1:15pm: The Red Sox have announced that Bradley has been released. He will now be free to sign with any team for the protated league minimum, with Boston on the hook for the remainder of his contract.
8:55am: The Red Sox will designate veteran outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. for assignment later today, reports Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe.
Boston reacquired Bradley in an offseason trade that sent Hunter Renfroe to the Brewers. The trade netted the Red Sox a pair of prospects, infielders Alex Binelas and David Hamilton, and saw the Sox take on the second year of Bradley’s two-year, $24MM contract in the process. Effectively, the Sox purchased a pair of minor leaguers by bringing Bradley back into the fold and picking up the tab on his deal. Binelas and Hamilton rank as Boston’s No. 22 and No. 26 prospects, respectively, on Baseball America’s midseason ranking of their farm system.
There was certainly some reason for the Sox to roll the dice on a Bradley reunion even after an awful 2021 showing that saw him hit just .163/.236/.261 in 428 plate appearances as a Brewer. He remained an all-world defender in the outfield, was dogged by a .226 average on balls in play that sat 64 points below his career mark, and made hard contact at better-than-average rates (89.7 mph average exit velo, 40.3% hard-hit rate). Of course, Bradley also punched out at a career-worst 30.8% clip in Milwaukee, walked at a career-worst 6.5% rate and popped up more regularly than ever before.
Bradley indeed did not hit as poorly as he did in Milwaukee, but this season’s .210/.257/.321 slash wasn’t nearly enough of a rebound to carry Bradley on the roster for the entirety of the season. He’s been 42% worse than league average with the bat, by measure of wRC+, and his defensive marks in center field have fallen off a bit this season (though he’s played right field more regularly anyhow).
25-year-old Jarren Duran has taken over the club’s regular center fielder, getting the bulk of the playing time there since mid-June. He hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire, hitting a meager .232/.280/.384, but his wRC+ of 82 is still well ahead of Bradley’s, though with worse defensive numbers. It seems the club will continue giving him a run of playing time for now to see how he fares down the stretch. Boston acquired Tommy Pham at the deadline, which likely played a part in nudging Bradley out of the corner outfield picture. Pham, Duran and Alex Verdugo will likely be the regular outfield rotation, with Jaylin Davis around as depth and Enrique Hernandez joining the mix once he returns from the injured list.
As for what happens now, there’s no way for the Sox to work out a trade since the deadline has passed. Their only options with Bradley are to put him on waivers or release him. Bradley’s defense will surely intrigue some other teams, but it seems unlikely any team will claim him given his poor offensive performance and contract situation. He’s making a $9.5MM salary this year, leaving a little over $3MM still to be paid out. There’s also a $12MM mutual option for 2023 with an $8MM buyout. Any team putting in a claim would be on the hook for that money. Even the clubs most interested in Bradley will likely just wait for him to clear waivers, at which point he could elect free agency and be signed for the prorated league minimum with the Red Sox on the hook for the remainder.
In the short-term, the trade certainly looks like a misfire for the Sox, with Renfroe having a solid season for the Brewers. He’s hit 19 home runs and is slashing .246/.299/.508 for a wRC+ of 120. However, the long-term evaluation of the deal will depend upon the future development of Binelas and Hamilton.
What took you so long?
I’m guessing his .785 OPS at Fenway.
Too bad Cora couldn’t just bench him on the road, but with 8 relievers that’s not possible.
Those are some extreme splits. Too bad they couldn’t have hypnotized him into believing they were at Fenway when they were on the road. Would’ve made a heck of an interesting experiment. But maybe it would’ve ended up with him running into walls he didn’t expect to be there.
Yeah, better to just release him.
They were confused on what to do, as they were hard hit pop ups!
You’d be confused to if you were an infielder waiting five minutes for the ball to drop.
This release frees-up Jackie Bradley Jr. to perform in Vegas with his stepfather, the great Jackie Rogers Jr.! To see the show, go to the world-famous Sahara Hotel. ……and make a sharp left, and go, well, it has to be about seven miles.
If the Yankees claim him, what would Donaldson call him?
Eric Young Jr?
Tim
Oh snap!
wwe, mr. anderson
Mr Robinson
teammate
Daddy
future dfa partner
A waste of a roster spot
ohhh hahahaha
He loves it when you call him big poppa ….. … ?
Lol he stinks
I think this was Chaim Bloom’s worst move of the offseason. He should have never let go of Renfroe. While I understand Milwaukee sent two decent prospects back, Hamilton’s ceiling is a utility bench player / pinch runner in MLB and while Binelas has the power potential of Renfroe, he strikes out way too much and really doesn’t play solid defense anywhere. There’s a chance Binelas could develop but Renfroe would have had the Red Sox at least 5 games better in the standings now, if not more. Not to mention JBJ cost them $18M vs. Renfroe’s $6M. It never made sense to me.
Binelas was just drafted last year. You might was to give him some time. Giving Ceddanne Rafaela some time is looking like a good decision. Also, your speculation about 5 games is hogwash.
Alex Binelas and David Hamilton look excellent. Binelas is a power 3B-1B. Hamilton is a fast 2B-SS. Both are good defenders.
Cutting JBJ shows the BoSox are committed to the future. They probably did try to trade JBJ but now it’s time to let others try to develop in MLB. I don’t think anyone foresaw the amount Alex Verduci and Kiki Herndez would decline. JBJ was a good 4th OF option.
You don’t want them to follow the Detroit Tigers model of playing mediocre veterans while their young players see limited action then shuttled until the options run out.
It was still a terrible decision as the JBJ contract obligations ($18M vs the CBT for 2022) put them over the CBT threshold after they signed Story. The move made zero sense unless they had committed to not being competitive this season and had accepted that internally.
I think they internally committed to not competing this year. That is why they signed Wacha, Hill, Paxton, Robles and no closer. Let’s say they fielded a team with a chance to compete if all went well. I think their top priority is building the farm system. I think they may not go all in on competing until Marcelo Mayer is up with the team.
@Dorothy, Yeah and the fact that Duran will be next year’s CF pretty much screams they ain’t competing next year as well. Unless of course they sign some FA’s in the off season. What’s the chance of that? I’d be willing to bet that they run a 160-175 M payroll next year and shoot for 2024.
@ suit, that sounds possible. Perhaps if they had been in command of a real WC shot they might have added at the deadline?
For Dorothy, All in the Suit, and Bobby, who seem to agree that we decided that we weren’t competing, you do realize that we are indeed competing, right? We’re .500 after having gone 5 weeks with 4-5 SPs on the IL.
Joe:
Astros: Competing, added a good catcher (Vazquez) for prospects
Red Sox: Not competing, traded a good catcher for prospects
I am ok with building the farm system as !omg as they get back to competing. The Red Sox are competing in that they are doing their best to win with what they have now, but I think they are emphasizing building the farm more than fielding the best team possible.
The Red Sox are competing in that they are doing their best to win with what they have now,
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If your point is that they are not going all-in, I agree. But nor should they. IRT Houston adding, imo, we added as well.
I wouldn’t bet my Vegas money on it, but I’d make a modest wager that McGuire & Hosmer will out-perform what Vazquez & Cordero provided in the first half. This isn’t an over the top improvement, but we replaced an awful player at 1st with someone that is a solid league-average 1B. That’s a substantial improvement.
McGuire is more of a wildcard, but I like him. With Pham replacing JBJ in the lineup, Hosmer replacing Cordero, and eventually Kiki replacing Duran, we’re down to only one hole in the lineup.
Joe: Yes, we agree.
There was something off with Renfroe, and they got good prospects.
Weird. I bet Rays scoop him.
You mean the Sting Rays?
Better version of Phillips?
Nope.
Great Job Chaim! Take on 11mil to just drop the player & grab a few prospects. “applause”
That…is…good, though??? I’m applauding him for getting 2 top 30 prospects for mid Hunter Renfroe.
I’m applauding him for getting 2 top 30 prospects
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I’d guess that half the RS fans have no idea who we got in the deal, or what their stats are.
Hamilton, imvho, looks like a solid UIF He’s not quite a kid, but there is nothing in his AA stats that is disappointing. If he could sustain a .650-675 OPS as he moves up, he could be valuable.
Binelas has a high ceiling and low floor. He’s shown 40 HR power at every level, with the obvious K/W issues. But 150/71 isn’t poison either. As with some of our other fringy corner IF prospects, I’d like to see him take some reps in LF.
Prospects are like a lottery ticket…you lose more than you win! Not discounting these prospects but we have to be real with facts. RS, gambled on 2 prospects to take on 11mil in salary obligations & dump a player.
How many dingers and RBI did we lose in that deal? And with the pen in such poor shape we dealt funds away on Paxton and JBJ that were not necessary. Just saying this year looks like they had no intention of competing
I agree! Last year was a fluke. A least we exceeded last years original expectations this year.
Don’t forget they still owe him the buyout for next year, 8 million I believe.
Thats why i am saying they took on huge salary for 2 prospect that may never pan out. Hunter is only making 7.6mil this season. It was a dumb move!
Prospects are like a lottery ticket…you lose more than you win!
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Sure, but that’s like the draft in every sport. Teams are always trading future draft picks or prospects for current talent.
Tell Chaim that!
Just saying this year looks like they had no intention of competing
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Then this was a heck of a job by Bloom. We lost 4 SPs and are still at .500.
Just a general question for anyone. Ignoring the injuries to Kiki, Story & Devers, what do you think our record would be if we simply replaced the 7-14 record we had with replacements Winckowski, Whitlock, Crawford, Houck, Davis, Bello & Seabold with the 23-18 record that our expected rotation has?
On a strict extrapolation basis, we’d be one game behind TO.
Joe – You actually are using starter pitcher wins as a barometer? Seriously?
THEY lost two starting pitchers unexpectedly, Wacha and Eovaldi..
Everyone on this planet (except you) assumed Sale and Hill would get hurt for the obvious reasons.
And starter losses don’t mean the starter pitched badly, and starter wins don’t necessarily mean they pitched well.
A starting pitcher could be pitching well and get virtually no run support and his defense could make multiple costly errors and the bullpen could blow the lead, that’s not the starting pitcher’s fault.
A starting pitcher could be pitching poorly but get a ton of run support.
If you don’t want to use W/L, which is certainly fair, use ERA. The original rotation has a 4.04. The subs have a 5.02.
Yes, you are discounting prospects as part of building a team. I guess you would condemn every trade at the deadline involving prospects.
That’s what most fans do because they’d only care about this year and think going all in every year is a proper strategy. They think this because they aren’t intelligent and as soon as the team stops winning they simply stop watching until they’re good again, and that’s when the prospects they hated getting in the first place develop and get good.
iverbure: agreed
Iver – Sounds like you don’t follow the Red Sox too closely.
They have NOT gone “all in” for 4 years now.
They did virtually nothing at the 2019 trade deadline.
They did less than nothing prior to or during the 2020 season.
They did virtually nothing prior to or during the 2021 season.
And they did very little this trade deadline.
Prior to the Story signing, the biggest contract Bloom gave was the $14M Total contract to Hernandez. This Red Sox fanbase has been very patient, very understanding for several years now but we will NOT be conned into thinking a 5-year rebuild is necessary … because it’s not.
They should have gone all-in this year because the “window” of All-Stars who are about to leave would have given one more opportunity to do something in the postseason. Remember, it was virtually the same team coming off an ALCS appearance. When you have that kind of nucleus at similar salary, you should go for it.
And one other thing, big market teams that charge premium ticket prices have an obligation to their ticketholders to put a competitive product on the field each year. They cannot sell in advance individual game and season tickets at a premium price and then do a total rebuild by fielding a low payroll team comprised of a bunch of kids and borderline ML players. You’re trying to apply a Kansas City/Pittsburgh/Cincinnati mentality to a very wealthy major market team.
That 2 top 30 prospects is relative. They are not baseball top 30. They are Red Sox top 30. Red Sox prospects are not too good. As a system, we are middle of the road. IMHO, less than that. The inflation is very real on a few of our guys.
What a difference a few years make.
But JBJ has never really been good offensively. He’s had better seasons, yes, but I’ve always said he was not good at the plate. His D has always carried him.
I don’t disagree, but it’s interesting how CF defense seems to be devalued these days. So many teams were and are desperate for a real CF, and yet JBJ’s trade value is almost nil.
It’s the heavy contract
RS are still obligated to pay the contract.
Coop – JBJ has certainly been a good hitter at times, basically like streaky Story.
2016 All-Star with an .835 OPS
.814 OPS during the joke of a 2020 season
ALCS MVP with a 1.067 OPS
One of the biggest mistakes Dombrowski made was not trading him after the 2018 season when his value was at it’s highest.
What’s with people after the fact saying contenders shoulda moved players at their highest value? Is there some kind of app you use to figure out when a player is at his peak value? lol. Furthermore when do legit contenders sell off their starting CF because his value is high? Just doesn’t happen because of several reasons. One it’s impossible to know and even if you think it’s his highest value you could upset the fanbase and team chemistry by trading out your CF to bring in another CF because you don’t want to get stuck with a depreciation asset. It’s like like the Redsox are the A’s. You live in a fantasy land if you think that was ever going to happen.
I’ve seen that post before. There was -0- chance that was going to happen. I assume it’s happened before, but how many big-market WSC teams have traded off a key piece of the team the year after winning a WS?
I mean, we didn’t even have a #4 outfielder in 2019, let alone a proper replacement for JBJ, And his OPS was a pedestrian .717, so it wasn’t like other GMs were going to burning the phones lines trying to land JBJ.
One of the biggest mistakes Dombrowski made was not trading him after the 2018 season
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Actually, it is not even close. The moves to make, in retrospect, would be to have traded Price, Sale, Porcello, and Betts. JBJ doesn’t even hit to radar, in retrospect.
Iver – Not everyone here buries their head in useless calculations, playing with numbers all the time. Some of us actually follow the teams, get to know the players, and form opinions using logic and reasoning.
Logic dictates when you have a proven inconsistent hitter over a 6-year period who is known for occasional hot streaks in between loooong cold streaks, and he wins a high profile award such as ALCS MVP, that’s likely as valuable as he’s gonna get. It’s not like he will suddenly become a consistently good, or even average hitter, at Age 29.
But I guess if a computer doesn’t spit out that information, you wouldn’t know it.
The great Chaim Bloom, in his infinite wisdom, got this guy to replace Renfroe. Does anyone trust Bloom? The guy is a major fraud. SMH
Fraud? Did you miss the part about Boston getting two GOOD prospects back??
Binelas has upside but is hitting under .140 in AA. Hamilton is 24, has no power and is hitting .235 in AA. One AAAA guy in Hamilton and a boom or bust in Binelas
Hindsight.
Really overrating Hamilton as a AAAA player. He’s progressed more slowly than Duran and probably won’t even be as good as him. I look at Hamilton as a AA 1/2A player.
50 Stolen Bases at AA doesn’t sound like a AAAA player. As for Binelas, if batting average no longer matters at the ML level i wouldn’t worry too much about it at AA as long as the Home Runs come
It makes him sound like a less successful Billy Hamilton
David Hamilton actually knows how to take Walk, something Billy definitely struggles with
Binelas was just drafted last year. He did great in A+ and was promoted to AA. Y’all might want to give him some time in AA before judging.
People at MLBTR do not wait to judge things. Just look a couple days ago, how quick to judge that it was a terrible move, as soon as it was known Hosmer was coming to the Red Sox. A couple hours later it was revealed the Padres were picking up almost all of his salary. Then it was silence.
Chicken: Exactly
Chaim doesn’t know how to handle a large market team(neither would i). The pressure will be focused on him next season.
The bloom haters are a real great laugh, thanks for being you kids.
I was a bloom supporter until this trade deadline.
Are you saying the bloom is off Bloom?
Those dam Bloom haters. I can honestly say I’m in love with the work Bloom is doing over in Boston. Give me 10 more years of Bloom running the Sox and I would be a happy camper.
10 more years of building a farm system instead of working on the current roster? You cant argue the farm is the future roster because odds of any prospect succeeding in the MLB is very low.
Yeah, Cashman’s doing a smashup job. Lol. Highest payroll the past 15 years, most expensive scouting. How many WS Yanks been to? Wasn’t it last year many Yankee fans wanted his head? One good 1/2 season, doesnt cancel 15 years of suck.
Lol buddy find one post of mine supporting Cashman. I’ve wanted Cashman gone for 5+ years and I’ve never once backed off of that at any time. I argue with multiple Yankee fans on this site that he isn’t a good GM and needs to be gone yesterday.
And just bc Cashman is a subpar GM doesn’t mean Bloom is any good. Like I said, as a Yankee fan I’m rooting for 10 more years of Bloom.
Yankees have not been to a World Series in thirteen years. Cashman just keeps missing, and missing, and missing, and missing….
Still can’t believe the Red Sox traded Hunter Renfroe to get JBJ back. Renfroe had a great year for them last year.
Red Sox wanted the 2 prospects from the brewers more than anything. Taking on JBJ was part of the deal as the brewers wanted to dump that atrocious contract. He belongs in t-ball. Bet he’d still swing and miss
Which is the dumb part. Those 2 minor league players aren’t really anything special other than one being fast iirc. Theyd have been way better off keeping Renfroe who was absolutely rock solid in Fenways spacious right field. It was a dumb gamble.
Renfroe has a great arm, but otherwise he is a poor outfielder.
Strong – The Sox weren’t in it to win it this year, Henry said that again recently.
Renfroe isn’t exactly lighting the world on fire for the Crew. Better than JBJ by a good margin, but he flashes power in a streaky fashion so far with a lot of swing and miss – right around that .250 ba. Fits right in with the rest of the Crew’s lineup these days
Compared to the Red Sox outfielders he is lighting the world on fire. His OPS+ is 123 compared to 85 for Verdugo, 81 for Durran, 58 for Bradley, and 87 for Pham.
I’m pretty sure that almost any team would be happy to have Renfroe. He may not be the league’s best OF, but there is a universal DH now. He’s been 20% better than league average with the bat this year.
@metscan## not to mention the sox have virtually no body capable of kicking a misplayed ball into the bullpen and advancing this team into the ALCS. What was Boom thinking ?
When in the last time anyone on here has heard a gm say they traded for a player or they value a player high because of his batting average? Yet you people still think batting average is useful whatsoever.
Why not keep him for late inning defense only???
Won’t need defense if they can’t score because he doesn’t hit.
rules – True, but in all seriousness when you have just a 4-man bench with one of them being a catcher you can’t afford to carry a glove-only OF’er.
It’s not 2004 when Dave Roberts came off the bench to pinch-run and steal a base that led to a huge postseason win.
@Fever Pitch Guy
This. Rosters no longer expand to 40 in September and the three extra spots teams do get are usually used for Pitchers now. JBJ was never a great hitter but at least he was streaky, but even that hasn’t been the case since 2019
Because we are going with the all mentally unstable team- Pham the fighter, McGuire the public indecency guy and Duran the soft, egotystical D*****bag
Late inning defense implies that your team has the lead. Lately that hasn’t been much of a concern for the Sox.
If he doesn’t work out as a defensive replacement, he could always be a shut down reliever or a closer.
If David Stearns sees this, jbj will be back with MKE yet.
So Cash could’ve made a waiver claim to get their late inning defensive replacement instead of trading a controllable above average SP?
Bold move cotton.
Bader is way better than Bradley and more than a defensive replacement.
I liked Monty but he was losing luster for me. I think a change of scenery in a easier division might do him wonders
I would rather have Locastro than JBJ.
I’m fine with Locastro too. Taylor on KC would have been fine with me also. There are a lot of guys I would have been perfectly okay with for a late inning defensive replacement. But not at the cost of an above average controllable SP.
Agreed. I am convinced that Miami backed out of a deal for Lopez at the last possible second and left Cashman holding the bag. No way he trades Monty if he didn’t have something else lined up.
Bader is a starting Gold Glove CF. He is not a late inning defensive replacement, and the Yankees will not be using him as one.
Can Bader pitch?
Yanks could have acquired JBJ, who is also a gold glover, for nothing. Nothing against Bader, but you don’t trade a starting pitcher who is doing well like Montgomery for a defense first outfielder.
Nader may be a starting gold glove CF in 2023 for the Yankees but this year he will be used for matchups and defense IF, and it’s a huge freaking IF, he gets healthy. Trade Monty for him in the off-season then. Unacceptable.
No, Joe. And neither can he play center field with his foot in a walking boot.
At the end of the day, Effross might be the best addition at the trade deadline, and Trivino might regain his chops. So, one, maybe two good additions.
Montas comes with a huge red flag: a 4 MPH drop in velocity in his last outing, and he lives on his fastball.
Benintendi’s sample with NY is still short, so maybe he won’t be Gallo 2.0, but the early returns are awful — a 13 OPS+.
Dealing away a solid lefty in Montgomery for a hobbled center fielder made zero sense unless the plan was to punt this season and focus on next year’s center field options.
In sum, I have a bad feeling that, with a wealth of talent to choose from, Cashman effed-up the trades and managed to squander what began as a season for the ages.
Darren Lewis, version 2.0
Wait, did JBJ retire so he wouldn’t have to play for the Pirates too?
In all seriousness though, at least Lewis could steal bases
Sox-In all seriousness the Pirates do not want the Red Sox rejects.They have plenty of outfielders far far less expensive and clearly better.Plus the current version of Cherington is not close to being stupid enough to make a trade like that one was.
You clearly don’t know the circumstances surrounding Darren Lewis and his abrupt retirement to understand the joke. I was not suggesting that JBJ actually go play for the Pirates.
In 2002 the Chicago Cubs traded Lewis to the Pirates for Chad Hermanson, Lewis was against the trade and did not want to play for the Pirates so he opted to retire rather than report to Pittsburgh
Tough part about emails.
Your memory is amazing.
Chad .Hermanson was supposed to be a savior for the Pirates.One of many for that wasted 20 year period.I vaguely remember something along these lines but quite frankly I had given up on them by then.
The Pirates at least now have a plan.But prospects are just that- prospects.We will see over the next year or two whether they can become a good team.
It will be up to you and yours to figure out if the Red Sox have a plan.
Throw s*** at the wall and see what sticks seems to be the plan but i give Bloom the benefit of the doubt. 2020 was a throw away season, 2021 came two games to a AL pennant, then the offseason with the lockout and uncertainty surrounding the CBA and the luxury tax. This coming winter is the offseason Bloom needs to show where exactly he is going with this
Your team has been winning a lot of WS since 2004 so don’t get too greedy.
Jackie Bradley is the Joey Gallo of Darren Lewises.
You just gave Rick Hahn and The Chicago White Sox front office a rod
What took them so long, one of the most overrated players in mlb.
Hope Pirates or Reds pick him up so he can continue his career….. good guy….maybe if he can get some everyday playing at bats he can get above .250 avg….. doubtful…. but wishing him success.
At this point the Pirates are developing their young outfielders all of whom can even now hit much better than this guy.
One of the best OF’s in the biz. One of the worst hitters in the biz too. Can’t believe Boston gave up Renfroe to the brewers for him. Thanks
I can see a rebuilding team that needs a body to give Jackie a look, or a playoff team that wants him to come off the bench as a solid defensive presence in late innings.
Meanwhile, I hope the prospects that came with him turn things around. Binelas certainly hits for power, but strikes out way too much and overall is hitting atrociously. Hamilton’s got 50 stolen bases in the minors this year, but is struggling against AA hitting.
I can’t see a rebuilding team giving him a look. He won’t be the future. Maybe a team with their entire OF on the IL.
At one time Giants tried to get Bradley but asking price was astronomical. Glad that never happened. Unfortunately with Zaidi in charge that could change
The rare underlined word that is also italicized. Bold move.
Wow, I am shocked. although I stopped following him for a bit, but man JBJ has taken the elevator down
Best fourth outfielder available in MHO. Why didn’t they move him at the deadline?
Contract is too big. Red Sox are hoping another team claims him and picks up the remaining balance. My guess is he clears waivers.
You’re probably right, isn’t there a huge buyout of an option as well?
12Mil contract for 2023, with 8Mil buyout. That means you only save 4Mil if you wave him after the season.
Also, theres a ‘mutual option’. JBJ can elect FA, but terms don’t say if he gets the 8Mil or not in that scenario.
Yeah, just went back and re-read the article. No right minded individual woul claim.
I hope the Cards grab him if he’s willing to go to AAA. We need CF depth.
Red Sox fans
Boston got the better of this deal but will take you another year plus to see that. Alex Binelas, who I personally coached and was 2 time pre season college player of the year, will make this a lopsided trade. He is already made jump to AA in Portland. He is and was the best hitter in entire draft ly but because he didn’t have a great start to season fell in the draft. In minors so far has done nothing but rake. He is a real deal and is your future 2-3 hitter and all star. Trust me you will love this trade in the end!
Travis Jankowski’s mom also thinks he is the best player ever and instantly adds 20 wins a year to what team he’s on. we all have our bias.
He is batting .139 in Double A
My wishes to Jackie. He’s played well for us for a long time. It was a pleasure watching him in the field.
Why wouldn’t Cora just bench him as use him as a depth piece instead of DFA and still having to pay his salary
Because the name left out of the article is Rob Refsnyder, who is also an OF and has been very good. He’s injured now, but he will be coming back, and he has to go on the major league club because, in order to send him down to AAA, they’d have to pass him through waivers, and he would surely be claimed. So once you count Refsnyder with the others (at whose return Jaylin Davis can be sent down w/o any problem), there’s no room for JBJ. I like his defense and I like the fact that he hits (somewhat) at Fenway–too bad that wasn’t enough to make it work.
Hallelujah. Rotten hitter and overrated defense. How many missteps does Bloom have to conjure up before we discuss accountability? Sox have no plan as far as I can see.
Good luck! Did not do much as a Brewer! Great guy whose contract is too big to pick up for now.
All good things…
As well as, all bad things…
Sounds like a blue jay already
Marlins! JBJ is much better than Hamilton! And now will be cheaper! What are you waiting for?
I’d rather have the defense in CF. Should have sent Duran downnto figure it out, imo.
Did we all forget so quickly just how good Renfroe played in the outfield last year for us? Of course he isn’t JBJ, not many are, but just about any replacement player can hit like JBJ. People are talking about how elite a center fielder JBJ is and not mentioning he isn’t in center. He is in right field. You would rather have a black hole in the lineup, then a power bat that is a pretty good defender? If kike was so good in center, and right field at Fenway is so much more important than center, then put Kiki in right, Renfroe in left, and Verdugo in Center. Perhaps solve one problem instead of creating 2. If all these center fielders are so valuable, then wtf is JBJ still on our team when we need to address so many other problems? My guess is this. No one was interested in a pricey mediocre bat that can field. They were more interested in good young fielders with speed that could potentially hit.
That Renfroe trade was a head scratcher.
Its not listed in BR that JBJ has a $8M mutual option buy out. If a team is not on the hook for $8M, his CF defense and LH bat is in demand. He and Derek Hill, an outstanding defender who the Tigers DFA, will be acquired soon enough considering that Baltimore just purchased Brett Phillips, a good defense – no hit CF and the Yankees gave up a lefty Starting Pitcher to acquire the outstanding CF defense of Harrison Bader.
people keep forgetting the 2 young prospects they got as well.
Again, a prospect brings no value! The value only occurs when they prove themselves on the big league roster. That being said, only a small percentage of prospects actually become something.
Prospect value mostly comes in the ability to use them in trades.
Funny fact… Just about 100% of all major leaguers were prospects. I hear even 1 or 2 made it to the HoF
Sad fact-Only about 10-15% of prospects make decent ML players.
Again, a prospect brings no value!
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That’s ridiculous. If prospects have no value, then why do we have a draft? Why can’t we trade Ref, Kiki, Pham, Plawecki & Davis for Holliday, Jones, Rocker, Johnson & Green? The draft and international signings are the lifeblood for every organization.
Sounds like Jock Strap is related to AL34.
@JoeBrady A Yankees fan claimed a few days ago that a solo homerun has little to no value. You can’t save everyone.
duplicate post
Why does every team have hundreds of prospects if prospects have no value? Do you actually follow baseball?
I’d take him over Bradley Zimmer any day in Toronto…
I have to imagine Zimmer is the odd man out when Merrifield joins the team
Bradley Zimmer is LH bat but he’s batting .107. JBJ will feel like a massive upgrade.
Nope. Zimmer kept his spot and they ditched the third catcher.
screw reps. They will either be apart of the 40 man roster or they wont. They will be good enough or they wont. If they don’t figure it out then that trade was moronic
9 mil to bat .210 (14 points over his body weight at least:)
Boston went from a good organization to WTF. Trading Betts was a disaster and they are death spiraling. For some odd reason Chaim Bloom is trying to run them like the Rays. Not good.
“Bloom is trying to run them like the Rays.”
In model, yes. Is that a bad thing? Rays put some great teams on the field over the past dozen years. There isn’t anything wrong with that.
In salary, no. Red Sox are over Salary Cap this year, and were tight to it every year under Bloom. Rays will never spend like that.
“certainly some reason” like what? only possible reason was to ruin the team; along with not signing Schwarber and Iglasious; and signing a bunch of stiffs for the rotation and bullpen; and taking Whitlock out of the bullpen.
Bloom works for John Henry and follows his directions.
As bad as a hitter JBJ has been he’s still better than Brett Phillips.
Astros, Cardinals, Brewers were all looking for Outfielders at the deadline so someone will sign him
I would not mind if my Stros picked him up on a flyer. We have Chas McCormick (who is a decent centerfielder) and Jake Meyers (who is coming back from injury and does not look good), so at worst JBJ could platoon with McCormick. What he does bring is his experience and pedigree.
The worst move bring tha trash back
Calling Farhan dumpster diver……wonder if he goes after bradley.
Sorry to see him go. Watching the outfield when he’s not playing is like watching The Lucy Show. The guy was a great defender.
That’s a pretty awesome outfield crew the Sawx have there.
If Im the Angels i go for it. He immediately becomes their best OF. Ward and Adell won’t ever be elite OF and can play left or DH or trade. Hes offensively no worse than most of the team and can have a rebound season next yr at 13 mil which seems like a good d3al.
If they weren’t nearly positive they were going to win the Seiya Suzuki bidding, they definitely should not have made the trade.
Sox system is producing an awful lot of players with Binelas’ general profile (corner INF, iffy defense, lots of power potential, lots of K’s)
It was cool getting to watch JBJ again, though. That guy was a hell of a player in his prime.
swanzey – There is no excuse for Bloom not landing either Suzuki or Schwarber, none. Then Hernandez could have started at 2B (obviously not knowing he’d get injured).
Suzuki & Schwarber have combined for a 1.8 bWAR this year, while Story alone has a 2.1. I actually preferred Suzuki over Story, but so far, I am wrong. That makes you wrong as well.
So 17.5m for Binelas/Hamilton & lose Renfroe? Horrible trade by Bloom!
There have been some bad Sox teams in the past, but It’s been since the early 1980’s since I really felt the team had zero chance of being good. Some teams I had more confidence than I should have, and some over performed despite major flaws during the last few decades, but expectations for the most part was for some high-octane offenses and mediocre staffs headed by an elite pitcher or two. This team had zero chance.
The glaring problems. No closer, only a couple options, and we waited far too long to deal with it (not correctly either). The middle innings were always going to be a collection of mediocrity. On an organizational level, our pitching approach is garbage, and has been for some time. We run far too many deep counts out of the pen, and lose far too many hitters to walks, or place them in hitters counts. It is unwatchable, but more importantly, unforgivable. If this is an approach, we are doing it all wrong. If not, why do we collect so many relievers over so many years that do it.
The starting rotation was built entirely on high hopes, and damaged goods. Isle of misfit toys. There was not a single starter in the rotation that we could expect to either stay healthy with justifiable confidence, or consistently perform at an elite level deep into games. Exactly what you need to compensate for a garbage bullpen. I am not saying that every reliever was a waste of time, but you can’t accumulate that many on a team and succeed. Every team needs a junk inning pitcher to spell the others. You can’t collect them like Pokémon cards.
The bottom of the lineup was always going to be an issue with the pieces in place, and there were no real options in the case it failed.. It failed, and we never recovered. Three to four holes in your lineup at any given time in the AL east is bad enough, but the power vacuum for the entire bottom half of the lineup should never have been a surprise. When we failed to resign Schwarber we created a problem that would not be resolved without getting another power bat. When we further dug the hole by allowing Renfroe to be traded for a bat we could be assured would be mediocre to bad, we sealed our fate. We would have to rely on three bats to provide all the power, and only 2 of the three could be expected to at a high level. Only one of the three ended up giving us the power we expected. It was a certainty, and it played out exactly as I expected.
Am I the only one that has known for years that Devers is not a third baseman, should not be a third baseman, and will never be a third baseman? People get paid real money to evaluate players. NO ONE PAID BY BOSTON CAN SEE THIS? If you moved him to first years ago, and would have been acclimated by now, and would probably be pretty good at it. We shouldn’t have to endure watching balls hit to third base with fingers crossed he can make a routine throw. What is worst about this? Glad you asked. The number of available all-star caliber third baseman over the last few years has been staggering. GREAT ONES. Like the type that field really, really, really well. and hit. SOLVING THE PROBLEM! Our shortstop has mediocre range. Love him, but I was not blind to Jeter not having range either, but he was more consistent. Your third base option has been in house all this time. Our second baseman is our best short stop in many years. I get it, Bogaerts want to play shortstop, but are we trying to get better and solve problems, or just live with these fixable problems? What was he going to do? Let his contract expire, or opt out? Exactly. We kept Bogaerts at the trade deadline. Why? He said he would sign? Doubtful, so wtf. No trade? Is something not better than nothing? Our grand strategy is offering star players qualifying offers? Yikes.
I Knew this season was going to be a lost one. It is. My hope was always the Bloom was playing chess here, and never thought this was going to be a good year. I hope he thought that, because if not. I would really question, in the moment, not in hindsight, what he is up to. My guess is that even management has to be sweating what is happening, and how they could see this happening in real time, but still put the stamp of approval on it. My guess is this. Bloom is going to have the off season of all off seasons for any Gm in baseball correcting this mess, on a San Diego/Mets level or he will be replaced by someone who will.
I know it’s long, but was bored and wanted to vent a bit. I do not expect more than a couple to survive to the end. =) Have a good day all.
KD17 welcome back.
As a Stros fan, and whose second favorite team is the Sox, I couldn’t agree with you more.
1:15pm: The Red Sox have announced that Bradley has been released. He will now be free to sign with any team for the protated league minimum, with Boston on the hook for the remainder of his contract.
A Speedy Divorce
Was there a lot of shouting at Yawkey Way?
It’s Jersey St now
I had no idea and I even googled Yawkey to make sure I spelled it correctly
Terrible trade by Bloom and another win for Stearns.
The prospects Boston received were supposed to make this worth it? Absurd
… nice use of “absurd” – agreed.
Thanks haha. I’m all for “rebuilding,” when it’s necessary for a team, but some of the moves Boston has made since the offseason are head-scratching.
Trading Vasquez for peanuts was confusing, then trading for McGuire? I just don’t understand the direction.
Agreed, again, myaccount. I see no direction, at all. Entirely confused franchise. Do not trade Mookie Betts. Whether realized or not, with such a move, a team is redefining its legacy. Extremely poor choice. Tired of people explaining the functional nature of the Betts trade and, in so doing, completely exonerating the Sox and their reckless decision making. Sorry, I’m ranting, but I’ve lost faith in the Sox leadership. I miss Mookie (and Benny). Trading Mookie would have been like trading Yastrzemski – erased a legacy.
I completely understand where you’re coming from and would imagine feeling similarly if I were a Sox fan. This is not a franchise that should only need to tear it down in the very rare case where reckless spending leads to a ton of dead weight and bloated contracts.
Extending Betts (or at least putting in all the effort to) would not have created a problem for at least 10+ seasons. And by then I’m sure the Sox would have surrounded him with fresh, young talent. No matter if that was ownership giving Bloom a mandate or a decision Bloom went to ownership with, it still seems like such an odd decision for a franchise that can certainly put up the best offer if they truly wanted to do so.
Bloom wants to operate as he was accustomed to in Tampa Bay but has so much more money to work with that it’s just mind-boggling he’s making some of these choices.
Well said, myaccount – refreshing take. Sox shot themselves in the foot – Mookie. Have a good evening, my friend.
You, as well, 30! Take care
myaccount2
This is not a franchise that should only need to tear it down in the very rare case
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I agree that big market teams should rarely need to tear down. But the Red Sox don’t tear down. They might not always have 90+ wins, but they never come into the season with low expectations. There have been a couple of bad seasons over the past twenty years, but most of that were due to injuries. I’m not sure we’ve had a team that wasn’t expected to play .500+.
This is true. They’ve never done a full-scale rebuild (and shouldn’t really need to). I guess it’s more of a question of why are they treading water now? Why did they sell off so many pieces in 2014? Why have they only worked the edges of the roster since trading Mookie? etc.
Why did they sell off so many pieces in 2014?
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They only sold off in 2014 after they were eliminated. I recommend that for everyone.
IRT to working the edges, that’s what you do if you don’t want a full rebuild.
Are we done with the “building the farm system” public relations nonsense? Sox are a mess. “Two prospects” in the deal – give me a break, classic Sox misdirection.
The Red Sox are clearly building the farm system. They just acquired 4 prospects at the trade deadline.
Every team builds their farm system – that’s what MLB teams are supposed to do. It’s a nothing statement. It’s like the fire department saying “this year we’re going to focus on putting out fires.” Yeah, that’s your job. Distracting nonsense.
Bloom is in over his head – Sox are poorly constructed. But, the “farm system” – right.
Are you overly impressed with anyone from the Red Sox farm system this year? I’m not. The starters gave up the games in the first innings and none of the position players is overly great either.
I agree the Sox are poorly constructed. The question is: Is Bloom an idiot that thinks he constructed a good team or did he construct a mediocre team on purpose? He keeps adding to the farm system and has not traded much at all from the farm system. So, it looks like he really wants to build the farm system right now and fielding a mediocre team helps him do that by letting him gain prospects at the deadline and get a better draft pick (and maybe more international signing money too). So, my guess is that this is what he is doing. I believe what appears to be going on is often not what is really going on.
Fair, allinthesuit, appreciate the detailed response. Bloom, to me, appears confused. I don’t put the Betts trade on Bloom – that was John Henry. Let’s hope for a little more clarity going forward.
30 Parks: Agreed. I certainly think it confusing to be buying and selling at the same time.
It’s a fair question. Crawford has been really good. Winckowski has looked the part of a #5 SP. Last year we called up Houck & Whitlock, and they’ve been really good.
That said, we knew we gave up a lot of talent to win the 2018 WS. This is the price we pay.
I keep waiting for the “Yankees dfa Aaron Hicks” headline. Everyone else is chopping today so let’s add Hicks.
If Cashman can find a way to trade Gallo then he can find a way to trade Hicks in the off-season.
Wouldnt doubt if Houston scoops him up.
The ultimate fields like Mays hits like sh#t player
As much as Bradley provides little offense, they should have released those crap stains, Yolmer Sanchez and Franchy Cordero first. Bloom is making Sox fans pine for the Buddy LeRoux years.
Future Dodger? Looks like after the Gallo deal they’re in the market for JB Jr.!
This trade by Boston was one of the worst deals in recent years. The money could have been used for a free agent instead. Renfroe could have been kept. Wild card could have been achieved.
The other idiot move Chaim Bloom made was giving Paxton 11 million for the year to rehab and I doubt you are going to see this waste of a contract this year. That money could have been used elsewhere
I’ll bet you we do see him. Loser signs off for a month.
If it’s minimal years (Paxton) it doesn’t hurt us considerably. Easily a good gamble, just hasn’t paid off.
I doubt Renfroe alone gives us WC. Our offense is terrible with or without him. I did check up on the prospects and they could pay off in the future. Looks bad now but not all is lost.
But I read before he was the best Red Sox prospect to ever live?
Nah, you got it wrong. That was Lars Anderson.
will donaldson make jackie mad if he calls him, tim?
Another stellar pickup by our all knowing Chaim Bloom. What does Hunter Renfroe have 20 homeruns to Jackie Bradley’s 3 and his solid 210 batting a average. Bloom also peeved off Boggarts by first lowballing him on a one year extension, picking up Story and then trading away Christian Vazquez. That should make it an interesting off season.
Wake up Henry and fire this turd of a small market GM.
Very sad …
I know he struggled and deserved the DFA but still a sad day. I actually liked this guy a lot, especially when he came up in our system.
His defense alone, with a good team, would make him valuable (think Mark Belanger 50 years ago). It isn’t Jackie’s fault the rest of the team (except for Devers and Bogey) can’t hit. Great job, Bloom. Your legacy of zero championships has developed a Red Sox team that can’t hit.
Paul Blair is a better comparison.
Hello Steve & Darragh,
Can one of you fix the spelling error of the word ‘protated’, it should be ‘prorated’? Please & thank you!’
He will now be free to sign with any team for the ‘protated’ league minimum,
When it’s all said and done, Bradley is going to have a lower career OPS than Rick Miller.
If you know, you know.
i love everyone is calling him a ‘ fan favorite’ a radio show that broadcasts daily here for 4 hours had callers all day saying how much they hated him lol, i mean you can say all that ‘ community; crap matters, but when your hurting the team on a nightly basis, you can only use that excuse so long, im just amazed at how inept he became, forget about hitting, he completely forgot how to play, its almost like he lost his hand-eye coordination and could no loner play professional baseball, probaly to where he should have seen a therapist. I just hope he retires.
He’s credited with 3 Outs Above Average in the outfield by Baseball Savant and 5 Defensive Runs Saved by the Fielding Bible, so he didn’t forget how to play completely. Fielding is part of the game, a rather important part.
Additionally, considering the kind of cranks who typically vent on fan radio, I wouldn’t take that as a representative sample of the sentiment of Red Sox fans, or fans of any team, for that matter.
considering the kind of cranks who typically vent on fan radio, I wouldn’t take that as a representative sample of the sentiment of Red Sox fans, or fans of any team, for that matter.
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My guess is that:
1-Anyone that stays on hold for an hour to talk for ten seconds is ????????
2-The talk shows probably target folks that want to vent. Folks calling in to discuss Hosmer’s lefty splits or McGuire’s defense, probably don’t light up the ratings
Probably the highest-rated YouTube videos from the Michael Kay Show feature Don Le Greca going ballistic on callers. It’s sort of like the sports talk equivalent of professional wrestling.
That’s show biz.
You want to talk about hurting the team on a nightly basis? Duran in CF, nuff said.
He will make a perfect Mariner in a week or two