The Rockies announced that they have sent right-hander Jacob Wallace to the Red Sox to complete the trade the teams made on Aug. 31 involving outfielder Kevin Pillar.
The 22-year-old Wallace, a third-round pick of the Rockies in 2019, debuted in low-A ball last season and pitched to a stingy 1.29 ERA/2.94 FIP with 12.43 K/9 and 3.86 BB/9 in 21 innings. Since then, Baseball America (No. 19), MLB.com (No. 20) and FanGraphs (No. 21) have placed Wallace among Colorado’s top 25 prospects. BA writes that Wallace is “the prototypical power reliever with a mid-90s fastball and a plus slider” who could quickly make his way to the majors and turn into a back-end reliever.
Wallace seems like a good return for Pillar, a pending free agent who performed decently for a non-contending Boston team before the trade. Pillar has struggled as a member of the Rockies, though, as he has batted just .255/.296/.373 in 54 plate appearances. The Rockies had designs on a playoff berth when they acquired Pillar, but they have floundered since then and now find themselves with a 22-27 record.
I hope so cuz Pillar is a wonderful player.
Are you Pillar? Cos he is ok and a hell of a return for a ok player who was going to be a free agent
Hell of a return? Pot luck. Forget ratings. All of the trades Bloom made this year were designed to strengthen the farm by numbers. Even the Mookie deal. The return looks strong now but the sample size is still small and who knows in a couple of year how injuries will factor in? Such is the case with all trades. Let’s reassess down the road.
I’m not sure I’d call Pillar a “wonderful player” haha… I mean he’s decent dont get me wrong but he’s also not young, is limited offensively and was set to be FA at the end of the year… getting anything decent for him would have been a good return… but this kid Wallace actually looks like a really great return. He actually exceeds my expectations of what kind of player I thought they’d be able to get back for Pillar so I’m quite pleased with the return and think all Sox fans should be! Because Pillar was never going to be a long term member of the Sox so getting back a promising RP with a mid-90s fastball is really a great pickup!
I always wondered why the Red Sox did not sign more complementary players that they could flip for prospects rather than constantly trading away prospects for player availability as FA four month before (the trade deadline)(were their GMs stubborn/stupid)? The Red Sox finally have someone in Bloom who will stock the system using cheap one or two contracts to get prospects. Yay a GM who thinks in longer than six months intervals.
The Red Sox can go spend on top tier starters and a couple bullpen arms this winter, but Casas, Duran, Houck, Groome (watch the Sim City Pawtucket games available free online before commenting) are very close to being ready, so the Red Sox will be competitive in short order.
Not so great a human being. He’s amply demonstrated his intolerance and bigotry.
3 years ago? Didn’t he apologize for the entire thing. It was a heat-of-the-moment frustration and of course you’ve never done anything wrong when angry. Cut him some slack mr. Perfect.
The worst thing about modern society is that everyone judges everyone else only on their worst act. If we suddenly find out that Mother Teresa once said the N-word as a 16 year old girl, would that wipe out all of the good she ever did with her life? Sadly, some people would say yes.
Rockies fall can be attributed to a pathetic offense. Boy Wonder Bridich needs to get a consistent bat or 2 in the lineup. Starting pitching has been decent, but bullpen needs some help also.
if 2020 wasnt weird enough – Colorado is being carried by pitching.
they rank 28th in team ERA i dont think they are being “carried” by that
rotation ERA
So, basically, are the Orioles. This whole season is upside-down. Not to mention Jose Iglesias flirting with .400 (in limited play, of course)
They spent a small fortune on relievers a couple of years ago and only Wade Davis remains.
The Rockies have offense but like every other team most of it has been terrible this season.
There will be a lot of ugly stat lines on the backs of Baseball cards next year
Small sample size. It’s unfortunate for upcoming free agents.
It’s also true of the opposite as well. There will be some small sample sizes that really cash in.
Very few will cash in this off season. Maybe a p couple of pitchers but no every day player will greatly benefit from 60 games unless they were already established. Even then teams will be tight with the wallet.
Davis is officially gone now too!
Pillar is decent, but outside of a few star hitters and decent starting pitching, this team is a train wreck. Boy Wonder Bridich needs a good off season
nice return
Had a nice summer in the Cape Cod League, which is usually a good sign, especially for a pitcher. Pillar’s one of my favorites, but that’s a pretty good return.
There was no reason not to expect some regression by Pillar. For his career, he faced lefties 27.5% of the time. This year, playing off of 3 lefty outfielders in Boston, he has faced lefties 40%, and it is likely higher if you just consider the RS PAs. That’s what gave him the .797 OPS in Boston. He also had a 1.075 OPS in Fenway. Basically, his 2020 season was a mirage.
That said, he was a perfect complementary piece for us. Anytime you have three lefty OFs, a righty OF who can play all three positions is really valuable.
But having said that, I would never consider him a legit starting outfielder, so a 3rd rounder is a pretty good return.
Where’s hiflew I want his take on this. Im a Red Sox fan and this looks like a real good return. Hiflew will know what’s up.
Here I am and thank you for the compliment of considering me the resident Rockies expert of the group.
It’s really hard to judge guys from the 2019 or 2020 draft just simply because they aren’t playing. I am also a lot higher on getting Pillar than many Rockies fans simply because they haven’t had a defensive CF like him since Juan Pierre was starting out in the early aughts. If the marriage between Pillar and the Rox proves longer lasting than just this year, I will be quite happy.
That being said, a 3rd round pick from last year that had a good year in low A seems like a high price to pay for Pillar. Wallace is one of those guys .that could have gone either way with Coors. High strikeout rates are usually good, but high walk rates are usually a death knell. I would put his ceiling as a good to very good closer and his floor as a guy that never gets out of AA. The one thing about his college years that worries me is that he seemed to really come from nowhere to emerge as a great reliever in his junior year. Could it be smoke and mirrors or did he really get that much better? If I was a Sox fan, I wouldn’t be turning cartwheels over the guy, but he is definitely an intriguing prospect in exchange for a guy that clearly was not returning to Boston next year.
Hate this trade. Wallace looked great. Pillar is nice yet nothing special. A long way to go for Wallace but I see him succeeding.
Thanks bro I knew I could count on you. Excellent take and Insight from a true fan. You know the Rockies better than I know the Red Sox and warriors combined LOL.
Watching Wade Davis throw batting practice pitches versus L.A. tonight. P itching is and always was the biggest need for the Rox. There are a few under-achievers among hitters also this odd year. LeMahieu will become a free agent this year. He would be a big upgrade at 2B. Should be an interesting off-season for the Rox.
Do they just need better coaching?
Because they’re paying McGhee 8.5M to pitch fairly well in LA’s bullpen. All because of a relatively minor Mechanical adjustment made when he came to LA to get behind his pitches more. He was there 3(?) years, and no one could spot this?
It was more than just a mechanical issue though, which was the whole point of that article. Because at points they were able to fix that, but forcing him to throw the SL didn’t allow for it to stick. Which if you think about it makes complete sense especially at altitude attempting to overthrow & it bleeding into the fb. It seems to be more of a philosophical issue. I think David Hood said it best, it’s a organization that is a decade behind, self choice, everybody. JB still has a job somehow after continuous baffling decisions.
Beyond their offensive stalwarts in Story, Blackmon, and Arrenado and the occasional glimpses seen in Dahl/Tapia, for different reasons, they are top heavy and it’s just a bad team offense. Their pen and usage doesn’t seem congruous. It seems as though their SP is the only saving grace, which is weird to say from a team playing at elevation. The sad thing is Burdich appears to have both wasted and currently wasting windows for the Rockies to compete.
I think this is a great return for the Sox for a veteran OF who signed to a one-year deal and wasn’t ever going to be part of their long-term plans anyway. Getting a 22 year old RP who has been great (in albeit very limited) time in professional baseball is a good return no matter how you look at it. Beyond that I’m really quite intrigued by Wallace as he not only pitched quite well in college he looks to have absolutely dominated in his time in the Cape Cod league. Obviously the kid is young and needs more time to see what he can really do… but looking at what he’s done so far… I’m quite intrigued by his K/9 ability and what I’ve read about his mid-90s fastball and that he’s 22-years old and I think you could see him sooner rather than later for the Sox. Great pick-up for a soon to be FA OF.
I’m not really sure I’d say Pillar has really “struggled” as a member of the Rockies… I mean he hasn’t been great either BUT .255/.296 is kind of in line with his production in recent years. So while he was hitting a little bit better with the Sox prior to the trade… and generally has a little more pop than he’s displayed thus far… it’s not like he’s exactly had the bottom fall out or anything.
Plus, Pillar’s main value comes from his defense. He has made a few very nice plays in CF.
This team absolutely is abhorrent! They are 0-8 vs the Yankees utter disgrace. My friend who is a Yankees fan and is older says he has not seen this bad a Red Sox team since the 60s. I have no idea why they did not trade Barnes. He is awful as a closer! I would have rather they hung onto Workman and dump Gopher Ball Barnes!
I’m thinking everybody was on the table. But you don’t give guys away for free. The way you speak of Barnes you think other teams loved him? Would give up something of value for him? They see what you see. So you don’t just give him away cuz he could be a 7th inning or sixth inning guy next year if the Red Sox can get it together and have a real team in 2021
Good job by Bloom. Another power arm
Nice Return for one month of Pillar, remember the deadline for a month later than usual.
As far as the Rockies, they didn’t resign LeMahieu to clear space for your guess: Hampson, Rodgers, McMahon etc. They have failed on both counts, DJ has shown he should have been kept while they haven’t stuck with their young players to give them a consistent shot at being regulars, a common issue with the Rockies, same thing with their outfielders, no sticking with the young guy to let them develop. Poor management and player development.
I live in Hartford where their AA team is and can vouch that these are good players, but they are being dealt a disservice by their GM and manager big time
Unreal. Pillar is a major leaguer and ok but Wallace, despite not being ranked high, is a solid prospect. As a Rockies follower I’m calling this a gross overspend. Wallace will be a successful reliever. Pillar is a JAG.