March 28: Leon has accepted his assignment to Triple-A, the team announced.
March 26: 1:14pm: Abraham now tweets that Leon has not actually not yet made a decision on whether he’ll accept the assignment. He has 48 hours to do so.
12:54pm: The Red Sox announced Tuesday that catcher Sandy Leon has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Pawtucket. Evan Drellich first reported (via Twitter) that Leon had gone unclaimed, and the Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham tweets that Leon has accepted an outright assignment.
Because Leon has more than three years of MLB service time (4.149 years), he could’ve rejected the assignment in favor of free agency. However, only players with five-plus years of service can reject an outright assignment without forfeiting the salary on their contract, so electing free agency would’ve cost Leon $2.475MM. He’ll remain with the organization and, while he won’t count against the 40-man roster, he will count against the team’s luxury tax calculations (a technicality that was changed in the last CBA).
Leon, 30, struggled through an awful season at the plate in 2018, hitting just .177/.232/.279 through 288 PAs. His bat has continually declined since what now looks like a clear outlier campaign in 2016, but he’s regarded as a terrific defender in terms of limiting the running game, framing pitches, and managing a staff.
Despite that proficient glovework, however, Leon found himself squeezed off the Boston roster by a cluttered catching mix no longer deemed tenable by the organization. Boston spent the entire 2018 campaign juggling playing time for Leon, Christian Vazquez and seldom-used former top prospect Blake Swihart. With both Swihart and Leon out of minor league options and Vazquez locked in as the team’s No. 1 catcher, the Sox ultimately cut bait on Leon in favor of Swihart, who’ll now serve as the primary backup in 2019. If Leon does stick with the club, he could eventually resurface in the big leagues in the event of an injury or prolonged struggles for one either Vazquez or Swihart.
YES!!!! Predicted this in an earlier post and really happy to still have him! You haven’t seen the last of the Sandy Man…
“You haven’t seen the last of this guy who can’t hit at all, even for a backup catcher, watch out!”
At least he’s not in Castillo limbo land. He’ll be back.
He can turn down the outright assignment, and probably will. He’ll be a free agent.
Not likely since it’d cost him his $2.4 million salary and he’d never get close to that just a couple of days before the season starts. Tough to imagine him getting anything other than a minor league deal at this point anyway, so might as well bid his time in Triple A with all of the money.
Yea it doesn’t make much sense for him to opt out at this point. There’s as good a chance Swihart fails as succeeds, if not a greater chance he fails. Sandy would be a nice security blanket to keep stashed and there’s a good chance he sees 30-40 games in the majors. May as well hang in and go for one more ring.
Oh he’ll trade that $2.4 in for something less if it means a major league job. In a heartbeat. Don’t know if there’s a job out there, but if there is, he’ll by bye-bye. Guys don’t like playing in the minors in their mid-30’s.
He just turned 30
…..I say he accepts the reassignment
Highly unlikely anyone would sign the Sandy Man for more than his $2.4 million Red Sox 2019 contract but you never know
He didn’t agree to the move yet. Pawtucket is still in the process of wooing him. He’s doing a tour of their facilities right now. He’s gonna be checking out the bus next. Hopefully, everything is up to par.
You talk like hes going to come back and hit 30 hrs and steal 30 bags this year.
Whats the point of the 40 man? Isnt it like 28 now?
26 next year
No. The 25-man roster is changing to 26, 28 in September. The 40-man still exists for Rule 5 and luxury tax purposes.
Stinks.
That’s a good thing, he’ll be available when needed.
You mean as soon as they figure out Swihart is not a catcher?
Swig art was never given a chance, injuries too. There was a time he was a stud as a catcher n highly touted. I think a yr being used regularly will tell the story. I hope he shines n show what he can do. There is reason the Redsox never out righted him.
At least now we can finally figure it out. He did a solid job in the second half of 2015 when he was called up too early and the youth movement finished strong. Somehow he irked Farrell and after about the opening week of 2016 was sat for awhile, then played out of position and got hurt. He hasnt been given a consistent role with any frequency of at bats. When he plays regularly he hits and with only focus on catching he’ll be a solid catcher.
I’m not a Red Sox fan so I’ll take your word for it I guess but I’m a little skeptical hearing a top catching prospect wasn’t given a chance. Although maybe given the contract they gave their “number one” catcher maybe that’s possible in this case
And people were saying they could trade him
You could get International signing money, but at that point. Is it worth it?
The highest upside is an all glove no bat short stop.
Psh wasted
He just cleared waivers. No one wanted him for free. You couldn’t get international money for him.
wouldn’t be for free if they were picking up his salary ad well.
He said they could’ve received international money for Leon. I realize the salary isn’t free but the cost to acquire him was.
“And people were sayin they could trade him” Who? Who?
I’ve been active on each of the Leon posts here, AND NO ONE was saying they would get much if anything at all. They got him from the Reds for ‘cash considerations’, so how would that translate into getting anything of quality back. Yet time and again, I’ve seen posts saying “Red Sox fans think they’ll get . . .”. Bunch of trolls.
Go to the previously posts over the past week and find all these posts that says Red Sox will get anything above “maybe a D Level Prospect”. Then count how many post you find where it starts with some thing like “And people were saying . . .”
You do get your fair share of trolls
Good news for the Sox.
If he counts against the tax, why doesn’t Rusney Castillo?
Castillo was outrighted while the last CBA was still in effect. It’s what totally screws him out of a shot in the majors because if the Sox ever called him up to cover for an outfielder who goes down, they couldn’t get rid of his salary again so even a day on the roster in September would put the entire rest of his contract into their luxury tax calculation.
How long before Zaidi signs him…
26 next year
After he finishes his Happy Meal.
Smart decision not to give up that kind of money.
Oakland needs to sign him. I have 0 faith in the 2 catchers that is starting for Oakland.
Future SF Giant
Bullpen Catcher.
The Giants didn’t claim him???
You only have to clear for your league so they didn’t get a chance
Isn’t it al first then nl?
your league first, then the other
What is Leon’s $2.475M salary costing the Red Sox with their luxury tax penalties?
I think they were hoping to shed some salary for a bullpen addition during the season.
Depends on how you count it.
I’d argue exactly 2.475 since the obligation existed before signing guys who were off-roster as FA.
If you take the opposite approach, saying how much do the sox pay for not saving the 2.475 by releasing him, $3,514,500 is the bottom line for what Henry writes checks for (30% flat penalty as 2nd time cbt breaker, plus 12% flat add-on for being between 20-40m above)
I screwed this one up. Our top pitchers have a strong connection to Sandy. I should have released Swihart. I’ll get this straightened out eventually. Just give me some time to find a trade partner for Blake.
Should be easy to find a trade partner for Swihart, now that Bryce Harper has signed……
I think you’re probably an Idiot
Would rather see him than that arrogant little butterball who’s arm will NEVER be what they expected it to be. Craziest thing is that Swi is the best hitter of the 3.
If swihart gets that bat cranking it’s not crazy to imagine a swihart/leon tandem – assuming vaz gets enough of something going to unload the contract. Where’s zaidi when you need him….
No one is taking that contract unless he is suddenly an All-Star caliber catcher. He’s owed at the minimum 10.7 million over the next two years. A glove first catcher with minimal hit tool is not going to garner any interest in trade talks in a market where Martin Maldonado barely manages to get a contract at 2.5 mil for one season
But was he traded? Traded to Pawtucket?
Sandy…take the cannoli’s……leave the gun.
Im not sure Red Sox have to still pay him $2.475M. I thought they only had to guarantee the first 45 days or $599K, (which would count against cap).
Im not sure of the rules but it wouldn’t make sense for him to get all of the money. Why would Red Sox be on hook, for a player they released, who chose not to elect FA, and is playing in their minors.
Yes, I agree with you.
That’s what I thought the rule was too?
What would the Red Sox gain by putting Sandy through this?
Insult Sandy?
Insult the arbiter?
Still have to pay Sandy the exact same money?
What’s the point of this absurdity?
Sandy is a great defensive catcher!
Why treat him like Sh-t?
Now the guy won’t get to be on the field when they give out the rings on Opening Day.
I’m outraged by this move as it appears on the surface!
And I think many players will be too.
If I got this correct?
They will have him for the ring just like they did for 2004,2007 and 2013 players who were no longer on the team
Because a contract works for both sides.They offered him arbitration to keep him from becoming a free agent,and they’re choosing to send him to the minors.He’s only choosing the minors over free agency,its definitely not his choice to go there himself.
Swi has had a great spring we just should give him a chance. Farrel buried him and the Redsox dint want to release him, cuz they knew he’d be picked up n shine with the new team. I really think he’s gonna have a breakout yr since he was finally picked fir the job, and also he just hit a homerun.
This process is very technical and really deep “inside baseball” stuff.
I have to assume the author knows the rules and that Sandy would lose money if he didn’t accept the assignment. So that’s a plus for Sandy.
And if I look at the quote from the article ” He’ll remain with the organization and, while he won’t count against the 40-man roster, he will count against the team’s luxury tax calculations (a technicality that was changed in the last CBA).” I find myself wondering what was the benefit to the Red Sox in doing such a move?
The only thing I can think of is that the Red Sox still have Sandy and can bring up a better hitter while retaining the option to bring Sandy back should they find they need better catching defense in 2019.
But it was my understanding that they didn’t have to offer Sandy a minor league deal or if they did they wouldn’t have to pay Sandy the $2.5M because he was cut and cleared waivers but would only have to pay Sandy $500K?
Does anyone know what’s going on here?
I mean don’t you think an arbiter got Sandy’s worth so wrong that 30 teams all though that was a bad decision and don’t you think that arbiter will need to find another job soon? What am I missing?
What are the Red Sox gaining by making this move?
More importantly why didn’t anyone want Sandy?
The team cannot and will not tie up 3 of its 25 mlb roster spots on catchers. Period.
You have Vaz, who’s guaranteed $$ over ten next few seasons due to that extension. Putting him through waivers is out of the question.
You have swihart, who’s hitting well this spring and making 900k, with 3 arb years control remaining. He WILL get claimed in waivers, hands down.
Then you have the light hitting leon, making an outsized contract for his recent production.
Process of elimination. That’s why the Sox are doing it, and need to. I’m sure they are OK with him decline assignment and skipping out on the 2.4 mil. They’re also ok with stashing him in Pawtucket if/when they need to call up a catcher later in the year.
I think the guy can still hit! Why doesn’t the hapless Rangers pick him up?
Leon is going to accept the assignment he is not going to walk away from that salary.
He will just wait until there is an injury. Catchers miss time so he will be back up with the Red Sox at some point this season.
BoSox should have signed Drew Butera…
So glad. It is too bad they can’t carry them all.
I really misjudged the waiver wire. I thought Sandy Leon would be immediately claimed and be wearing a new MLB uniform today. I guess the AL teams don’t need back up catchers as much as the NL teams.
If only I was petty enough and had enough time on my hands to call out all the bold and brash who adamantly swore Leon would not clear waivers. I don’t even pretend to know enough about ever changing front offices to swear anything will or won’t happen anymore. He could have been claimed but thought it was laughable some wouldn’t accept the idea that he would clear given his salary and limited bat.
If only I was petty enough and had enough time on my hands to call out all the bold and brash who adamantly swore . . . that Red Sox fans exaggerated Leon’s worth.
Has to be about 20 people who claimed in past two week, that Red Sox fans over estimated Leon’s worth. So please do be petty and find some time to call out all the players that exaggerated his worth. My guess is you’ll find very few. Then I’ll make a list of how many times I’ve seen posts just like this one.
mentally he’s gotta be broken from from winning a World Series to being relegated to AAA.. geesh
Based on what I’m seeing with the pitching staff getting crushed in Seattle I suspect Sandy will get called up very very soon.