The Red Sox announced they’ve released utilityman Marwin González. That was the expected outcome after Boston designated the 32-year-old for assignment last week. The Sox also officially added waiver claim Travis Shaw to the active roster and optioned outfielder Franchy Cordero and catcher Connor Wong to Triple-A Worcester.
Signed to a one-year deal over the winter, González’s tenure in Boston was a disappointment. He hit a career-worst .202/.281/.285 with two home runs across 271 plate appearances. That marked his second consecutive very poor season at the plate, as González also struggled last year — his final with the Twins. His monstrous 2017 season looks like an outlier, but González hit at a league average level from 2018-19 before falling off over the past two years.
González inked a $3MM guarantee, around $738K of which is still due to be paid out. Any club that claims González off waivers would assume that obligation, but it seems more likely the switch-hitter will pass through unclaimed and reach free agency, leaving the Red Sox on the hook for the money. At that point, another team could sign González and would owe him the prorated league minimum salary for any time he spends on the big league roster, which would be subtracted from what he’s owed by Boston. If González lands elsewhere before August 31, he’d be eligible for his new team’s postseason roster.
The Red Sox are off tonight but will have a doubleheader against the Yankees tomorrow. Tanner Houck will be recalled as the 27th man to start one half of that twin bill. Boston’s pair of optional assignments leaves another active roster spot open, and Ian Browne of MLB.com notes the hope is reliever Josh Taylor will be activated from the injured list tomorrow. Taylor landed on the COVID-19 IL over the weekend but has apparently not tested positive to this point. If Taylor is indeed ready for reinstatement, Boston will need to create a 40-man roster spot.
So bloom dumps a light hitting but defensively somewhat versatile utility guy, remains on the hook for the salary, then claims an even worse hitting, and less versatile utility guy taking on even more salary…
I love Travis. He may have a chip on his shoulder for being traded. MG had his chances. I’d rather keep Duran up.
It’s the ML minimum certainly worth it to see if he can be better than Marwin. It would be pretty hard not to be. If he hits 3hrs in a month he’ll be better than Marwin.
Not the ML minimum. Shaw was claimed on waivers meaning bloom assumed the full value of the contract.
The only time you just play the prorated minimum is if the player clears waivers and hits free agency… which is NOT what happened with Shaw. Bloom claimed him during waivers.
Only good(ish) news is it was a 1.5mil contract, prorated down to about 400k cbt hit for the sox. But, every bit counts when you’re pushed right up near the penalty line and will have to pay for callus. If the cba continues current pe allies, you can lose in the offseason for certain QO FA signings and such by going over….
Relax, right now they’re slated to pay 700K. After getting under it last year I think they can afford it. As for the CBA, it’s already been negotiated for this year. You can’t increase a team’s penalties retroactively. Stop panicking over a nothing move. Best case scenario he contributes more than Marwin, worst case he doesn’t. What difference does it make?
Some of the posters are consumed with hatred of Bloom. We signed DeShields to a minor league contract-115 comments.. We signed DeLeon to a minor league contract=88 comments. We signed Claudio to a minor league contract-120 comments.
We could switch hot dog vendors in AA, and some of the haters would post 20 comments about this was all Bloom’s fault.
What’s funny is bloom is the only reason the Sox are relevant this year and fans still think he’s the problem
JB – Did you subtract your comments from those totals? You act as if there is no reason to be what you call Bloom haters. He sucks and proves it every day just like Cora. If you weren’t biased you would be able to objectively see when a GM is doing nothing to help his club. If you knew baseball better you would see when a manager can hurt a team by in game decisions.
Haters are really criticizers who you want to spin negatively as having some alternative motive for commenting on how bad Bloom and Cora are at their jobs. Nobody is a mindless hater, they are all savvy baseball fans dissatisfied with the performance of the GM and manager. Just like when Devers makes two dozen errors that count and another dozen or two that are not counted, fans criticize him not because they hate him but because his performance on defense isn’t what a fan wants from a Major League player. If he was in high school, we wouldn’t be so adamant about his bad play because our expectations would be far lower but he’s a MLB 3B and he can’t field so lots of criticism until he gets put at his natural position of DH.
KD17, THE RED SOX WERE IN FIRST PLACE FOR THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF THIS SEASON!
THEY WERE IN THE TOP 5 OF ALL MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL FOR THE BETTER PART OF THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF THIS SEASON!!
ALL YOU DO IS COMPLAIN!!!
THEY’VE HAD A SUCCESSFUL FIRST HALF!!!!
YOU PEOPLE ARE KILLING ME!!!!!
The Season’s not over and with the successful first half you are ready to bury the manager and the coach. You’re the one that makes no baseball sense.
For real… how can anyone blame Bloom and Cora when they just had the 4th overall pick… their salary situation is a tight-rope but Bloom is signing MLB players that have had success before at the MLB level at a very low price… the only thing I criticize is the Benintendi deal. Otherwise, what was Bloom supposed to do? Trade Casas for Scherzer who he wouldn’t be able to resign? Gonzalez for Shaw is a big nothing burger. Secretly, even without making a big trade, the Sox were able to improve their staff just by adding Houck and Sale and then moving Richards and Perez to the pen. I think Bloom gets a lot of heat because his first move was trading Betts, but what else was he supposed to do? Betts had a 10-year, $300mil contract on the table from Boston and turned it down. You can’t really say they didn’t try to keep him. Verdugo alone is a solid get for a one-year shortened season of Betts where they weren’t winning anyway with Sale hurt.
You know nothing…
Sorry to say that every comment here – either pro or anti Bloom is subjective. The only objectivity are the stats and as such (as of today) the Sox are a WC team. Does Bloom get 100 or 0 % of the credit ? Depends on how much (again subjective) value you place on his actions in setting up the team . The majority of any value is actually the PLAYERS’ performance coupled with the manager’s moves and actions.
IMO BLOOM is an employee who enacts what management ALLOWS him to do, has he been successful ? Again,IMO, more than what was expected as pre season this team was slated to finish 4th and in the best scenarios 3rd.
Sorry to say that every comment here – either pro or anti Bloom is subjective. The only objectivity are the stats and as such (as of today) the Sox are a WC team. Does Bloom get 100 or 0 % of the credit ? Depends on how much (again subjective) value you place on his actions in setting up the team . The majority of any value is actually the PLAYERS’ performance coupled with the manager’s moves and actions.
IMO BLOOM is an employee who enacts what management ALLOWS him to do, has he been successful ? Again,IMO, more than what was expected as pre season this team was slated to finish 4th and in the best scenarios 3rd.
Sorry to say that every comment here – either pro or anti Bloom is subjective. The only objectivity are the stats and as such (as of today) the Sox are a WC team. Does Bloom get 100 or 0 % of the credit ? Depends on how much (again subjective) value you place on his actions in setting up the team . The majority of any value is actually the PLAYERS’ performance coupled with the manager’s moves and actions.
IMO BLOOM is an employee who enacts what management ALLOWS him to do, has he been successful ? Again,IMO, more than what was expected as pre season this team was slated to finish 4th and in the best scenarios 3rd.
Sergeant Schultz
Say it again
Gary – If you go to the horse races and one horse jumps out early and leads for 6 furlongs in a mile race does that win money for anyone? Nope. The final finish determines the success of the race and the season.
I do complain a lot and it’s because as a fan I am dissatisfied with the behavior of ownership (racism), the GM (ineptitude) and the manager (integrity). Why is that so hard to understand? More importantly why aren’t you upset like so many others you criticize?
Poundsy24 – Your first statement confused me. You give Bloom and Cora credit for finishing 4th to last and that’s a good thing? See, I look at the gift of the #2 player in the draft falling to #4 as pure luck. The fact that the fans had to watch a team that won the equivalent of 65 games in a normal season during 2020 is definitely something I blame Bloom for. How does Cora tie into the 4th pick? He was on suspension when that pick was earned in 2020 for the greatest cheating scandal in the history of baseball.
Lets trade the crap that everyone lauded when Mookie and Price were moved. Would I give them Verdugo, Downs and Wong for Scherzer? In a heart beat!! But to be effective, the Scherzer signing had to run through the life of the Sale contract. If Bloom had done something creative like that, I would be applauding him today.
10 year $300M was far below market value for Betts. He knew that and so did his agent. The Red Sox low-balled him and he said no. I’m sure in life you have been low-balled before when trying sell something and I’m sure you turned down the low-ball as well.
Betts versus Verdugo and two farm hands with fading rankings is a no brainer. The Red Sox got screwed by Friedman. DD wanted Betts and ownership didn’t and nobody knows the whole truth but the optics are bad when you give away your two best black players.
The key is to plan your future. Know who is the long-term solution at each position and who you want for depth. The revolving door is a tryout and we were told Bloom KNEW the industry so tryouts should not have happened. Instead, he was a guy sitting in a room with much better baseball people in TB and he sold himself as the brains and he was a wall fly. The great moves keep coming out of TB and none have happened in Boston. Is Schwarber comparable to Nelson Cruz? NOPE. How about their trade of Liberatore for Arozarena, Jose Martinez and future considerations. Another stellar move while Bloom sits on his hands and then finally gets a big name but screws up getting Schwarber versus Rizzo or so many other better 1Bs.
When Sale got hurt due to Cora’s wind-up change he should have had TJ at the end of 2019 when the season was in the toilet but instead they fire DD over wanting to keep Mookie, they do a platelet protocol to try and fix Sale’s elbow and time starts ticking elongating Sale’s absence. That’s a tale of a horrendous front office.
Also, the money constraints is BS ownership hinted at because they did everything in their power to avoid the racism being the main issue. It didn’t work as well as they wanted but many still think there is some type of money issue in Boston. They got under the cap with no intention of going over so that in itself is a huge screw-up. The ownership makes hundreds of millions of dollars profits so to suggest $10M is such a high price that Mookie had to be dealt is absurd.
I don’t think you really understand the big picture in Boston. Cheap owners who for 20 years weren’t cheap, racist owners that didn’t want the face of their franchise to be black, a GM that has no clue what he’s doing but he’s a marketing guy selling concepts like on an info-commercial and a manager hired for being bi=lingual but doesn’t have an honest bone in his body. There are lots of problems in Boston and fans should thank JD, Bogey, Devers, Eovaldi and even Barnes for over performing and giving fans something to be excited about. It wasn’t sustainable to use Bloom’s word but it was a fun ride right up to the trade deadline and the ride derailed.
Frenchredsox – It’s a couple days later and the only objectivity are the stats and as such the Red Sox are NOT a wild card team (your quote with updated data).
Player performances are the facts. Thank you. That’s a great comment. 5 all-stars had great first halves and the team did well. No major injuries during the season, very few COVID situations and a pitching staff that failed miserably in 2020 pitched over their heads for four months in a six month season.
Your measurement of Bloom is contradictory to your initial statement about the players. Bloom is supposed to get the best possible talent and the players need to do the rest by winning. He has failed miserably because the talent level of the team has dropped dramatically since he arrived. The winning gets credited to the players not Bloom. Only the talent level is within Bloom’s control as a GM.
Lower talent level means a job not well done. The players have grossly out-performed Bloom but because of Bloom’s inadequacies the players never had a chance to make the playoffs. More talent was needed at the trade deadline to revitalize the fading heroes..
If he hits 1 he would be better…
Marwin was awful and had to go. And though Travis’ stats are crap, they ARE SLIGHTLY better than Marwin’s. Who knows – maybe going back to Boston lights a fire under him? With the team playing NY this week and that short RF porch at Yankee Stadium, I’d rather see Shaw at the plate than Gonzalez. Next up to ship out: Cordero and Santana.
Travis, -0.6 war in 58 games this year, 178 AB.
Marwin, -0.3 war in 77 games this year, 242 AB.
Now, who hurts their team more, and quicker?
Add to that in order to play shaw you need to sit Dalbec who is on the same tear as last year again, or, Devers. You want to lose one of those bats for a .191 hitter with negative war and an ops+ in the 60s?
Okay cool, so we’re expecting Dalbec, Devers, and Martinez not to need a single game off for the rest of the season?
GASOXFan – nice numbers!!. Benny got 52 bad plate appearances during a COVID season when he was hurt and he got shipped to Siberia. And why? So Bloom could pick up a far worse left fielder and four infant prospects who won’t be ready for the bigs until he is long gone. The contribution of that trade is negative today and best case scenario one of the four prospects is elite and in 5 years he is better than Benny in five years. Not a likely scenario but if it happens then it only took six years for the positive side of the ledger to finally get value while for five years the negative side of the ledger kept growing as Benny puts up OPS+ years greater than 100 all five years. But hey, at least the owners saved some money and pocketed it!! Great news for Red Sox fans..
Bloom is a mistake waiting to happen. Boom – Shaw is his latest!! His list of mistakes is so huge at this point you are going to need a scrolling device to view them all, one page won’t do!!. I’m hoping to see ONE victory sometime before he is fired. Right now, Renfroe is the closest thing to a victory but the season isn’t over so it’s too early for a final report card.
Renfroe
Whitlock
Pivetta and Seabold trade
Ottavino
Kiki
Arroyo
Rios
All strong moves by Bloom. Certainly some moves that haven’t worked out and the deadline moves or lack thereof may loom large. But I think your criticism of Bloom is a bit off the mark. And if you don’t think Cora is not a plus 10 win impact on this team over the course of a season then you don’t know baseball.
Yea as a Jays fan Cora seems a big plus to me
soxfaninSTL – Being so far away in STL you probably don’t smell the stench of Bloom and Cora. Your list is completely underwhelming.
Strong moves must be defined differently in St.Louis. For me a strong move is getting Rizzo or if you are LAD stealing Mookie and Price from the Red Sox. Weak moves are all the names mentioned in recent articles.
Your list includes no all-stars. In fact it’s mostly retreads. Ottavino is a proven commodity but beyond him your list is TB level adds. Nothing significant but always cheap.
Your Cora comment makes dumbest comment of the month. First, in 2018 when he took credit for winning everyone thought like you but it was all about the team having career years except Devers. In 2019 with same group of guys with the same numb nuts manager had a horrible year. Why shouldn’t Cora be the blame for it if he gets credit in 2018. Heck in 2019 he had far more to do with their record than 2018.!! 2021 is no different. If you played you’d know that the players make the difference not the manager. He can cost teams games but seldom gets to take credit for a win. A bad choice in the bullpen. A wrong pinch hitter. A wrong player sitting when he should be playing. A wrong batting order. So many Cora mistakes and so few adds from having him other than his hand-holding of Devers.
This team wins when the players play well and they lose when the players don’t play well or when the manager screws up. Sometimes they even win when Cora screws up because the core group from 2018 is that talented.
You seem like a kid who is naive and felt brave to make some incredibly stupid comments so we’ll let it slide. Next time, know what you are talking about this isn’t Instagram!!
Murphy – Let me suggest you not write that publicly. You embarrassed yourself. He cost the 2019 team a chance of repeating by screwing up the starting pitchers in spring training and by the end of April they were 10 games down. In 2018, he set up a scam where he sent guys to the video room to gather info for the base runners so they could cheat and tell the hitter the next pitch when they were on second base. In 2017, he developed a trash can system that allowed the Astros to cheat in up to 90 games that year including the games against Boston in the first round of the playoffs.
If cheating is a plus then Cora is a big plus!!!
@kd17
You do realize the GM has a mandate to stay under the tax threshold? He is working with the budget that was left him. If you were expecting him to acquire established All Stars and stay under, you’re the naive one. If he had done as Cashman did and paid a premium in prospects to get the other team to eat salary, would you have been happy with that? Boston wasn’t expected to contend this year. They are contending! Who are you giving the credit for that?
Re KD17
Ha ha ha! There’s one of these guys in every fan base, Sox fans; don’t be disheartened. Interesting that he would denote “TB level adds” as being a negative thing, when they’re the team that you’re chasing.
Regarding Cora, Astros scandal aside, most fans would be overjoyed to have him at the helm. Judging the manager will always be highly subjective, but to say that a given move is not to his credit because it was the player who executed it, but the same move is his fault because the player failed to execute… well, that’s clearly a flawed arguement, and totally asinine. Classic strawman stuff.
KD you’re a fool
Here’s the deal with payroll…
Houck came up last year. Made 3 starts. Won three games. In his 2020 fenway debut. He NO HIT the Yankees through the first 6 inning.
Did bloom have houck start the year in the mlb rotation?
NO. He wasted money on richards/Perez. Throw in guys like andriese and company. No, houck wouldn’t have replaced all those guys. BUT, if you combined all their salaries, stuffed houck in the rotation in April, couldn’t you have gotten a much better #5? Maybe even a #3 level guy?
Of course you could!
Throughout a year bloom claims, or signs, and dfas/releases so many guys that you could’ve gotten better players for less money and less turnover.
He’s obsessed with proving he can find the next David Ortiz and just adds a revolving clubhouse unnecessarily. In the end it costs more.
Shaw is better than Dalbec against RHP. Good platoon/pinch hit option
@stymeedone – Bloom’s predecessors get the credit for contending this year. The players that are producing and keeping the team where they are are from before his regime for the most part, and, anyone he brought in could’ve been replaced by guys he shipped out and the team would be equal or better.
stymeedone – Where did you get your info? Publicly the owners said that was not the case! They went under in 2020 and are at liberty to go over now. That’s why you go under, so you can go back over the next year to win.
Your comments are naive not my expectations. Bloom was never mandated to go under but one owner said in an interview when Bloom was hired that he was there to bring their payroll in line. Whatever that means. He later denied that they had to get under the cap and said that was Bloom’s choice. So he’s either a liar or your information is incorrect. Also, that was for 2020 not 2021.
They are not contending they were pretending. Again, a very naive comment. Their talent is down from when Bloom was hired and if you have the fourth best talent in the division it’s likely you will finish fourth in the division.
You are right that they weren’t expected to contend based on their talent. Bloom did nothing to add talent but 5 all-stars had great years and they competed at a higher level than expected. That’s over now and they will drop back to fourth and expectations for 2022 will be fourth as well unless the talent level is increased. You can’t throw away guys like Mookie and expect to do as well. I’m sure you must understand that concept. It’s all about the talent and ALL the credit goes to the players who performed above their norms. Not Cora, Not Bloom and especially not the Ownership. JUST THE PLAYERS DESERVE CREDIT.
Also, let me suggest you research the 100s of millions of dollars of profits the Red Sox make and the $10M cost they averted by dumping Mookie and Price. Boston fans didn’t deserve that.
Shaw hits far more homeruns and goes on hitting streaks. Gonzalez does neither.
@pwndroia- But, in order for shaw to do that he needs to play every day. And mlb teams have waited since 2018 for that next streak out of shaw.
Meanwhile, to get that garbage on the field, and in the batters box, that HURTS the team, you need to sit someone.
Gonzalez and Shaw both stink at the bat. But gonzo was at least a defensive substitution worth playing.
Meanwhile, to play shaw every day and hunt for that streak you have to not play better options.
Do you think shaw, nearing 32 yrs old, and stinking for years in mlb, has more upside than the league minimum rookie dalbec who outdoes shaw on defense, and shows better streaks of hitting than shaw ever has? (Cite to last season and the last month and a half of this one?)
Because it’s more than Gonzalez vs shaw. It’s Gonzo+whoever shaw displaces on the field vs shaw.
Might be a good pickup for the Dodgers for some added playoff depth
Can’t hit without someone banging on trash can
The Dodgers have multiple players who can three or more positions. They don’t need anymore. Nor would they be thrilled to add a Cheatros alumni. Hitting is not the issue. Starting pitching is.
Cheatros? That one is a bit of a stretch as far as nicknames go.
I agree. I prefer Trashstros or just lousy cheaters.
I believe Trashtros is the preferred nomenclature.
He’s still very versatile, and playoff teams love having a guy on the bench who can fill in just about anywhere. And as an added bonus, he’s never allowed a base runner as a pitcher.
He is a Swiss Army knife. But a dull one.
Monkey – It’s a common misconception that being versatile is a benefit to your skill set. That is only the case if you actually have talent and you can display MLB level talent at each of the positions. Otherwise, your just a crap player that has multiple gloves.
Wonder if the tigers take a flyer on this guy for the remainder of this year. they need help on the leftside of the infield and being a L/R hitter is a plus even though he has not hit much, Hinch knows him well.
Last week I would’ve said no but they’re so banged up, they may just need a MLB caliber player at any position
The Redsox have enuff versatile players n Marwin hurt them badly. Travis can’t be any worse, we’ll see. His time maybe passed too.
Travis has played 56 games 178AB -0.6war hitting .191
Marwin has played 77 games 242 AB -0.3war hitting .202
So, Shaw hits worse, and had more negative worth in fewer games and only 2/3 the games maybe 70% the at bats.
Shaw has hit worse than Gonzalez. so far. Teams don’t acquire these streaky kinds of players based on what they’ve done; they pick them up for what they hope they’ll do. It’s a calculated gamble. Since Shaw has a history of being streaky, there’s a better chance of catching lightning in a bottle from him than Gonzalez, who doesn’t really have a role on the team.
Playoff contenders often do this in the late-season: acquire a player with a streaky history with the hope of running into one of those streaks. It’s similar to what Atlanta did with their recent acquisitions on Pederson, Duvall, Solar, and Rosario. Find a hot bat or two among them and ride them as long as possible; The Sox can now do that with the likes of Schwarber, Dalbec, and Shaw.
Instead of knocking Bloom, you should appreciate the fact that he’s doing all he can to give the Red Sox a better chance of making the post-season. In his short time in Boston, fans keep bashing them and he keeps proving them wrong.
@cey – in the past couple YEARS shaw has failed miserably.
Now if you force shaw into the lineup you need to sit someone…
So, let’s recap. We’ve seen last season, and, for the past month and a half Dalbec go on a tear smacking Homer’s and saving errors from Devers.
Dalbec is playing better than shaw, and, his streaks are better than shaw.
If you think shaw can spell Devers defensively, you’ve got to remove a bat. Is it Devers on the bench? Or is it JDM on the bench with Devers at DH?
Either way you lose a potent bat.
Meanwhile, they traded for schwarber. Where he gonna play?
Anywhere you put shaw hoping for that streak you’re downgrading the team one where else by an even bigger amount.
It’s a bum move any way you slice it.
Bloom hasn’t been successful and the players fueling this seasons run are from prior regimes, both in the majors and the minors. If he wanted “to do everything he can” to help with a postseason push he failed. Miserably.
How does getting rid of Gonzalez weaken the team? All good teams need depth. The regulars aren’t going to get every single at-bat. Incremental improvement is better than no improvements at all. You remind me of the Giants fans who claimed Zaidi was doing it all wrong. Where are those people today? Probably trying to find something else to complain about instead of admitting they’re wrong.
You’re just being negative because you’re anti-Bloom. He was dealt a difficult hand being instructed to trade Betts and wound up getting an outstanding Major Leaguer in the deal. He also signed Hernandez for what at this point was a bargain. His job is to build a consistent. Big picture. They got him from Tampa Bay, which is an organization the Red Sox can learn from. Big picture. Not the little one too many fans focus on.
Shaw has a 66 wRC+ and a -3 oRAR
Gonzalez has a 54 wRC+ and a -7 oRAR
Shaw has hit 12% better than Marwin this year and been more than twice as valuable on the offensiveside. It’s his Def that hurts him (Shaw is -3, Gonzalez is +4)
@darkstar, you kinda help prove my point, not sure if it’s what you intended.
Shaw has no value in his bat. A 66 wRC+ is not desirable at all, and it hurts to suffer through it for months hoping he catches fire at seasons end – something that hasn’t been going on for years.
The Gonzalez/Shaw slot on the 40man and MLB bench is for one of three purposes:
* A relief arm – Shaw fails.
* A pinch runner – Shaw, who hasn’t stolen a base since 2018, fails.
* A defensive replacement in late innings, or, emergency depth that plays good defense and passable offense – Shaw fails.
Imagine a diamond where Devers is throwing and you have a negative defender like Shaw receiving?
So if we’re not helping the bullpen with the slot, you’ve got 2 choices, both who don’t hit well. One is a plus defender, one is a defensive liability.
BTW, the plus defender is a sunk cost. You have to pay extra to bring in the negative defender/poor hitter.
Your point was explicitly “So, Shaw hits worse”
I was showing that no, thats garbage. Sure, shaw is not a good hitter, but he’s been much better than Gonzalez, and twice as valuable overall on the offensive side
The red sox feel differently and/or dont care at all about the other stuff you mentioned; hence releasing Marwin. They obviously want the upgrade on the offensive
For the record though, Marwin has been a much worse runner this year than Travis, and the two are about equal when it comes to 1B defense for the last few years – it is only his 2B def that puts Gonzalez on top on fielding. And Gonzalez has thrown all of 1 inning in his career, bringing it up like he’s some kind of bullpen weapon is comically pitiful.
You being wrong on 4 of your points, including your first and then all 3 you switched your argument to, shows you’ve made up your mind and are trying to force an argument out. I don’t care either way, I have no dog in this race, but I’ll trust both the team and the statistics which say its a good turn over instead of some biased fan trying to find a point on a message board
When I say shaw fails as a relief arm, it’s not that Gonzalez is a closer or setup guy… I’m saying if you want to ditch Gonzalez use the 40 man spot on a true bullpen arm. It’s not a guy needs to be all three things. It’s he need to fit a role, well.
You claim Travis is a better runner…. with 0 SB attempts. No speed. Travis is NOT a PR. You get a speedster that can’t hit for that, which, the aging shaw is not.
It is funny you mention 2b being where Gonzalez is better though because…. where do the sox not have an entrenched regular? Oh yes, 2B.
Bloom is desperate to find a cast off superstar like a Ortiz after MIN or like JDM after HOU cast them off. He keeps striking out and is showing he wasn’t the guy making the moves thay made TB shine.
No shifting the argument, adding to it. You haven’t shown me to be wrong on any.
Shaw sucks.
Bloom sucks.
Sweep out the trash after this season. Start with bumbling Bloom the bloomin idiot
Hitting -> Shaw is better, zero question. Not only has he hit better this year, but the Sox may see something they think they can fix. They’ve been working with Marwin all year and he’s obviously a lost cause
Running -> Shaw is better. I get that you don’t get this, but Gonzalez is god awful on the basepaths. Sure, he has 3 SB, but with 2 CS. And his -1.6 BsR shows he’s not getting good jumps off other hitters making contact either. Almost anyone on the team would be a better runner than Gonzalez. Literally, only JD and Renfroe have worse baserunning statistics this season. Have a pitcher pinch run if you want, but NOT Marwin
Pitching -> non factor. Literally can’t believe you even brought it up. But as far as you now switching this argument to you ‘didn’t mean Marwin was an option, but just meant they should have signed a RP’ …well, the team doesn’t care what you think, and they know their guys better than you
Fielding -> again, the team doesn’t care. The fact Shaw is a superior hitter and superior runner while being just as good a fielder at 1B? Well, clearly that is what the Sox care about
Yes, Shaw sucks. But know who sucks much, much more for what the Sox need? Marwin, the guy you are trying to insist is better. So as I said, you got your bias that we all recognize since you scream it as loud as you can, but no one cares – and thats esp true of the red sox, who know a bit or two more what their doing than you
did you also look where Travis did best last year? Which stadiums? Toronto Boston and Baltimore all AL East teams. So why not give it a shot as he did well in boston when he played there and even played well there while on opposing teams. Maybe he is the Jaime Collins of the MLB where he only plays well in Boston.
He has not played there this year so cant judge if that will continue only last year is when he played in al east stadiums since leaving.
Sorry but is this a raging debate on who sucks worse? Is that really relevant? The fact that a GM brought in 2 guys that suck is the relevant point. The GM needs to go so REAL talent can be acquired and the dozens of marginal utility players can be released in the off season and a new approach of contracting talented players gets adopted by the new GM.
I can see the Phillies looking into signing him
Don’t see the phillies signing him. They have Galvin coming back eventually and have Torres and Williams who play multiple positions
It’s Galvis.
It’s Galvin. Pud Galvin. The first 300 game winner in MLB history. As an unexpected effect of the Field of Dreams game he will be returning through the corn to finally give the Phillies some reliable pitching……
And Torreyes
13Morgs13 – Who is the GM in Philly? It’s not going to happen.
I really don’t understand why Chaim is giving up a 40 man roster spot for Travis Shaw. They must have zero faith in Dalbec or Schwarber to play first base. What they should have done is called up Josh Ockimey to platoon with Dalbec. Ockimey is terrible against LH pitchers but he hits righties very well. Dalbec handles lefties fairly well. Travis Shaw proved over the last two seasons that his skills have diminished greatly. Seems like a waste of a roster spot to me. Maybe Danny Santana is next up on the chopping block.
Makes you start to wonder is bloom is secretly still on the TB payroll and trying to sabotage the season huh?
GASoxFan – It’s true EVERYTHING Bloom does seems to suggest he was hired as an internal spy to destroy the Red Sox from within. Certainly the Mookie and Price move supports that concept as well as most of the rest of his actions.
Your mistake is thinking TB would PAY him for it. They don’t pay for things so he’s doing it out of loyalty to the mother ship.
My guess is that this is a short-term move. Shaw still has a career .761. If he doesn’t hit, he’ll be replaced as soon as Arroyo or Santana is off the IL.
Perez, Richards, Gonzalez, and Wily Mo Cordero – strike four.
It’s more like strike 47 or so since he came to town.
Giants
It’s all about catching lightning in a bottle. Travis has a shot a redemption. He can thank Tyler Thornberg for being a complete and total bust. That has to have something to do with it. If he can hit, he can make the postseason roster, perhaps…if not, he can join Eduardo Nunez in Tiawan.
Let Marwan sign with Monclova in the Mexican League who will have an open roster spot when the Red Sox purchase Danny Espinosa, another Swiss Army knife, from Monclova to take the place of Travis Shaw on August 30. ( well, maybe not. But it is a rumor. Stranger things have happened……)
Northeastern – I like the catch lightning in a bottle phrase. It summarizes how Bloom has pumped up fans hopes that he was actually doing something productive and he wasn’t.
When I see Bloom taking an interview my memory jumps to the movie “Being There”. He’s the new Chauncey Gardiner!! Does nothing but keep a low profile and takes full credit for things that have nothing to do with him.
Chauncey Bloom …. I like it.
Let’s see: A slightly below average hitter who had one crazy, 146 OPS+ season in 2017 for — wait for it — yup, your Houston Astros. Which he then turned into $30 million or so in career earnings. Could his case by any more obvious? And no, I’m not talking about freakin’ garbage cans.
lmao. So instead of acknowledging the known way that team cheated, you’re trying to imply he was further cheating, with absolutely nothing to back your opinion
Knowing what pitch is coming is plenty to have a career year..
BeforeMcCourt – Be fair now he was with Cora so the tip of the iceberg is likely!!
No garbage cans and the average drops
Did the Sox cut Santana yet?
IL. I can’t wait to see the line of guys lining up at the Tobin if/when we activate him.
But the fun part is, the same guys will be lined up at the Tobin if we cut him.
Say what you want, but I like this. Shaw isn’t a guy to look at stats for outcomes. He’s a scrappy hitter who has gone on streaks and hits far more homeruns than Gonzalez will. He was hitting .290 early in the season and his streaky offense may just come around now.
So, that either DFA someone or stick Santana on the 60 day DL.
Or Arroyo
Replacing Marwin with Travis is an insignificant transaction. Both are done, although maybe the Red Sox figure Shaw’s skills are more in need at the moment.
RobM – Wouldn’t Brock Holt have been better because he didn’t have to step on the field and he made a difference in the clubhouse by jumping up and down with JD after a homer. See those are the types of skills that guys on the bench provide. Walk-off home runs or big pinch hits are a pipe dream. Without cans, I believe Travis has a much better shot of having one moment in the spotlight than most of the other bench jockeys that have been in the news lately..
Only good in 2017 you say? I’m stunned
This guy is the real winner of that scandal. He got PAID because he cheated in the right year
Technically all the Astros players were winners of that scandal. Oh yeah, and Cora too. Ironically, Beltran is the only one who was truly punished. And he probably should’ve had a second shot before Cora given their positional relationship during the scandal. I don’t doubt Cora will get caught cheating again to win, but time will tell.
Marwin González is the poster child for the CHEATING
2017 Houston Asterisks…
23 HR 90 RBI… nothing close before or after…
Hang your head in shame Marwin as you exit stage left!