Aug. 29: The Red Sox have made these moves official, selecting Kelly, recalling Ort, while designating Sawamura and Davis.
Aug. 28: The Red Sox are evidently taking multiple steps to shake up their bullpen, with right-hander Hirokazu Sawamura designated for assignment, according to Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe. That’s the second such move of the night, as lefty Austin Davis is reportedly being designated as well. Chad Jennings of The Athletic tweets that Zack Kelly and Kaleb Ort will take the open roster spots. Alex Speier of the Boston Globe had previously mentioned Kelly as a possibility.
Sawamura, 34, had pitched in 10 seasons in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball before signing a two-year deal with the Red Sox prior to the 2021 campaign. Coming into today’s action, he had thrown in 103 games with a 3.16 ERA between last year and this year. His 22.5% strikeout in that time is around league average, though his 12.8% walk rate is definitely on the high side. He has been able to limit damage by keeping the ball on the ground, as evidenced by his 51.9% ground ball rate.
There are some reasons to be somewhat bearish on Sawamura, as his .267 career BABIP is below the .290 league average. That might be somewhat related to his ground ball tendencies, but he’s also been hit hard. His 45.9% hard hit rate is about ten points above league average and only in the fifth percentile among MLB pitchers. He’s also been trending in the wrong direction, having registered a 2.48 ERA through July 23 this year but a 5.40 mark since.
Between the Sawamura and Davis moves, it seems the club felt it necessary to make changes to a relief corps that has been fairly disappointing. The club’s combined bullpen has a 4.49 ERA that ranks 26th in the majors. Although some advanced metrics are a bit kinder, none of them view the group as elite.
Sawamura’s contract came with a split option for 2023, with various escalators in play. MLBTR’s Anthony Franco recently looked at that option, noting that the club option had already increase to $3.6MM. Since that writing, it has ticked up to $3.7MM and still had room to climb. If the club had declined that option, Sawamura would have had the ability to trigger a player option, which had reached $1.9MM as of today and could still have grown further. It seems the Red Sox didn’t intend to trigger their end of the deal and are cutting Sawamura loose.
Since the trade deadline has now passed, the Sox will have no choice but to put Sawamura on outright waivers or release waivers. If he were to pass through waivers, the Sox would remain on the hook for the remainder of his salary for this season, as well as the $1MM buyout on the 2023 option. As Sawamura has less than three years of MLB service time and has not been previously outrighted in his career, he would not have the ability to reject an outright assignment.
Ort, 30, is already on the club’s 40-man roster, having thrown 15 innings this year with an ERA of 9.00. But as for Kelly, this will be the first addition to a big league roster for the 27-year-old. Having previously spent time in the systems of the Athletics and Angels, he was released and signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox prior to the 2021 season. This year, he’s spent the entire season in Triple-A, throwing 49 2/3 innings with a 2.72 ERA and excellent 34.4% strikeout rate, though a high walk rate of 12%. Boston will give him a chance to see if he can carry any of those strong numbers over to the majors.
Please do Brasier now
Why bring back Kaleb Ort? He is a disaster! This is the time to bring up Frank German or another young pitcher who should have the chance of making the 2023 roster. I’d rather have Sawmura on the roster than Ort.
He had one bad outing.
Way way over due!
You get cut, and you get cut, and you…
They need to dfa 22 players out of 40 oin the 40 man roster. Just have not done a terrible job at player development past few years… and made just meh trades and FA signings… last place in AL East this guaranteed Aswell as next year.
Hopefully they’ll turn it around starting with moves like thes
So they’ve done a good job of player development the past few years?
Yeah I wrote that wrong. They’ve done a terrible job a player development past few years
Ballistics – I agree. When was the last time a Sox-developed player has made an impact? Devers?
When a bunch of pre-Bloom players leave this coming offseason, let’s see how good Bloom is at replacing them.
That’s the key feverpitchguy. This off season we will see what Bloom is made of.
You don’t draft and develop players to be ready in 3 years. Bloom’s first draft: Nick Yorke, No 2nd Rd, Blaze Jordan are still at High A. The lack of playable MLB players from the farm, is on the previous GM. Manuel Margot, Jalen Beeks, Michael Kopech would be the players helping out right now if they weren’t traded away.
Lots of people are glad that DD traded away the farm to win in 2018. Thats fine, but the cost was several years of this. Not sure why that isn’t understood.
DD was hired to win now, which he did. He’s now got the Phillies in playoff position. Sox have still won more championships in the 21st century than any other club. Such was done with three different GMs. Bloom in my book has two more years. Not to get close like last year but to win it all.
You don’t draft guys for three years down the line? Yes you do. Yorke is 20 years old and was drafted out of high school and is in his second season playing pro games. Jordan is 19 years old! Insane power upside! He was drafted out of high school at age 17 and is only in his second minor league season! He doesn’t even have a full season of minor league games under him yet! You want to bring these guys up as if they are Devers or Soto but that’s not how it works with most prospects. And even then, it took Devers a few years to get it going! Kopech is a known nut with significant injury history. Moncada is hitting .197 with 8 homers and more Ks than games played. Margot is having his first good year at the plate. And I’d rather have an all star starter in Eovaldi than a long reliever/spot starter in beeks.
Ridiculously high expectations. Before Bloom’s first crop of draftees/international signings even get to the big leagues, he has to “win it all”? Sure.
“Yes you do” So you DO draft guys to be ready for the big leagues in 3 years? Then you praise Jordan and Yorke. So are they good or bad, because they weren’t ready in 3 years? Not sure what youre trying to say.
Like the way you compared Eovoldi to the worst of the three. Not taking into account the price of Eovoldi, Sale and the absolute lack of any Dombrowski draft picks making anything close to the impact of Margot, Kopech or Beeks. —- DD had 4 drafts and 7 years to produce MLB players, we got Dalbec and Houck. Yet Bloom is expected to have better results in 3 years.
Well said 123.
In a market like Boston, balance is needed. Go back to 14 and 15. NESN ratings tanked. What has happened is In the last there were just a few teams that could spend like Boston. Now, there’s quite a few more which increases payroll for all. No excuses for having one of the worst pitching staffs in the sport.
In Boston yes. DD made the needed moves to win in 18. Bloom has made some great decisions and a few no so. He needs to trade or buy to be a winner. The fan base will not wait until 25.
I agree. I think fans in most cities wouldn’t mind a few troubled seasons to win a WS. DD has done 1000% than boy wonder Klentak did. Plus, this trading deadline he improved the team and kept their three stud pitching prospects who are their 1,2 and 4.
Ummm, MLB isn’t like the NFL/NBA or even the NHL where draft picks go right on to the roster. Literally every pick is taken with several years of development intended. Very few breeze throw the minor leagues within a couple of seasons (mostly college seniors)
Unfortunately that seems to be the team philosophy; go all in to win the World Series, then reset 5 years win it all again then lather, rinse, repeat
Fanbase will wait til ’25, they waited 86 years before and made it. Not sure where you think they’re going to go.
You guys act like DD knew that in 2018 he definitely was going to win a World Series. He set up the team nicely, but they still went into the season as the 6th best chance to win it all. Nothing was guaranteed.
Gary – You’re 100% right, next year it will finally be Bloom’s team as only $29.6M of the payroll will be inherited salaries (Sale, Ramirez, Pedroia).
You draft college players in the first 3 rounds to be ready in 1-3 years but not high school players. Most good high school players take 5+ years to make it to the majors. Sure there are exceptions to this rule such as Bobby Witt, Jr. who made it to the majors in 2 years but that is a rarity. Both Devers & Soto took 4+ years to make it to the majors. They were both signed at age 16 via the International Free Agency process.
Let’s face it, the Chris Sale injuries have ruined the Boston pitching staff. Bloom didn’t make the decision to trade for, or to extend Sale, but what he failed to do is build a pitching staff around Sale that could pick up the slack should he go down. We’re finally starting to see how the new coaching philosophy brought in by Bloom translates to the majors. Bryan Bello is the first of hopefully a few young pitchers who have been all the way through the new system. Next up should be Bryan Mata and possibly Brandon Walter or Chris Murphy as well. Most of the best Sox prospects are still 2+ years away, so it’s going to take quite an effort by Bloom to build a short term competitive team without blocking the young talent once they are ready. Boston should really tank next season but I don’t think the owners will go for that and I’m not sure Bloom would survive if he decided to go that route. So Bloom needs to find the next Kiké Hernandez types to provide a bridge to the real young talent that should all be ready by 2025.
No excuses for having one of the worst pitching staffs in the sport.
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There is when the pitching staff is on the IL most of the year. Pivetta, Hill, Eovaldi and Wacha have combined for a 3.93 against a league average 3.99. And a healthy Sale would’ve made this a pretty good rotation.
Fanbase will wait til ’25, they waited 86 years before and made it.
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We’ve won 4 times in less than 20 years. Anyone that quits because we only played .500 this year deserves to spend their lives never winning again.
It wasn’t just Sale. It was also JD and Eovaldi feeling their age. That’s just the way it goes when guys are signed to l/t contracts. You get some good years, but you also get their declining years as well. $66M (less AAV) for a combined 1.6 bWAR is what doomed us.
Dorthy sounds like your a real defender of bloom. And to a certain extent your right must give his vision and plan 4-5 to execute. But how can you defend what he did at the trade deadline???
I like him, I like his Samurai style hairdo and would fit in with the Orioles
I wonder if he would take a minor league deal and work out the bugs
He has some talent and had a semi rough year,. but he has talent.
Once he clears waivers, there’s no question another team will pick him up so long as they’re not on the hook for any buyouts next season. Sawamura is somewhat of an enigma. He can look dominant for 2-3 appearances in a row then he gets tattooed his next time on the mound. I wouldn’t be surprised to see one of the wild card teams take a chance on him. Every team can use an extra bullpen arm these days and if a contender can get him basically for free (one month pro-rated league minimum salary), why not give him a shot? Not sure he’d be part of an actual playoff roster but he could definitely help a team make it into the playoffs if he’s used properly.
Agreed.
Sawamura’s numbers by home/away
Home games: 26G, 29.1IP, 5.83ERA, 1.81WHIP
Away games: 23G, 21.1IP, 0.84ERA, 0.89WHIP
He should definitely go play for another team.
Seems odd to DFA him. He has a buyout in his contract doesn’t he? And I know he’s been a lot worse than his era suggest but my gosh, that bullpen is really really bad and he’s close enough to a bright light that you might as well finish out the season with him. Idk…
He’s allowed a pile of inherited runners to score. He’s a pretty frustrating pitcher.
Oh I’m sure. His walk rate is insane… think my point is, he’s a better option even so than most of that bullpen
They are replacing him with a much worse pitcher in Kaleb Ort. That’s the part I really don’t understand.
I know it says Zach Kelly replaced him but he actually got the call first (when the DFA’d Davis) so Kelly technically replaces Davis, which I’m in favor of and Ort replaces Sawamura (not a fan of this at all).
Dotty – Agreed, the callup of Ort is the head scratcher.
Ort was the guy on the mound for the inside the park grand slam in the 28-5 game
He actually had a very, very good appearance in a game against NYY right before the all star break.
I’m a little surprised he’s still in consideration to be carried on the 40 man over the winter, but it’s not crazy. He’s shown flashes and has been excellent in AAA. Ort is coming up instead of German because German is a 100% lock to be added over the winter. Front office is doing the right thing by getting more information on decisions they haven’t made yet.
$$$$$$
Ort has been bad in the MLB, but he has been solid in AAA as he has 16 saves in 18 opportunities. I guess the Red Sox are giving him another opportunity. Ort also has 2 more option years remaining after this year and can be an up/down AAA depth for next year. Davis is out of options.
@ JC## Kind of makes sense to give him another go. Especially if he’s capable of going back and forth on the Mass pike.
Could just be short term where he then gets DFAed.
Dewey – my crystal ball agrees. I think Ort’s 40-man roster spot will go to someone else either in September or November when Rule 5s are added to the 40-man roster.
Next up… Brasier!
Sox should designate Bloom for assignment.
Release waivers?
I realize many like Cora. I don’t like the way he handles the staff but such also goes to Bloom. That said, am I the first to mention a countdown clock for Tek to become the next Six skipper?
Dewey – I’m not a Cora fan. Fired by the Astros, suspended by MLB, rehired in Boston. Poor choice. Varitek is not far off. I still wish Gardenhire got the gig – personal favorite.
Perhaps the purging has begun. I do however feel replacing Sawamura with Ort is replacing bad with worse, at least Sawamura was decent on the road
I agree as have many around this thread. Doesn’t make much sense…
Sawamura has escalators.. you have to cut him now if you’re thinking of even the possibility at the end of the year and not bringing him back. It would cost more then.
Ort gets another shot this year or are you going to write him off now? Organization says pitch him now so you’ll know if you want to keep him for next year. Sure, he hasn’t fared well thus far, but is getting some more innings. Easy to figure out just read the article.
Since 2012 we have finished in the basement four times in the AL EAST and 2022 will mark the fifth time. Chaim Bloom has been in control for three seasons of which the Boston Red Sox have finished in 5th place in the AL EAST. Bloom did nothing for this team in 2022 and should be the next DFA.. If anything he should be DFA’ for the Hunter Renfroe/JBJ trade.
shortstop – You’re wrong, this will be Bloom’s 2nd last-place finish in Boston.
But yeah, Bloom is looking closer to a failure than a success.
Really is first. I don’t count a 60 game pandemic season. I still believe the Dodgers should not have received rings. What they did was unique and deserving of something but baseball is a marathon and 20 was 37% of a typical year. Maybe a Tiffany bracelet. Could be anything but not a ring. We talk about “rings” in sports and to get one in any of the affected sports just seems strange if not wrong.
Dewey the salty clown
deweybelongsinthehall5 hours ago
Really is first.
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And really doesn’t count. It is the record that counts. When the Washington FB team came in 1st in 2020, with a 7-9 record, that didn’t make them a good team.
Context counts.
2022 Red Sox DFA list – JBJ, Yolmer Sanchez, Travis Shaw, Johnathan Araruz, Hansel Robles, Philips Valdez, Sawamura, Austin Davis – who did I forget….from this trash heap (no disrespect JBJ).
Why DFA Hosmer? He’s getting league min from the Sox? Any replacement will be a maybe hitter making more money.
@DBH1969 Nobody said to DFA Hosmer. And he won’t be DFA’d unless Casas steals the job. Hosmer is a professional big leaguer. He adds a man to a little boy locker room
Ya, sorry. Read the above post incorrectly. My bad. Thanks for the slap upside my head lol
He would be traded in that case. He’s playing with house money. No way you release him. Another team would grab him for that.
That’s a rough list(JBJ aside for his stellar defense). I know there were injuries but Sanchez got way too much playing time. Robles had his chance and sucked. I was a fan of Valdez cuz if his changeup was on it was filthy but he had nothing else and poor control. I think the boss needs to re-evaluate the minor league pitching coaching staffs, particularly in the pen.
Should be German over Ort
This will be Ort’s last merry-go round with the Sox unless he’s brilliant. Or at least effective.
Exactly Bobby.
Bobby – That is correct. If Ort does not perform well he will be DFAed as the Red Sox have 8-10 Rule 5 eligibles who will need a 40-man roster spot come November, so they need to know now if he is worth keeping. If he work well they keep him on the 40, and if he does not he becomes a free agent for another team to try.
why Sawamura over Brasier
Because Brasier throws hard and Bloom is in love with hard throwers.
because soft tossers are the way to go with relief pitchers?
It doesn’t matter how hard you throw. It only matters if you get outs. Braiser has an ERA of a 6.34 in 54 games with a 1.470 WHIP and 7 homers in 49.2 innings. Sawamura has an ERA of 3.72 (even after yesterday) 1.421 WHIP and has surrendered 4 homers in 50.2 innings. Sawamura is a ground ball specialist in a homerun ball park. This is why this makes no sense.
I’m not advocating they keep Brasier but I certainly don’t fault teams for prioritizing pitchers who can actually throw above 91 MPH. Sawamura is gone because he can’t pitch with runners on and a 3.72 era doesn’t capture that problem. That said I expect Braisier to be the next to go.
Because Sawamura can’t pitch in Fenway
Bird – “why Sawamura over Brasier”
Sawamura was on track for $3,700,000 in 2023.
Brasier make $1,400,000 this year and even with arbitration will make less than Sawamura, but IMO he will not be back in 2023 either.
Time to DFA Bloom.
Strange move if you ask me. I’m totally fine with both Davis & Sawamura being DFA’d, although you’d think Brasier would have gone first. The complex nature of Sawamura’s contract with escalators and the 2023 option buyout probably played a part played in choosing him over Brasier but what I really don’t understand is why they decided to replace Sawamura with Kaleb Ort on the active roster. Ort has been horrible this year and probably has a higher hard hit rate than Sawamura himself. Why not give Frank German a chance? By cutting Davis & Sawamura, they opened 2 spots on the 40 man roster so that is not an issue for them. This is the time to give their youngsters a shot in the majors and not a 30 year old Ort who has failed every time they’ve brought him up. Perhaps they needed an extra arm for today or tomorrow and German would not be available because he recently pitched multiple innings? That’s the only explanation that would make sense here. The Sox seem like a rudderless ship these days and Cora & Bloom might end up paying the ultimate price because of it.
If I had a guess I wonder if Ort is only up temporarily for an emergency situation
Omg shut up pppppp
German probably joins the club with the September call up anyway. Last chance for Ort to redeem himself. He has 35 saves for Woo Sox the last 2 years. Can’t hurt to have another look.
Ort had one bad game.
Brasier probably has more upside. Sawamura has a K/W this year of 1.48. That ranks #162 in the MLB. At a minimum of 100 IPs over 21/22, Sawamura ranks last in K/W. Brasier might be next,
Bloom, Bush, Brasier, Cordero and Dalbec should all go. Maybe time for Cora to go as well.
JV promoted to manager
With Pedro as pitching coach (haha). I do like the idea of Varitek as Manager
Why are people so in love with the idea of promoting Jason Varitek? he’s never managed at any level and what makes anything think he wants the job?
[plays the opening chords to Glory Days]
You know Franchy has been killing it lately, right? I know he’s frustrating, but he has 4 HR in his last 7 or 8 games now and you still want him gone with no clear upgrades even available?
For every run Franchy produces his defense gives back or leads to two going to the other team. No clear upgrade? How about Arroyo or Casas; they can’t do any worse.
Casas I could understand, but Arroyo? Why? If they were in contention sure, but their postseason hopes are clearly over so it’s not like it really matters much at this point. Why not just let Franchy have a little more time to see if this recent hot streak means something? Even if his defense blows, maybe he can show enough to factor into the DH mix next year.
Him over Brasier? It baffles me how Brasier is still on this team. Sawamura was at least half decent, Brasier has an ERA in like the 7’s.
Two more roster moves that you can add to the ever-growing list of perplexities suddenly plaguing Chaim Bloom’s tenure as Chief Baseball Wonk of the BoSox.
WHY?????? How can they possibly choose to keep Brasier over Sawamura?!?! This is one of the stupidest moves I’ve seen in a while. There’s been literally no reason for Brasier to be on this team for MONTHS now.
It all relates to money owed for next year. The longer he stays on the team the more he collects for the buyout. Brasier is done and they let him walk no cost at all at the end of the year. He’s probably next though. But there’s no strings with him.
If he makes it to the Phillies that would be a huge wire pickup for the team.
Ort’s MLB ERA drops to 4.40 if you throw out the game in which his center fielder dropped a pop up with the bases loaded and made no attempt to retrieve the ball.
According to Cots, Sawamura’s buyout is actually the $1.9 million. And curiously he still has the player option, which I guess theoretically he could exercise in AAA for 2023 if he passes through waivers and accepts his assignment.
He will probably be released if unclaimed.
Sawamura was lights out unhittable for a stretch here and there and he hasn’t been horrendous. Surprised by this move this late in the season. Do they really think they can ‘go for it’ even now? What’s the point of a DFA at this point when you’re on the hook for the money and the buyout?
They must be hoping another club picks him up on waivers or signs him for the rest of the season and is on the hook for the buy out?
Also as much as I love to see the Red Sox scuffling, maybe they should also ‘DFA’ Alex Cora and end his era for good.
What is with their love affair with that guy?
They’re hoping some team is desperate enough to put in a claim, and pay the freight.
It seems like every story involving the Red Sox start with ‘Red Sox release……’
At this pace they might as well put out ‘Red Sox release team and call 2022 a day’.
Release sawa then call up a guy with 9 era and keep brazer who has a 6 era. Great logic red Sox front office!
Did you read the article?
Yes and his comment still makes complete sense. Why isn’t Brasier DFA’d?
Exactly pwndroia
Open a spot just so we can pick up more trash