at as a glaring roster management error on the part of the part of Dave Dombrowski and the front office.
Albert Pujols, Angels- It’s no secret that Pujols’ contract is currently one of the worst in baseball, and perhaps among the worst contracts given out in baseball history. To date, he’s been paid about $130MM to provide about 6.4 fWAR to the Angels. That includes a -1.9 fWAR mark in 2017, and (like the other two players in this poll) half a win below replacement so far in 2018. By more traditional statistics, Pujols is hitting just .243/.281/.393 on the season, with a 4.5% walk rate that would be a career low. He’s played 400 rough innings at first base, is rated poorly on the basepaths, and continues to be one of the more shift-prone players in all of baseball.
The difference between Pujols and the other players on this list is that there’s virtually no hope that the former MVP can ever provide value to his team again. He’s 38 years old and has exhibited a steady decline in each of the past four seasons. In his prime, Pujols was not only a power god, but also enjoyed ten consecutive seasons with a walk total that exceeded his strikeouts. And while he still avoids strikeouts at an impressive rate for the current MLB climate, the walks have practically disappeared in recent seasons.
It’s clear that Pujols is only holding onto his roster spot by virtue of his past performance (and the respect he deserves for it), and the amount of money he’s being paid. But is that a wise way for a franchise to operate? The Angels entered the season as a hopeful contender, and while they’re surely disappointed to be sitting at a mere 45-45, they’ve still got at least an outside shot of a Wild Card berth. Holding onto Pujols isn’t going to help them make up the 11.5 games they’d need to over the season’s final two and a half months. There are plenty of better ways the Angels could use his spot on the roster, and even the average first baseman at Triple-A would be a better bet to improve the team.
Each of these players has cost his club half a win across half a season. There’s certainly nothing bad to be said about any of them as people, but for baseball purposes in a vacuum, which one is the worst use of a valuable roster spot on the whole? (Poll link for app users)
Clever poll, Kyle. What about Victor Martinez?
I think you have to be a playoff bound team for this to really matter. Swihart has to be at the top of this list, through no fault of his own.
I think it’s unfair to blame Dombrowski for Swihart still being on the roster, because it’s a well known fact that Dombrowski was going to remove him nearly two months ago when Pedroia returned. However Cora insisted on keeping Swihart and designating Hanley instead.
Most of all, the biggest reason multi-position players like Swihart are kept on rosters despite poor performance is the very bloated bullpens that have become common these days. On most teams you have a bunch of seldom-used relievers who occupy roster spaces because of the manager’s over-reliance on matchups and their tendency to pull relievers after just one inning or even one batter. So when you have 8 relievers on the roster, it’s necessary to have at least 3 bench players who can play several positions (in Boston’s case, it’s Swihart/Holt/Nunez). It’s a classic case of Jack of All Trades, Master of None. Get rid of one or two relievers and the need to have Swihart around isn’t as great.
Swihart can technically “play” several positions, but he’s terrible at all of them, so it’s a moot point.
Angels aren’t playoff bound by any means.
Possibly true. But when you factor in Albert’s performance that doesn’t live up to expectations of his salary, he’s going to show up on this poll.
And, is Albert actually 38?
Except this poll is supposed to be based on pure performance value to the team. Playoff odds and contract status have nothing to do with it, and the Angels actually have multiple even worse hitters than Pujols getting significant playing time.
But value depends on context. A team trying to make the playoffs cares about wins. A team not contending does not care about wins, they care about development.
So how the 25th spot is expected to be used will vary, depending on the status of the team.
Do you think for a minute that the THE US GOVERNMENT would have given him a Visa and later let him become a US Citizen if he were older? Stop the garbage. The talk by Scouts in the business, which I worked in for 21 years, including Latin America, who missed on a player is to cover their mistakes by using that kind of excuse. I imagine the next guy that scouts are going after with his age is the Nationals’ Soto!!!
As of last week, Pujols was hitting .318 with Runners in Scoring Position. He is second in RBI on the team behind Trout and runs win games. The Angel pitching is not very good especially when Sciocsa continues to bring Bedrosian in late in the game.
A few years ago, MLB went out and found out who changed their ages. They found out about 500 players had done including Ortiz(1 year older). Albert Pujols’s name was not in that least. Texas led all teams with player’s who had changed their ages and names!
Didn’t Pujols have the worst WAR in baseball last year? Who in the Angels is a worse hitter?
Last year doesn’t matter. Kole Calhoun for one is a much worse hitter, and there are a number of others.
You mean like Bartolo Colon?
Martinez certainly deserves to be part the conversation if the list were expanded. Part of me wants to say there isn’t as much of an urgency to get rid of him considering his contract is up at the end of the year, but then I guess I’d be silly for saying that rostering Reyes is a poor decision. Good point, xabial
Any Tigers fan would vote for Victor Martinez over Reyes any day.
Yup
Oh no way! Vmart’s left knee retired and his right knee is still in Boston.
He has no upside, can’t play in the field, can run to first and if he does can’t make it to second and he can’t beat a shift.
Only argument is the rule 5 draft Tigers have to follow and will lose Reyes if we don’t play him.
Braves fans, what about Danny Santana?
Danny or until he was hurt Moylan
The first person I thought of is Victor Martinez. Its my understanding that Victor Reyes has to stay on the roster in order for the Tigers to keep him. Martinez cant play defense, run the bases and isn’t hitting very well. He’s not the future; he’s impeding it.
First name Chasen. Last name Shreve.
Unfortunately he is used very often. This list is for those who aren’t used.
Wait, what? A list for those who aren’t used often? Pujols has 82 games 352 plate appearances.
Lol not at all. He was amazing early in the season. How about Jose Reyes?
I’d go with reyes. He’s on a rebuilding team so why not give him the opportunity? But swihart is getting robbed too
This was a fun one
Chris Davis??
My thought exactly!
How can Chris Davis be possibly omitted from this list?? He is the worst player in baseball in many a year..
The worst use of a roster spot in my opinion is J.A. Happ in the ASG. Snell deserves the spot over him, but of course, the Jays need an All-Star…
Every team needs someone to represent them unfortunately and it’s led to some pretty subpar all stars.
That and also because the best player on a team might not make the ASG because of a stacked position and someone else makes it in instead
Smoak or Solarte are both more credible token representatives for this admittedly awful Blue Jays team.
I’d bet anything Snell gets added to the All-Star roster, and soon. In fact Verlander has already been deemed inactive, so Snell could soon replace him.
One of the biggest snubs of all time.
I wonder when they do the voting for it. I agree Snell should obviously be there, but Happs numbers were actually good until his last three games. Maybe Hinch had his roster drawn out a couple of weeks ago and had to wait and see if Ramos would make it? It really is a stupid set up though. I’d rather watch the best players even if it means all 30 teams aren’t represented.
I heard on my local Astros broadcast that the players voted several weeks ago, And Hinch doesn’t make the last picks – MLB does. But that really doesn’t matter since there were only 5 roster spots left after fans and players voted. And those 5 spots went to the 5 teams yet to be represented. Thus Happ, Treinen, Jimenez, Berrios, and Choo.
Fans vote for the starters in each league.
Then the players vote for the next 17 players in the AL and 16 in the NL, including pitchers.
Then the commissioner’s office selects the last 5- 7 players.
Then fans select the final vote player.
Manager and coaches with commissioner’s office pick any replacements.
Easy to say, unless you are a fan of one of the teams that gets shafted. Which would inevitably be a small market team like the Pirates, Marlins, Rays, or some other franchise that almost never gets a player voted in as a starter.
I’ve noticed Chris Davis is visibly absent from this.
Davis has at least a chance to redeem himself, and was (very slightly) above replacement level as recently as last year. He’s also just 32; a bounceback isn’t out of the question.
Love to see the writers actually joining in on the discussions. Major props
That has nothing to do with inclusion on this list.
I’m confused… you’re telling me what does or doesn’t qualify for inclusion on a list I made?
I am when it doesn’t match the description you wrote. Last year has little to nothing to do with use of a roster spot this year, and the slightly better chance of a bounceback still doesn’t make him any more deserving of a roster spot than these other guys (especially Pujols) given where his awful numbers are right now.
I feel like Albert Pujols would be the worst of any team, but the whole offense is so anemic it doesn’t really matter unfortunately.
Unfortunately for StL, Greg Holland deserves a spot on this poll. Guess he’s someone else
So does Dexter Fowler…
Right. Holland’s on a 1-year contract, so no biggie, relatively. Fowler has 3.5 years left AND a full no-trade that I said was stupid at the time.
I agree on Fowler too. Bader needs to be playing. Wondering if Fowler is even healthy?
Based on his seasonal stats, yes, but Holland’s been decent since returning from the DL. It looks like he’s finally shaken off the rust and deserves his roster spot going forward.
Fowler on the other hand is clearly only still there due to his big contract and the hope that he’ll rebound next year.
Holland did Not do too well yesterday. It was awful!!
That’s been his only bad game since coming back, though. He pitched a scoreless inning tonight.
Jason Kipnis. At least Roberto Perez can work with a pitching staff, and he costs less, as does Brandon Guyer.
Josh Tomlin would like a word with you
Oops, forgot about him. My bad.
Kipnis has an .828 OPS in the last 28 days, per BBref.
Was about to post the same.
He has specifically hit .269/.380/.448/.828
With his defense, and what he’s being paid, it ain’t enough production.
Kipnis has always been streaky. While his performance has been better over the last month, his “hot” streaks are fewer and farther apart then they used to be. The last time he was arguably hot was in spring training. Given his $15M salary this year, his defensive liabilities and faint offensive production make him a horrible value on a small market roster. Tribe will have to trade a high end prospect and take back a lesser bad contract in order to move him.
THE whole point of a Rule 5 pick is that they don’t belong in the majors or they would not be a rule 5 pick. You pick them and hold them because they offer promise down the road. Tigers season was lost from the get go, but if Reyes can develop over time, this might pay off down the road.
There are worse uses of roster space on the Tiger team other than Reyes.
Yeah tell that to the O’s who took 3 rule 5 guys and one is left. Taken at least one the past several years with nothing to show for it. Rule 5 is a lottery. You might hit on one but the odds of success in that market is slim.
It’s not having him on the roster that’s the problem, it’s having him on the roster and not giving him any playing time that’s the problem
Bingo
Twins did it with Johan Santana & it worked beautifully. He had a 6 ERA his first season but it was a rebuilding year so it was worth it
Odubel Herrera never missed a beat and has been a 3+ WAR player every year including his first.
Rule 5 picks have also arguably cost teams a playoff spot. I am thinking of the 2014 Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers were not expected to do much, so they decided to keep Wei-Chung Wang in their bullpen all year despite him never pitching above low A. He only pitched 17 very poor innings all season. The Brewers surprisingly led their division for the entire first half of the season and into the second half before their other 6 bullpen guys tired from overuse. They ended up blowing the lead and missing out on the playoffs entirely. The next season Wang was optioned to AA where he pitched okay, but was still DFA’d for a roster spot. The moral of the story is don’t waste a spot on a player that doesn’t belong in the bigs even if you think the season is lost, because it might not be lost.
The Tigers started out better than expected. and were near .500 not that long ago I have to wonder if their fall off would have happened if they had a full 25 man roster especially in such a weak division.
At that point though, if he’s that bad, why not just return him?
Carlos tocci
Yes!
Chris Davis?
A 5th outfielder, a backup catcher with no versatility. Hmm…
Tocci on the rangers. Rule 5 pick that has no business being in the MLB. Barely even plays when healthy.
How is Chris Davis not on this list?
Chris Davis is only 32 and was at least average as recently as last season.
-2.3 WAR this year. .1WAR last year. Wouldn’t say he was average. Pretty good case to be on the list.
When he says average he’s talking about Replacement Level, which is technically 0 WAR. So yes he was
Replacement Level, by definition, is not average. Replacement Level is what you could expect to get from a AAA player (non-prospect) at the same position. Meaning, easily replaced by a guy that every system has.
An average MLB player is generally worth about 2 WAR. Here is an in-depth explanation of the stat:
fangraphs.com/library/misc/war/
Yeah, definitely not average. I might even consider a 1 WAR player average but Davis was not that.
As a Cards fan, I have to go with Dexter Fowler or Brett Cecil. They are absolute trash, making some serious $, and we have plenty pitching and outfield prospects. Although it could be Chris Davis though, too
As a Jays fan I still can’t believe the Cards gave Cecil that contract.
You forgot Mets – the one guy who has been injured for a month but never goes on the DL.
I said Albert because he literally can’t do anything. At least Reyes can play defense, and run. And Swihart can (sort of) play multiple positions. Swihart was a close 2nd though.
Pujols gets 100+ RBI every year, which gets discounted because of who bats in front him. RBI’s essentially mean nothing, when the best player in game, bats in front you. The RBI debate; how much people prioritize that stat fascinates me.
A great stat that sums up RBI’s and their irrelevance:
Giancarlo Stanton – 132 RBI (Led the NL)
Slash w/ RISP – .253/.372/.520
Joey Votto – 100 RBI
Slash w/ RISP – .371/..565/.660
Votto absolutely monstered the ball with runners on – and why did Stanton still beat him so comfortably in RBI’s? Because of the runners ahead of him.
It’s past the point of progression when it comes to people using RBI’s as a true evaluation stat – we’re now at the point where those people need to be left behind and ignored.
That has got to be the most one sided argument I’ve ever read. Hitting with runners in scoring position at a higher slash line isn’t effective if you don’t drive them in. Wow you take that walk or hit a meaningless single but the next guy strands the others and yourself, now that’s meaningless.
BOTH those who overvalue RBI, and those who think there’s “no such thing as clutch”, should be ignored and left behind.
The thing is, Pujols has actually been pretty good with RISP. It’s the only thing he has done in the last couple years, really.
You do realize the exact numbers I showed you there, had Votto slugging .660 w/ RISP, right? 140 points higher than Stanton. That’s not meaningless singles.
Again, he hit for high average, a high OBP and slugged the life out of the ball when given the opportunity. It’s the volume of opportunities that creates a large chunk of the disproportion.
This isn’t an argument about “clutch”, but rather, how opportunity affects volumes. Don’t change the argument to suit your agenda.
There is a HUGE amount of research out there regarding outcomes of baserunners and the production that comes from baserunners ahead of hitters. Don’t be afraid of it, it won’t bite.
With RISP, Stanton singled in 12% of his AB, Votto singled in 24.7% of his.
52.6% of Stanton’s hits were XBH, compared to Votto’s 33.3%.
Stanton walked in only 14.8% of his PA, Votto in 32.5% of his.
So yes, the difference in their slash lines with RISP is due to singles and walks.
Also, Stanton drove in 18.5% of runners on base compared to Votto’s 16.4%
I understand the RBI doesn’t mean as much as it did, but with all this smart talk mumbo jumbo… I wish it didn’t become something that fans know about.
I’m glad when I was in little league I cared about how many hits and RBI’s I had as opposed to what my other peripherals would have been.
The point is, I understand why the RBI is an “overvalued stat”, but being a kid at heart, I still care about W-L records, batting average, and RBI. All this sabermetrical stuff that made the game scientific and mathematical changed the way FANS viewed the game, and I wish it was only used by agents and front office members
The difference is not only due to walks and singles. Votto has a higher ISO than Stanton.
There is a lot of noise when comparing the two. Can you fault Votto for walking? You really cannot. Hard to drive in runners when you don’t get pitched to. Additionally, not making an out and getting on base is pretty valuable.
I’d be happy to have either on my team. If I could pick one of those RISP slash lines over the other, Votto…easy…every day…
All that said, the reason Stanton drove in a higher percentage of runners on base (18.5% vs 16.4%) has little to do with these slash lines. It’s because he hit a ton of home runs, and runners on first always score on a home run. That’s also…pretty valuable!
yada yada yada no wonder baseball is the third most popular sport and losing ground to soccer. Now that is a subject that is way more valuable to discuss.
Another factor is Votto is more “picky” with pitch selection. He took at lot more walks. With a base open or a base to give, pitchers would be more inclined to pitch around Votto to face the next guy.
Stanton, probably more aggressive with runners in scoring position, decided to swing more often. Was Ozuna or Yelich protecting Stanton last year?
This is where I feel like stats are looked too deeply into. Pujols has consistently drove in runs since the Angels signed him. Pretty much 100 a year aside from an injury shortened year and 95 the other. That’s why they signed him. Whether it is because of Trout is irrelevant. He has done what they signed him to do.
Yep, you are smarter than everyone that ever watched baseball for the first 100 years it existed. Feel better now?
ad hominem 101, ladies and gentlemen.
@hiflew
I thought I sparked a great discussion topic. Why’d you take this so personal. Who pissed in your corn flakes? Did I ruin your childhood by starting a topic about de-valuing of RBI?
and… I thoroughly enjoyed reading everyone’s responses! I learned a lot. Hiflew, ur not being bullied. I like people who disagree, and do it without attacking the other’s character.
You didn’t start a topic about de-valuing RBIs. You were talking about how foolish people are that DIDN’T de-value RBIs. You didn’t use those exact words, but the tone was definitely there. Maybe if you just made an argument without attacking the other side, people on the other side might not attack back.
RBI win games otherwise you will be watching Soccer!
Jose Reyes
Unrelated, but I think the MLB is disgusting for picking Paul Goldschmidt over Jesus Aguilar, Brandon Belt, and Max Muncy. He’s had one good month. Not an all star season.
Harper shouldn’t be there either. And I don’t want to hear any B.S. “Superstars always need to be there” line. He hasn’t done sh%t all year!!!
Harper was selected by the fans. MLB itself decided to add Goldy in, when Aguilar and Belt have been more consistent overall. Muncy also deserves to be an all-star.
Most fans are stupid. The rule needs altering, so we don’t have the stupid KC situation from a few years back where the organization paid fans to flood the ballot…. I never voted for him once. Did vote for Belt, and Aguilar’s deserving.. I’m more willing to forgive the Goldschmidt decision, as it wasn’t made with pure pandering intent…
Paying the fans is obviously crossing the line and merits discipline, but this is first and foremost a game for the fans. They deserve the chance to pick the starters even if they’re not always right, and bad picks like Harper have become a lot rarer with the shift to online voting.
Agree!
1. Do a poll where every playoff caliber has someone
2. Do a poll on who should get called up for rebuilding teams.
3. Do a poll on where biggest names will end up at the trade deadline.
We need more polls.
I agree, also think there should also be non-trade related articles, such as articles on expansion, pace of play rules, and hot topics going around the MLB.
Stuart Turner with the Reds last year was the worst wasted roster spot. Guy looked completely overmatched at the plate and still spent the whole year in the majors. And after all of that they send him back to the minors and eventually releasing him.
Agreed 100%
Although he wasn’t ever released. Just outrighted off the 40-man. He’s still playing for the Reds in AAA, slashing an ugly .190/.290/.215
One of the worst I remember was SS Enrique Cruz, whom MIL drafted from the Mets and carried for the entire 2003 season, when he hit .085 /.145/.099/.244 in 76 plate appearances with 30 strikeouts.
Made it back to the majors for just 1 AB in 2007 and 1 game played in 2007, after which in baseball terms he was never heard from again.
Albert Pujols is the worst contract, not the worst use of a roster spot. He’s on an irrelevant team. Chris Davis might have a say as the worst contract, but he’s on an even more irrelevant team.
Swihart gets my vote from this group. Buy Eric Sogard was the answer until he was DFAd earlier in the week.
Sogard’s: slash line: .134/.241/.165 in 113 PA, at a time when Arcia had been scuffling. He also GIDP 3x and had 4 errors.
And he was the one low-cost vet middle infielder signed in the off-season.
Ryan Braun’s contract is right behind pujols. No chance of him ever being good again and he is paid through…20 or 21.
Carlos Tocci has like, 1 hit
I honestly hadn’t noticed how little Carlos Tocci had been used.
He’s a rule 5 pick on a rebuilding team…. who cares?
At least look competent or return to the team and go back to the minors.
That’s not how the Rule 5 draft works.
You don’t pick a player for what they will provide this year. You suffer through them holding a roster spot all year so you can send them down next year and hopefully gain whatever “potential production” they will provide in the future.
For a rebuilding team it’s not that big of a deal.
Any production you get in the first year is just a bonus.
I hate to say Pujols because of how much I loved him as a player but he is paid so much money to do nothing but not strike out and popularity behind his 600th hr. And he sucks fielding wise so definitely him in my opinion
Bobby. Wilson. Probably couldn’t remember to put him on this list because of how horrible he is. I cringe when he’s in the Twins’ starting lineup.
I know my spanish is off, but I didn’t realize V-i-c-t-o-r was pronounced “Jose.”
It’s between Swihart and Pujols. Reyes gets a pass because he’s there for the future, and the Tigers simply don’t matter today.
The Red Sox are carrying a guy with absolutely no intention of using him – while they’re in the palyoff hunt.
Pujols is bad because at the end of the day, the Angels owe him that money whether he plays or not. But they continue to give him AB’s, when he is genuinely the worst ballplayer in the league. Terrible bat, terrible defender, terrible baserunner. However the Angels cannot separate themselves from the knowledge they are paying him.
How long are we going to overvalue defense? The ghost of Harmon Killebrew is spinning…..
until they realize you need to hit the ball to score runs
With Vazquez out for 3 weeks or so, they either need to split time between Leon and Swihart at the plate (Leon gets Sale and Porcello, Swihart can have the rest) and either give him a legitimate shot, or they just need to trade/DFA him already. I don’t blame Swihart for being pissed about the situation as Boston has mismanaged him since his rookie season. As it is, he still needs time to develop but he’s now out of options and taking up a spot that could be used to carry another reliever or catcher.
Adeiny Hechavarría
We got nobody else to take the spot.
Its on the managers IMO. You take Reyes, play him. Give him a shot. Do you really need to see any more Mahtook AB’s?
I sure don’t
I had such high hopes for him…
This was a great idea. Would like to Royals acquire Swihart, since Ned likes to DH Salvy and is scared to death to let pitchers bat.
This is fun stuff, Kyle. Enjoyed reading it. Although the poll is fine the piece would also have been fine without it. Now let’s get right to it.
“On the year, he’s hit just .241 . . . “
Come on, you know better than to bother with BA. A more relevant number is 23, the player’s age. Not saying he can’t still develop but the fact that he can’t play at the major league level at 23 does mean something.
I went with Swihart. Doesn’t really matter what the Tigers do, if they think the player is worth keeping then I suppose it makes sense. And I really can’t blame the Angels for not cutting bait with someone they still owe so much money to. But holding on to Swihart appears to be pure speculation on the part of the Sox. They obviously have no intention of playing him, they’re hoping someone will offer something of value for him. That’d be fine for a rebuilding team but it seems an unwise risk for a team with championship aspirations.
As an aside. You posted a long piece, sorta preliminary thoughts about pitcher usage, about a month ago. For some reason it was posted at midnight on a Saturday. I wanted to respond but put it aside for when I’d have the time. Shortly it had disappeared way down the feed. Which is a long way of asking, do you cross-post your work at your own or another site? There are some things which deserve longer consideration than this forum is designed to provide.
Hey majorflaw, if you’re interested in hearing my own very candid thoughts on the matter shoot me an e-mail to kyleddowning@gmail.com. I’d love to have this discussion with you long-form as I know you’re a regular here.
Will do.
The Red Sox/Swihart situation is pure convoluted cowardice. Hey: we don’t think we’ll develop you, but on the slight chance that someone else will, we’re going to extract every ounce of value from you in a trade…even though we won’t let you play and demonstrate whatever value you may have, and that act in itself diminishes any possible trade value you could have… Admit you screwed up his development and stop jerking the kid around…
C’mon… Chris Davis…
Rule 5 draft pick Carlos Tocci is 2 for 33 and has been on The Rangers’ roster since June 2nd.
Out of the three, it’s clearly José Alcantara. Hands down.
That said, there are definitely other players worthy of mentioning. For my own team, our candidate would be Tyler Chatwood. Certainly a better candidate than the first two kids on the list.
I guess since he can play 7 positions Sean Rod gets a pass.
He is currently on the DL with an “injury”. Sure
Jose Reyes hands down.
For those of you — like Kyle — who do not know Swihart’s history here it is:
1. Swihart was converted to C by Bos.
2. He was suppose to be in the minors for all of 2015 being groomed as a C; instead because of Vaz’s TJ surgery he had to catch for Bos, where he hit about .280 and looked ok except for a couple of games trying to catch the knuckleball;
3. In 2016 he again was to catch at AAA but when Rusney failed in the OF, he again was on the Bos roster — this time as an OF — where he ran into the wall FXing his ankle.
4. In 2017 he was at AAA to develop his catching skills, this time a couple of injuries prevented him getting regular reps;
This left him without options and having lost what should of been 3 yrs developing his catching skills. It also left the Sox without a better option as a third C especially where he can play LF, 1B, 3b and even SS or 2b in a pinch. For those of us who actually watch the Red Sox games it is clear there has not been even one occasion this year when some other 25th man would have made a difference. I guess if Kyle was running the Red Sox they would be a lot better than their pathetic 62 / 29 record.
Name ONE TIME Swihart has EVER put up numbers though. His minor league numbers have always been pathetic, he’s always been AAAA, and this narrative about why he should be a blue chip prospect has been annoying to non-Red Sox fans to watch play out. He’s sucked from day one and has never done anything to show he’s ever going to be anything, yet we have gotten roughly a trillion articles about him for why?
“ . . . there has not been even one occasion this year when some other 25th man would have made a difference.”
No extra inning games when an extra reliever or pinch hitter would have been useful? Have to take your word that Swihart’s dead roster spot hasn’t hurt the Sox yet but are you sure that it won’t going forward? You don’t think you’ll need that spot come October? How can you say that a team which is effectively showing up with 24 players isn’t voluntarily accepting a handicap? That they are fortunate enough to succeed anyway in no way proves the wisdom of this roster choice. The Sox are succeeding despite not getting anything useful from Swihart’s spot, not because of it. That last point appears beyond argument.
“I guess if Kyle was running the Red Sox they would be a lot better . . . “
Why are you attacking Kyle, nothing he wrote was unfair, inaccurate or biased. He asked a perfectly reasonable question and provided some possible answers, with statistical backup. Unless this is just your bias as a Sox fan coming out I can’t imagine wtf your problem with Kyle is.
The Sox are doing this because they don’t want to lose Swihart for nothing, this is pure speculation and has nothing to do with baseball ability. Rebuilding teams can do this, the Sox shouldn’t. Where is the lineup of teams willing to trade something of value for him?
Let’s see ….
Vazquez has the worst OPS in the league for catchers, and yet he was playing nearly every day.
Devers has the worst OPS in MLB for 3B, yet he’s playing every day.
JBJ has the worst OPS in the league for CF’ers, yet he’s playing nearly every day.
The other day Boston had FIVE hitters in the starting lineup with an OBP under .300
I’m pretty sure if Swihart had been replaced with a competent hitter (one who doesn’t have the 6th worst OPS in the league among all players at all positions), the Sox would have won a few more games.
Hey jmi1950, I’m not entirely sure you understood the concept of the post, or the importance of every spot on the 25-man roster. There are always relievers who can give others in the bullpen a breather, or players who can pinch hit effectively in critical situations; Swihart hasn’t proven he can do either.
And I’m not sure why you think I don’t know Swihart’s history, either. I’d encourage you to read a bit more material on roster construction before having such aggressive opinions about the subject.
And in any productive intellectual discussion, it’s best to check your fan bias at the door.
Kyle, I started debating SABR metrics with Richard Moss in the 1980’s. No one is tougher on the Red Sox than me. In Feb. 2015 I began a private e-mail debate about what the Sox should do with Vaz vs Blake with Nick Cafardo. Unlike you he was never insulting towards my ideas. My point was no one knows what Blake can or can not do because of circumstances beyond either his or the Sox control. Attitudes like yours got JD Martinez and Jose Batista (before the Jays gave him a chance) DFA’d. If Vaz is back by the end of the month we may still not know what is the right thing to do. But once they have carried him for 4 months it would be stupid to cut him rather than carry him for one more month until rosters expand.
jmi1950, you came out immediately swinging at me ad hominem and annoyingly (and falsely) accused me of not knowing Swihart’s history in the comments of a site I frequently write for. Then you sarcastically suggested that the Red Sox would be better if I managed them.
Forgive me, but I don’t think anyone is concerned with the fact that you feel that I was “insulting towards your ideas” (though I fail to see how I was); that you’d try to elicit sympathy for that after directly attacking me is pretty pitiful.
I don’t care who you debated with via e-mail or when you started debating SABRmetrics, you’re underinformed and came into an argument swinging at the writer… you’re going to walk away with a few bruises. For every J.D. Martinez and Jose Bautista, there’s a thousand players who got a dozen chances and never amounted to anything.
And suggesting a contending team should carry dead weight on a roster for another month simply because they’ve done it for too long already is like suggesting someone should continue to invest in a failing business because they’ve put too much money into it already. Even on a 40-man roster, he hasn’t earned any playing time.
Learn gracefully and be civil in your debates or take them elsewhere.
Kyle, when did your opinion have more weight than Dave Dombroski’s?? Vaz is out 6-8 weeks.. DD and Cora agree with me that carrying Swihart for just such an event was worth the roster spot. Who are you to act like the final authority. No one knows whether Swihart will succeed or not but he certainly deserves a fair chance — at least that is the way the people who are being paid the big $$$ by the Red Sox feel. I was giving you the benefit of the doubt when I assumed you did not realise the extent that Swihart’s development was hampered. Now that you state you knew all the facts I have less respect for your position. I don’t have any bruises but you sure sound like someone who is being defensive because they were correctly called out.
Pujols is apparently a really great guy and teacher – he’s been there before. But if all that means stats wise is 20-30 HR and a .680 OPS, then he’s not -entirely- useless.
lmao right on cue, Pujols homers shortly after this posting, where he leads the fan poll (where anyone who voted for him surely just was proved an idiot 🙂 lol )
Will that one home run change his -0.5 WAR to positive (Fangraphs)
Yeah and DH’s get really abused via the WAR defense-rating. DH’s should not have ny kind of defensive value, rather than an built-in negative.
Yeah Ohtani has like a -1.0 defensive bWar as an offensive playerwhen he has never played a position other than pitcher
Well, the idea is that a DH would theoretically post a similar negative defense value were he forced to be a position player, but this ignores the very concept of WAR in that a AAA replacement would either being playing DH himself or push one of the other starters to DH and unnaturally cost him WAR over the rest of the season. Fangraphs in particular is absolutely brutal in how they punish the DH position (and overrates the value of defense in general).
The best point above was, why carry a Rule 5 if you’re not going to play him.. And for those of you who think Rule 5 is overrated, see CF, Phillies.
But really, you gotta play them…..
My pick is Ellsbury. He is a waste at this point. Never healthy and when he is my 7 year old does better. Granted him being hurt is the best thing he could do for the team. He’s still my pick.
“worst use of a roster spot”
he’s not on the roster
Reyes is on a rebuilding team that in a position to waste a spot. Eliminates him in my opinion
Red Sox are easily a playoff team even while wasting the spot. Swihart being carried is not hurting them.
Angels are a club that hoped to compete and have had so many injuries they have periods where they were desperate for versatility. Keeping an expensive black hole with no flexibility has been damaging to their club in most all possible ways, so Pujols gets my vote
Swihart is not hurting the team? When the Sox lose the division title by one or two games, and have to use up Sale in the Wildcard Game, and the Yanks get home field advantage in the postseason, then come tell me Swihart didn’t hurt the team.
That scenario is just as possible even if he were replaced on the roster. He’s played so little that replacing his showing is unlikely to have that much visible effect.
He is not helpful, but he also isn’t actively hurting the club in multiple ways every single day
He is actively hurting the club in the sense that a pinch-hitter, reliever or platoon infielder could be making better use of the roster spot and come in handy in high-leverage situations.
You are greatly undervaluing the impact of bench players.
The Sox have had four huge holes in their lineup for most of the season – 3B, CF, 2B and C. Any competent hitter on the bench could have helped win at least a couple games that were lost because of the lack of depth in the lineup.
The Red Sox have the best record in the AL, have scored the most runs per game, and have given up the second lowest.
They also have Pearce, Holt and even Leon on the bench, while each are producing higher than a normal pinch hitter would likely be expected to be
Of course any club could see some improvement in theory replacing their lowest value and least used guy, but ultimately it is unlikely this club especially would have improved enough to make a difference.
When compared to the Angels, between positive value production in the roster spot/lineup to the 27 million buying other productive players, the difference would be extreme.
And so you know,
Average Sub in AL – .218/.298/.322/.620
Average PH in AL – .200/.293/.277/.570
You have dramatically overvalued the value of bench players
The Red Sox should have a better bench player than the average of an American League that includes the Royals, White Sox and Orioles.
That average also includes NY HOU SEA OAK CLE. That’s why it is an average.
Name one high leverage situation in their 29 losses where having someone else would have made a difference. I can tell you it doesn’t exist.
You guys are really making Boston fans look extremely whiny, needy and unrealistic.
Sub players of the division leaders and poor teams you mentioned:
Redsox – .286/.344/.381/.728
Yankees – .143/.258/.250/.508
Indians – .209/.254/.287/.541
Astros – .217/.267/.337/.604
Whitesox – .184/.258/.322/.580
Royals – .212/.263/.288/.552
Orioles – .239/.358/.424/.782
First, you can see Average literally is Average; it is hard for teams to be that much better or worse than average when it comes to the Bench production, regardless the shape of the club
Second, there is no poor Red Sox here for having 1 of their subs currently hitting below the average (and the other 3 well above it)
Swihart, as silly as his being kept is, is not having much of an impact either way on the Red Sox.
If you are talking about an average team, then your solution works. However an average team would be 8th in the AL and miss the playoffs. His point is that the Red Sox are not an average team in the AL, so they expect more from their subs than being what would theoretically be on the 8th place AL team
Blake as a sub this year;
.259/.286/.296/.582
Then, again, the subs of the division leaders;
Yankees – .143/.258/.250/.508
Indians – .209/.254/.287/.541
Astros – .217/.267/.337/.604
So seriously, the issue is not with him – the issue is in you Red Sox fans and your unrealistic expectations
Up until a couple weeks ago, the Sox had the worst OPS in the league vs LHP. When Mookie and Xander were injured for a while, they had nobody on the bench who could hit. Carrying Swihart greatly hurt the team because starters who would normally be replaced with pinch hitters were left in due to the fact there were no better options on the bench.
Going forward, Pearce will likely continue to start many games while taking away playing time from JBJ and rightfully so. The bench will most often consist of Nunez, Holt, JBJ and Swihart – that’s it..
Nunez – 13th worst OPS of all players in the league, and 11th worst OBP
JBJ – 5th worst SLG & OPS of all players in the league,
So tell me again how Swihart isn’t hurting the team now when the lineup sometimes features four (4) guys with an OBP under .300 (Devers, JBJ, Nunez, Swihart). Look at how many runs the Sox have scored with those four guys in the lineup at the same time.
Cora and the Sox front office are very, very fortunate that Mookie and JD are having incredibly great seasons because they are clearly covering up for a roster that lacks depth and having a bench that consists of just Swihart and 3 others puts the offense at great risk in the event of an injury to one of the their top 3 hitters.
three cardinals, carpenter, garcia and jose martinez
Gotta go with Chris Davis…
OUCH on Albert, I get it… especially with is contract, but you’re talking about a no doubt 1st ballot HOFer.
Hunter Pence can’t really play baseball at all anymore on either side of the ball. He has a .506 ops.
How disrespectful to include Pujols on this list. He put the Angels on the map, and now want to kick him to the curb?
Reality bites.
And no, he put STL on the map.
Put the Angels on the map??
They’ve gone to the playoffs once in his 7 seasons there. In the 7 seasons before he got there they went 4 times
One could even make a fair argument that Albert’s contract took the Angels off the map
Did Mike Trout die?
Carlos Tocci is the worst player in MLB. The Rangers suck so it’s probably not the WORST use of a roster spot.
PUjols is a disgrsce , and the angels keep send him out there he is a disgrace to all MLB players
Of the three, I’d easily say Swihart. The Tigers are justified in keeping Reyes (although they need to play him a lot more), and the Angels are basically stuck with Pujols no matter what. The Red Sox only seem to keep Swihart because they’re too stubborn, and it’ll probably wind up costing them eventually.
As an Indians fan, though, I’d like to nominate Josh Tomlin. And Michael Martinez, because I know he’ll find his way back eventually.
Pujols provides PR value as in cheeks in seats. He should be allowed to retire when ready. He earned that consideration.
Actually at the time it was reported that the Angels current cable contract was dependent on their signing of Pujols. They knew they were over paying Pujols but they also knew they were getting it all back and more for the cable rights.
Deven Marrero no doubt. Brings nothing offensively to the table and isn’t more than an average defender.
Until he was DL’d Pete Moylan or Danny Santana as far as ATL goes.
Alcides Escobar hands down the worst everyday player in mlb.
Each of the above three is still a better use of a roster spot than carrying an eighth reliever. For all their faults, they still contribute more than a guy who pitches 40 innings with an ERA over 5 – pretty average for the last man in an 8-man pen.
Back in April when Kansas City gave a spot to Blaine Boyer and then gave Miquel Almonte to California. I think Boyer is on the 60 DL now, but was quite a waste for the Royals as far as their future goes.
“Prior to the season, he’d never played about Double-A”
Something is amiss…
I think one or a few people said Pujols is “the worst player in baseball”. That’s not true.
Is he good? Not anymore. Is he the worst? No way.
Statistically he was last year and is close to it in this one
Are there guys who physically are worse? Probably, but they generally don’t play that much either. That means their missing time on the field is going to better players and the problem with their presence is thereby lessened. Pujols plays so often at such a bad level that all he is doing is taking time away from better players who could and should be playing at a higher level in his place.
Seriously, he has the 60 most PA in the game so far this season yet is batting well under average and is a butcher with the glove. That is how the not quite the worst player becomes the actual worst – playing so poorly over such a large amount of time
An 85 wRC+ is obviously below-average, but it is by no means “well under average.” Meanwhile, the Angels have been handing out significant playing time to Zach Cozart (also 85 wRC+), Ian Kinsler (82 wRC+), Chris Young (70 wRC+), Luis Valbuena (67 wRC+), and their real worst player even by WAR, Kole Calhoun (an absolutely pitiful 32 wRC+ and -1.2 Fangraphs WAR).
Sure, Pujols also takes a hit with his bad defense and baserunning, but he really hasn’t been that bad compared to who else the Angels could be running out at DH, and quite frankly the Angels need his bat in the lineup just to squeeze at much offense out of it as they can.
Cozart is a great fielding INF. Kinsler is a good fielding 2B. Young is a serviceable 4-5th OF. Valbuena is, in theory, an utility off the bench. Calhoun is having a horrific season, but this is an outlier in his career and he still has positive def
Meanwhile Pujols is run out there every day, more often than not at 1B, the easiest position on the field to cover, and butchers it.
And yes, he is hitting that bad – of the 164 qualified hitters, his .290 WOBA ranks 142 while his Off value is 146th.
Has a track record showing he can no longer hit, cant run, cant field the easiest position to field and yet bats 4th daily. It’s insane
Yeah, so? Those ranks prove that his bat is still barely good enough to be a starter while being better than almost all bench hitters. His offense is far from terrible this year. Also, the Angels have recently moved him down to 5th in the order, while he’s still a better hitter than anyone they bat 6th-9th in any given game.
You’re overvaluing defense. A terrible hitter hurts his team more than a terrible fielder does, and Pujols doesn’t even hurt them much defensively given that he plays DH the majority of the time. Granted, Cozart and Kinsler are indeed overall better players since they’re hitting about as well as Pujols anyway, but it’s still a terrible argument.
What does it matter if Young and Valbuena are bench players (or meant to be)? If the Angels had better bats, Pujols would be a better choice as a bench player instead of Young or Valbuena and therefore more deserving of his roster spot than either of them.
Calhoun’s season being an outlier doesn’t matter, since he’s still easily the worst player on their team right now and so one currently most undeserving of his roster spot right now.
Why is Pujols even an option here? He’s not hitting that poorly. In fact, he’s actually been one of the Angels better hitters this year, although that’s admittedly more of an indication as to just how much the Angels’ offense sucks outside of Trout, Upton, Ohtani, and Simmons.
Still, the point remains that even the Angels themselves have hitters less deserving of a roster spot, not to mention other players out there like Dexter Fowler of the Cardinals. While Pujols does have a negative WAR value, that’s mostly only due to his bad speed (which WAR overrates in value) and the hit he takes for primarily playing DH. Any AAA player that they could call up to replace him would wind up with an even worse WAR value with the same DH value hit.
For what it’s worth, he has negative Fangraphs WAR Bbref; he’s just above replacement value +0.2 WAR.
Pujols is -0.5 WAR Fangraphs, and +0.2 WAR bbref.
That’s also a good point. I’ve always preferred Bbref’s version, since they don’t place as much value on baserunning and defense and base pitchers on ERA rather than FIP (the former being a more accurate analyzer of past performance). Meanwhile, Pujols’s teammate Kole Calhoun is still running a Bbref WAR of of -1.3!
What about Josh Tomlin? Come on. Please
Albert Pujols.
Carlos Tocci.
He’s a more problematic Rule-5 situation than Reyes. I’m hopeful that he has a major league future, but for now he’s completely and entirely overmatched at the plate.
What about Russell Martin?
$20 000 000/year for the worst BA and SLG of any everyday player in baseball. Can’t even throw a runner out if his life depended on it
Would like to see the Braves trade Tyler Flowers or Kurt Suzuki, both solid catchers, to Boston for Swihart.
Why would a contending team trade a decent player for a complete project who can’t be sent to the minors? This literally makes no sense
How do you not include Chris Davis, the guy literally having the worst season ever for an everyday player?
How is Alcides Escobar not a choice?
Disregard all the metrics and anything to do with $$ – it is simple to say that the worse use of a roster spot title belongs to the pitcher who continues to pour gas on any flame – the one, the only PEDRO BAEZ!
Surprised davis from orioles isnt on this list
I think this is the worst use of the poll feature.
How did you come up with these three random players? A Rule 5 guy, a backup catcher, and the greatest player of the last half century?
Did some magical sabermetric drive you to these three guys?
Pujols has a lousy OBP and you could argue he’s one of the worst players per $ (but he wouldn’t even be close to Chris Davis), but how is a guy who is on pace for 91 RBIs even in the top 100 of worst uses of a roster spot?
Just on his own team there is Kole Calhoun, Luis Valbuena and Ian Kinsler who are having far worse seasons. Come on!
Swihart was 2-4 2b tonight with 2 runs scored. I think everyone in baseball including the RedSox are totally wrong about this guy. He is athletic and will hit between .280-.310 with playing time and be serviceable at C and play other positions. He’s healthy finally. Watch and learn! He’s got 6-8 weeks and will show it!