The Mets and Red Sox each “pushed hard” to sign Willi Castro this past offseason, Darren Wolfson of SKOR North reports (Twitter link), but the utilityman chose to sign a minor league deal with the Twins. The move has nicely paid off for both the player and the team, as Castro has hit .258/.324/.452 over 103 plate appearances for Minnesota, with two of his four home runs coming in today’s win over the Blue Jays. Castro’s versatility has also been a boost to an injury-riddled Twins club, as he has seen action as a shortstop, second baseman, third baseman, and in all three outfield positions.
More from around the baseball world as we wrap up a busy Saturday…
- Vince Velasquez was activated from the 15-day injured list earlier today, but the Pirates right-hander allowed four runs in two innings before being removed from the game due to discomfort in his right elbow. Velasquez had previously been sidelined by inflammation in that same elbow, and while he is being examined by doctors, it would seem likely that he might be headed back to the IL. If Velasquez is again out of action, it would continue Roansy Contreras’ time as a starter, since Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported earlier today that Contreras could be headed into a relief role.
- Kevin Kiermaier made an early exit from today’s Twins/Blue Jays game due to some lower back discomfort. Toronto manager John Schneider told Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith and other reporters that Kiermaier was feeling sore after a pair of throws, and “with how important he is to us, we wanted to be safe and make sure we didn’t make it worse.” Kiermaier will receive further examination and is day-to-day for now. In his first season with the Jays, Kiermaier has been outstanding, hitting .319/.366/.511 over 154 PA while delivering his usual high-level defense in center field. Given Kiermaier’s long injury history, it makes sense why the Blue Jays would err on the side of caution, and it’s probably safe to assume that Kiermaier won’t play Sunday since Toronto also has a Monday off-day for additional rest.
- The Red Sox told reporters (including Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe) that Adam Duvall is set to begin a Triple-A rehab assignment on Tuesday. Duvall was sidelined by a fracture in his left wrist, and a subsequent move to the 60-day IL means that June 9 is the outfielder’s earliest possible return date. Duvall was off to a huge start prior to his injury, posting a 1.544 OPS in his first 37 PA of the season. While Duvall is on the road to recovery, Yu Chang’s rehab assignment has been paused due to some soreness in his left hand while swinging. Chang has missed just over a month due to hamate bone surgery, and his setback isn’t expected to delay his rehab work by any more than a few days, pending further examination.
Casas or Tapia? One has to go down when Duvall is ready to return.
Casa’s
To think that the Red Sox felt that Casas was too much of a return for Pablo Lopez. Seems to have worked out…for us…so far with Arraez.
You know Casas is 23, right? And that he has only had 216 at bats? And that his OPS is a respectable,716 over those at bats?
Way too early to make a decision on the type of career he is going to have.
216 ML at-bats for a 23-year-old means next to nothing. I would say the same if he was hitting .320.
syco – Well said! Obviously Casas should be sent down to work on his game and improve his confidence, but he is still a top prospect and will have plenty more time to develope into the player he is projected to be.
TBH with Duval coming back it makes the most sense to play him at first, so you may be correct. I don’t see changing the OF rotation right now. Verdugo and Yoshida have to play, and Duran deserves more run. Yoshida can get some at-bats at DH< but Turner needs most of those.
syco – I wouldn’t mind seeing Turner/Yoshida/Duvall rotating at DH. I really like the OF of Tapia, Duran and Verdugo.
I feel so bad for Casas, he looked really lost tonight. Sox had 14 hits and he’s the only starter without a hit. 0-for-5 and ruined a great 9th-inning comeback with a weak strikeout, stranding the tying run on 3B. No excuse for Cora not pinch hitting him.
Personally, I wouldn’t have traded Casas for Pablo Lopez either. And I am not just saying this because I am a Red Sox fan. His upside is more than enough to make me want to keep him. Plus the RS would have created a huge whole at 1B and DH with Dalbec playing one of those positions. No thanks
That’s exactly what I have been saying. Once Duvall returns Casa needs to be sent down and let Turner take over 1B. Leaving Duvall to DH and play some outfield.
I’d say Tapia. Casas needs the at bats in the majors room see if he’s capable.
There’s still two weeks and injuries happen. A lot can also change. Duran if he slumps could also be the player sent down.
Duran extended his leash with his hot start. He’ll have to fall off a cliff. Let’s hope he figures it out.
Looks like Duran has cooled off.
It feels like we’ve all had this conversation a few weeks ago. It is always about K/W & HRs. Duran’s K/W is simply too high. He had a nice start this year, and actually looked a bit better, but his K/W this month is 30/6, and it is almost impossible to succeed with that.
And it’s gotten quite a bit worse recently with a 14/0 in his last 6 games. I’m still hoping I am wrong. But he is still the guy to demote, if only because he has more promise than Tapia.
Nah, he needs to stay up and if he continues to slump you can replace him with Tapia and make him the 4th OFers. Especially with Duvall’s return right around the corner.
Personally, I would like to see Casa sent down and let Turner takeover at 1B and Duvall DH. We don’t need another B. Dalbec on our hands.
lamars – Exactly what I’ve been saying! Casas has the tools, letting him continue to struggle in the majors isn’t doing him any good.
I don’t think Tapia can be sent down; they would have to DFA him.
ahh – That was my thought exactly. I like Tapia as a bench player, I wouldn’t want to lose him.
If Kiermaier hits the IL, Atkins is going to have to make some calls about adding an OF. Two of Merrifield, Biggio, and Lukes just ain’t going to cut it.
At least keep Varsha in center for the end of the series.
@slydevil
Good idea! Those outfield assisted homeruns will never get old. Maybe he can do it again?
Canseco’s off his head was the best.
Boink!!
You’re right.
Wow, Castro must have really loved Minnesota to turn down contracts from the Mets and the Red Sox..
Money and opportunities also factor in. The same pay also likely goes further in MN.
Agreed, that all depends on if both the Mets and Red Sox were offering minor league deals.
Familiarity probably helped as well. Castro has played the Twins a lot and has faired well at Target Field. With the Mets he would have been stuck behind Escobar and Guillorme. However he probably would be the Red Sox regular 2B given the injuries out of camp
If Castro stays hot he might be hitting missiles in October.
Willi, Harold and Jaimer, all players the Tigers could have kept for minimum increases, were all let go for nothing by new GM Harris. All would look good on the 2 games back, Tigers, right now. They could be nice replacements for Harris pickups, Maton, Ibanez, and Nevin.
Nature of the game. New GM wants to bring in his own players. Expect a lot more roster reconstruction in Detroit this coming winter as well
FPG – Any idea why the clown manager won’t hit Devers 3rd? 2nd is a waste as is 4th yet that’s all he’ll do. He should be the 3 hitter for the next decade. Why is the Bloom organization so poorly run that someone doesn’t tell Cora to hit Devers in his most productive spot considering the lack of talent on the team? Verdugo, Yoshida, Devers it’s just that simple. JT is obviously a prototypical clean-up hitter for this team and after that, it doesn’t really matter. They are all league average or below hitters from a skill set standpoint. Duran is coming back to reality. Casas is moving up slowly and Wong, McGuire and Arroyo are guys that suck but are doing better than normal. Tapia is probably the 5th best hitter until Duvall gets back but he’s not good.
I’ve always been frustrated with Cora’s lineup construction. I think it’s a major hinderance for the Sox.
KD – Not a clue why Cora won’t. It’s not because of his L-R obsession, as there will always be consecutive lefties in the top portion of the lineup with this group of hitters. Maybe he’s going off individual stats against the SP, I don’t have the time to verify that though.
He’s just an extremely inconsistent manager. He keeps shuffling around the lineup instead of letting the hitters stay in one spot, even though most players are creatures of habit. But yet when he gives a day off, he inserts the substitute into the exact same slot in the lineup. Makes no sense.
At least he came clean in saying McGuire’s bunt base hit wasn’t his idea, it was McGuire’s idea.
It’s crazy how your Bloom Derangement Syndrome has not allowed you to see that very few teams would bat 3 left handed batters in a row to start a lineup.
TBaggins – So you believe it’s better to hit far lesser hitter at the top of the order because it helps the team MORE than if your three best hitters bat first second and third? Your BDS is nothing but BS. Wake up and learn something about baseball. If you ONLY have 3 good hitters you don’t take a right handed bum and bat him in a top 3 hitter spot. Why is that so hard to comprehend. This team has limited resources thanks to Bloom and using what you have to maximize upside is all a manager can do to deal with Bloom shortcomings. The problem is Cora has as many if not more than Bloom so you end up with non maximized line-ups both offensively and defensively.
Is it an issue with a GM who procures 3 lefties to be his three best hitters and dumps Mookie, Bogaerts, JD and Renfroe to make room for guys like Verdugo and Yoshida? Yes. It’s pure stupidity.
Do you even understand the game of baseball enough to understand why your best hitters belong at the top of the order and any “savings” you give your opponent by hitting them in a row so they can bring in a lefty reliever is minimal compared to giving up OBP at the top of the order?
You like to whine about my issues with Bloom and Cora yet you don’t even know enough about baseball to make intelligent arguments why my statements may be wrong. You are a TROLL. A mindless TROLL taking cheap shots at others. And all without an ounce of baseball knowledge.
Great comment! hahahaha
I’m laughing because either you guys are crazy or I am. Who really thinks Cora determines the batting order? He even has to get Bloom’s consent to use the John…
Dewey – You might be right about the order and the john but if Bloom is passing it to him he is asking people on his numbers team to put it together and that’s when your argument breaks down. No numbers guy or gal would ever build the Cora line-ups. Nobody is that stupid. So it must be Cora!!
But you make a good point!!
KD17 –
Casas is moving up slowly and Wong, McGuire and Arroyo are guys that suck but are doing better than normal.
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You continue the mantra about sediment Wong not supporting the statement facts – it very sadly.
C.Wong ( C ) – 2023 Red Sox
38G, 111AB, 27H, 11Double, 5HR, 16XBH!, .243Avg, .772Ops, +104Ops, +1.3WAR (2nd place in club), +1.0dWAR (1st place in AL),
I can say that Vazquez sediment and doesn’t cost a that contract that was signed by Minnesota 3 yr’s/ $30m.
Vazquez ( C ) – 2nd third 2022 / 1st one third 2023 – Astros / Twins :
70G, 216 AB, 51H, 6Double, 1HR!, 7XBH!, .236Avg, .565Ops, +61Ops, -0.1 WAR.
It is statistics for a half-season for basic catcher and doesn’t tell me that it is a little selection.
It is needed to do justice Bloom – he accomplished an excellent transaction when for 2 months of Vazquez got of E.Valdez and W.Abreu and didn’t sign this anchor as Vazquez in an offseason.
Bogie – If you are a relative of Wong please don’t take offense when I detail his ineptitude. I’m simply showing that Boston had a catcher who loved playing in Boston and had many good years that got pushed out the door by Bloom.
Instead or replacing him with a good catcher (through trade) he chose to go the cheap route to nobody’s surprise and has McGuire and Wong playing at the MLB level.
Your numbers show a catcher who has been “hot” and is hitting a miserable .243. He’s also not a good OBP guy. His OPS+ is 104 LEAGUE AVERAGE and it’s 42 points higher than last year. Is being average sustainable for Wong? Maybe. Should we all be dancing a gig because we have a league average catcher? NOPE. We should all be disappointed like I am because Bloom could have done better as usual.
I explained many times that Wong has an upside of being a back-up catcher in the MLB. He’s proving that statement right now. He’s not good enough to be a starter but if you want to give your good catcher a day off each week he would be perfect. He’s cheap and has the fundamentals to be a league average catcher.
I believe he’s a good back up but he sucks as a starter. I think your numbers proved my point. Thank you.
Your issues with Vazquez are just that…. YOUR ISSUES with Vazquez. Bloom got rid of him and there is no point in arguing mid season about a veteran who contributed greatly to the Red Sox success who got dismissed like an unwanted stepchild. It’s over. He’s gone and we must move on. Hopefully with a good catcher once we get a good GM.
KD17 –
If Wong was born in Ukraine maybe he is my distant relation.
Look at the numbers of Vazquez in an attack outside Red Sox – he is sediment for $10 million and his former merits in any way doesn’t affect results for the last 4 months.
One desire to play small, he fell off a rock in an attack and his defence doesn’t compensate such expenses and he never was a star catcher.
I wanted that in this offseason Bloom went after S.Murphy if to talk about star catcher on either side of game.
Compare Murphy $12m AAV and Vazquez $10m AAV.
Middle catcher in an attack with gold defence and you assert that he is sediment – you such salt.
You are driven by crazy by a that fact that Wong better on this stage what Vazquez therefore you go mad and not objectively estimate players.
KD – 17
I believe he’s a good back up but he sucks as a starter. I think your numbers proved my point. Thank you.
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38g – +1.3 WAR and +1.0 dWAR – it ”sediment” catcher certainly, Lol.
His numbers confirm that he can be middle catcher in an attack with gold defence, very well gets along at a SP, has speed not typical for catcher by means of that can occupy additional bases, he can beat HR’s and he starting catcher of Red Sox, likes to you it or disliked.
Bogie – OK then your argument is really about Wong it’s my complimentary comments about Vazquez. If you take a guy who loved being a Red Sox and put him elsewhere and expect the exact same output you don’t understand the game. His skills may be eroding but he’s in yet another adjustment period. Is he worth what he is being paid? Too early to say. Hot streaks happen and from far less likely candidates so give him a year to evaluate his performance.
Murphy isn’t on the team. Correct? We have no idea if Bloom offered him a low bid or a high bid, we only hear rumors. Bottom line, he didn’t land him like he should have.
I’ll look into whether Wong is from the Ukraine but I think you are right that he is not so probably not a relative. I also now understand your issue wasn’t about how good Wong is but rather how bad Vazquez is. There is nothing wrong with being a Vazquez hater but you can’t remove all that he did for Boston and that’s why I have loyalty to him. I’m thankful as a fan that we had him and I am sorry that Bloom dismissed him like so many of DD’s players. It was classless just like the others wrongfully dismissed by an underqualified GM.
Bogie – What do you mean by sediment catcher? Is that a new catch phrase by the reinventors of baseball (Fangraphs or Statcast?)
When you say middle catcher, I also don’t understand that phrase. He’s in the middle of the field. He is league average at his best. That suggests the middle. My whole point is a contending team needs something more than a “middle” catcher as you phrase it. They need an elite or above league average catcher to start most of their games. Bloom fails because he doesn’t provide about league average players to the roster. He’s content to get cheap league average players and hope for the best.
That’s why Bloom is a bad GM.
KD17 –
I’ll look into whether Wong is from the Ukraine but I think you are right that he is not so probably not a relative.
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I think that Wong has the Chinese roots and how hardly has some attitude toward Ukraine.
I also now understand your issue wasn’t about how good Wong is but rather how bad Vazquez is. There is nothing wrong with being a Vazquez hater but you can’t remove all that he did for Boston and that’s why I have loyalty to him.
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I don’t hate Vazquez, on this stage he doesn’t cost such money.
You said that Wong sediment, I refuted this thesis and brought statistical data over my confirmative words ( He won back a good season in Triple ААА 2022 and conducts a good season in MLB 2023 ).
You in any way weren’t able to refute my reasons regarding Wong only naming him sediment because you so see not leaning on statistic data.
KD17 –
We can’t while say exactly there will be Wong middle catcher in an attack or higher middle in an attack in MLB from a little selection, on this stage he is middle in an attack and higher middle in defence.
Let us look in this season what results he will show and later we will draw conclusion but to name of Wong sediment, as it is done by you, prematurely.
I do support on data of Triple ААА from a past season, where Wong was higher middle in an attack and higher middle in defence, therefore I have a hope on that he will carry these indexes in MLB.
I watched after Triple ААА in a past season, concretely after Connor and Casas.
Against what data you lean naming of Wong sediment, I don’t know.
I don’t use Fangraphs and Statcast, therefore I don’t understand what you talk about.
Bogie – Would you rather have Wong than Adley Rutschman?
Would you rather have Wong than Realmuto?
Smith from the Dodgers?
Sean Murphy?
Willson Contreras?
Kirk from TOR?
Raleigh?
Stephenson, Trevino or Heim?
The answer should be No to all of the above.
That means he’s at best the 11th best catcher in baseball but we all know he’s actually less talented than many more catchers not listed.
Lets go back to your facts except lets look at the big picture (his career so far)
71 games, .233 battting average, .293 OBP, .436 SLG, .729 OPS or 95 OPS+
Those are bad numbers for a MLB starting catcher but fine for a back-up.
In the minors –
Age 21 at ROK – He went o for 1 and got promoted to
A ball where he hit .278 in 27 games
Age 22 at Hi-A he hit .269 OBP .350 SLG .480 OPS .831
Age 23 LAD chose to keep him at Hi-A to start the year since they had better catchers at the higher level but it also hurt him that he regressed
In 102 games at age 23 in 2019 he hit .245 which was 24 points lower than the year before but LAD promoted him to AA anyway in hopes of increasing his trade value.. In 40 games during the 2019 AA season for LAD he hit .349!! That was incredible if taken out of context but if you saw the opponents he did well against you would smell the same stench we smelled with Downs. Downs hit .333 for 12 games against two of the three worst pitching staffs at AA. Guess who else was on that team? Yep. Wong. Freidman took those over inflated values to sell Bloom on two average to below average players. Bloom should have known better but he was on his own. He left the brains of the TB front office in TB. He got two schmucks and Verdugo in the Mookie/Price deal. Bloom was a complete idiot accepting so little for the two all-stars.
With Boston Wong hit .256 in AAA in 2021.came up and in 6 games did well. In 2022 he raised it to .288 at AAA in 81 games but failed at the MLB level hitting .188 in 27 games. Now in 2023, he’s only played at the MLB level and he’s hitting .243 in his 7th seasaon since being drafted. The fact that it has taken his this many years to play part time in the majors screams MEDIOCRE but his numbers prove he’s MEDIOCRE.
Hitting .243 in the majors is normally a great accomplishment and most people couldn’t do it but that’s not the scale we are grading on. We are comparing him to all MLB catchers and he’s not anything more than a below league average back-up. That’s what the data shows no matter how you want to rationalize the numbers. Facts are facts and he’s average at best. Sorry.
KD – I’d rather have Adley than Wong.
KD17 –
I never compared of Wong to none of above-stated by you catchers.
You easily can check it in my posts here.
Undoubtedly, I would like that Red Sox had catcher of level Realmuto, Adley, Smith or Murphy.
I compared Murphy and Vazquez not simply so, because Murphy earns $12 million and corresponds to this production, and Vazquez earns $10 million and falls short of to this earnings.
And initially I compared Wong and Vazquez in this season.
Wong doesn’t yield on a production in an attack and defensive of Vazquez.
71 games, .233 battting average, .293 OBP, .436 SLG, .729 OPS or 95 OPS+
Those are bad numbers for a MLB starting catcher but fine for a back-up.
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J.Heim 28 Age Texas $min. (career MLB) – 268 games, .228 BA, .287 OBP, .389 SLG .676 OPS or 88 OPS+
J.Trevino 30 Age Yankees $2.35m (career MLB) – 302 games, .242 BA, .274 OBP, .368 SLG, .642 OPS or 75 OPS+
C.Raleigh 26 Age Seattle $min (career MLB) – 214 games, 210 BA, .280 OBP, .443 SLG, 104 Ops+
C.Vazquez 32 Age Twins $10m (career MLB) – 769 games, .260 BA, .309 OBP, .380 SLG, .689 OPS or 84 Ops+
Does these catchers must enumerated by me higher to be basic in the clubs corresponding to your logic?
Fever Pitch Guy –
I understand that KD17 manipulator, my comparison initially there was Wong with Vazquez in this season, because he named Wong sediment, I refuted it.
My statements were that Wong better Vazquez in this season, I gave data that confirm it.
KD17 understanding that he lost in this dispute decided to be unscrewed from this situation and began to compare of Wong to the best catchers of MLB, what, I never did initially.
Surprisingly, whatever you wrote :
“Excellent post of KD17”.
In most cases you do so.
KD17 –
By the way, I as well as you, I think that Cora is an unsuitable manager for
Red Sox, he badly manages of bullpen.
Within my memory in this season from his unsuccessful decisions 6 victories lost with the handle of Red Sox.
On the start of season, when he produced Ort and Brasier in 5 inn. against Orioles, 3 times of Bleier produced in situations with a high credit shoulder, Jansen in the second game against Cardinals where it was possible to close victory of Schreiber or Martin, defeat today when he overexposed of J.Rodriguez.
His fascination of Kike on SS slowly kills this club.
Bogie – No two people agree on everything, I definitely am glad Wong is catching instead of Vazquez.
Wong has a 1.2 WAR while Vazquez has just 0.2 with a putrid .561 OPS …. and Vazquez is making ten times what Wong is making!
Fever Pitch Guy –
Bogie – No two people agree on everything, I definitely am glad Wong is catching instead of Vazquez.
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Problem not in that someone consented in everything or disagreed.
But if some fan on this board names a player sediment he must confirm it facts – it so works for me.
Remember we with you talked about Dalbec and Casas.
Dalbec tears Triple ААА 4 Double, 8HR, .379 BA, 1.277 OPS and brought down the amount of SO – last 66 AB ( 21 SO ).
I would promote Dalbec right now and would give to him a chance in Major.
OMG. Why spend so much time on the catcher situation when it was mainly $$ and trying to put together a competitive team while resetting the tax threshold (yes we know they should have done it last year).
Bogie – I have to be honest it’s hard to follow some of your comments and I’m guessing English isn’t your first language.
If your original point is that Vazquez isn’t playing as well as Wong so far this season then I agree. That’s not how I originally translated what you wrote. I thought you were making an argument for Wong or against Vazquez.
I explained that Wong is mediocre at best and that while Vazquez may be having an off year there is no way it reflects what he might have done as a Red Sox player. He’s making new team adjustments not playing on the team he loved and grew up in their organization. I also admit that he may be dropping off in performance as he gets older but I respect his time in a Red Sox uniform.
Somehow those simple comments have turned into a debate as to who is right. My responses proved Wong is mediocre and Vazquez did a nice job while playing for Boston and your comments keep saying Wong is better than Vazquez. I listed all the players to show you guys who are better catchers than Wong not catchers that are having a better year than Wong. There is a big difference between the two concepts.
Do you understand that data isolated at a point in time doesn’t reflect the skills of the player? Any bad player can get hot as the Red Sox have proven this year over and over but that doesn’t make them good, that just means their future is going to offset their hot streak. WONG is a perfect example. Taking a picture of the data on a specific day proves nothing except the irrelevant idea that one player is off to a better start than another player. If you put it into context by using history then an argument develops but a point in time data point means nothing.
So if it makes you feel good to say Wong’s numbers on this day in May are better than Vazquez’s, I completely agree with your statement and then qualify it by saying that is meaningless.
FPG – You are better than this. Putting Vazquez on the Red Sox makes all the difference in the world. He is a true HOMER. How long would your adjustment period be if you were forced out of your current home which you love and living and working somewhere not as good for you?
Cut Vazquez slack. He did a great job in Boston and deserves more respect. Also, who cares what a player is doing on May 31st? Can you guarantee that Vazquez won’t adjust as he gets comfortable? Can you guarantee that Wong is going to maintain a level of performance he’s never achieved before? The obvious answer is NO.
Is Jake Burger better than Nolan Arenado because his OPS is .917 on May 31st and Arenado’s is .742? It’s silly to suggest someone is going to have a better 2023 this early in the season.
Let me add to the example Jose Ramirez who I consider the best 3B in baseball his OPS is currently .813 over 100 points below Burger. Raffy has an OPS of .786. Does that mean Burger is BETTER than Arenado, Ramirez and Devers? NO!!!!!!!!! So hold off on the Vazquez vs Wong until the end of the season.
FPG – Oh yeah, and stop with the fabricated WAR numbers. They are meaningless because the assumptions built into them can’t be agreed upon by any two stat companies. Use real stats not fabricated data.
KD – Haha! I rarely use WAR, just on occasion to appease the stats nuts. I agree WAR has too many flaws, I usually go with OPS.
KD – Agreed on not projecting a full season or more based on just two months! But right now that’s all we got to go by.
Adjustment period is certainly valid when it comes to handling the pitching staff, but not batting unless it’s a league change.
FPG – I respectfully disagree because each team has a scouting group that determines what has been working on a guy recently and provides this data to the pitching staff to help them get batters out.
Hitting adjustments need to happen every series. Vazquez’ body language suggests to me that he’s trying hard to adjust to his new team mates and his place in the organization. He loved being in Boston and it showed on his face because he always seemed to want to be in Boston, even with Cora so the man is a saint or maybe martyr!! haha
So looking at Vazquez’ career by month I see May is his highest average month but his power kicks in during June and July with his OPS peaking in July and September (.717 and .718 respectively). He hit .282 in Boston in 2022 with an OPS of .759 which is above any peak month during his career. To me, that’s an excellent hitting catcher. His OPS+ was 108 as the starting catcher on his hometown team. He got dealt to Houston who had 2 catchers splitting time and he got put in the mix but wasn’t the starter. His numbers dropped dramatically as one might expect.
After the season he put out feelers to come back to Boston and Bloom told him to pound sand so he signed with MIN. He’s with his second team in less than a year and he’s not off to a fast start. Completely understandable. We saw Story struggle and he’s a much more accomplished hitter just like Soto who struggled in SD. It happens.
Would you take Vazquez’ numbers in Boston last year for a $10MM contract? I would in a heartbeat!!!
Lets give him the year. Lets see if he can return to form and then we can evaluate his deal. I love the guy for loving the Red Sox so much. So I admit I’m a bit biased due to his love of the team that I love.
Marcelo Mayer has been promoted to AA.
suit – That’s great news. The announcers are convinced he will be up with the Sox next season, I still agree.
Fever: Let’s see. Hopefully he adjusts well to AA like Yorke has.
So the Red Sox were predicted to go 14-15 in April and went 15=14 instead so the original prediction based on strength of schedule of 74 wins moved up to 75.
May is almost over and Boston was supposed to go 11-16 since they had a rougher schedule in May but with 3 games left are 13-11. CIN is the last series of the month so the prediction for the home series is 2-1. If correct the Red Sox finish May 15=12 or 4 games over the predicted May wins. Thus, after 2 months the 74 win season would be upgraded to 79 wins. That’s a big improvement over the original prediction because Boston has a 5-1-1 series record against the top teams in baseball. The problem is they are 4-3 versus average teams and 2-1 versus bad teams. It’s great they are doing well versus the tougher teams but they need to dominate the average and bad teams to hope for a playoff spot.
In June they face TB, CLE, NYY, COL, NYY, MIN, CWS, MIA and TOR. So far against the AL East they are 4-0 vs TOR which is very unexpected, 0-4 against TB also unexpected, 3-3 versus BAL which is good considering how well BAL is playing and 0-0 versus the Yankees. Opening June vs TB is a big series at home. CLE is no slouch but the 3 game series is in CLE after BOS won the home series 2-1. The SIX big games with the Yankees will determine the type of month the Red Sox will have in June. Last year they failed miserably due to a tough schedule in APR and MAY but flourished in June but last year the month of June was their easy opponent month. This year it is not.
Cross your fingers, hope the pitching stays healthy and may Cora not make as many daily errors as he has so far this season.
KD – Not sure if you read the most recent chat transcript, but Nick talked about Sale getting traded by the deadline. If a WC spot looks hopeless and Sale is still pitching great, it makes sense. Get some good young talent and get out from under the $27.5M owed Sale next season.
How many games out of the WC do you think it would take for the Sox to make that trade?
FPG – Sale is pitching well enough to start the all-star game and you think $27.6MM is too much for him?
I hope they get rid of Cora and Bloom LONG BEFORE SALE. Sale got hurt thanks to Cora and has recaptured his status as a top 5 SP. Trading a top 5 pitcher is like giving away Mookie, Bogey, JD, Eovaldi. It’s bad baseball thinking.
This team needs two things for the future:
1 – NO BLOOM OR CORA
2 – Add ELITE players not lose ELITE players.
Until those things happen, Red Sox Nation will be watching other teams compete in the playoffs.
KD – Nooo …. that’s not what I said. What I said is that if Sale continues to pitch well, and the Sox are realistically out of the playoff hunt by the trade deadline, trading him would make sense given the return in talent they would receive (if Bloom doesn’t screw up again) and the $28M in salary cap space next year. I really don’t think there’s any chance of Bloom giving Sale an extension, and there’s always a higher risk of injury.
I’m totally with you on Cora and Bloom!!
FPG – I would sign Sale to an extension because I wouldn’t want to see him a Yankee or Blue Jay or Astro. But that’s just me. If he’s away from Cora he’s a lethal weapon. If Cora leaves him alone this year, he’s a lethal weapon.
He’s a $35MM a year pitcher costing Boston $25.6MM. Most people would consider that a great deal. DD knew what he was doing. What he didn’t foresee was Cora’s impact on Sale. I’ll take Sale at $25.6MM any day over guys like Cole, Severino, Cortez, Guasman, Bassitt, Berrios and the Houston star pitchers. The key is many of the guys I listed are expensive too except the guys in Houston. For the money, Framber Valdez is a steal. If it came down to one game, I take Sale over Valdez or any pitcher on NYY, TOR, BAL, TB, HOU or LAD..
In fact, I take Sale over everyone except maybe deGrom. But that’s just me. I think Sale is elite and is being underpaid because Cora should have never messed with him and cost the team 3 years of a top 5 pitcher’s career.
KD – I would sign Sale to an extension as well, if he stays healthy this year and next year. That would also mean the $20M vesting option would kick in for 2025 which was the best part of the contract Dombrowski gave. So I really hope the Sox stay in contention and Sale stays.
Well it’s another embarrassing loss tonight.
Hernandez with 2 more errors – he should NOT be playing SS!!!!! Why the hell doesn’t Bloom sign Iggy?
And Joely is yet another $2M bust, what a horrific performance tonight. Bloom loves wasting $2M on relief pitchers.
FPG – The good news is Bello is holding his own. The bad news is the hitting is doing as predicted despite the late inning surge. The good news is the bad hitters are still over performing. The bad news is CORA can off set any good play by the bad players!!.
“How NOT to pick the right next guy to pitch” by Alex (not Joey) Cora!!! It’s a new best seller. The problem is he has too many choices so his odds of a mistake are much higher than if someone built him a chart by inning with only two choices for each inning!!
Seriously, I don’t think I could successfully try to be as bad as Cora is!! Think about the odds of making so many consecutive bad decisions as a manager. At some point even a blind squirrel finds an acorn, but not CORA!!hahahaha
The problem with Sale is he tires every August.
Dewey – So if he has a 2.11 ERA and sub 1.0 WHIP for the entire year but does better before August than after August we must erase his greatness?
If he’s human at times, that shouldn’t be a bad thing if the overall numbers are outstanding like they have been until he met Cora.
dewey – Simply not true.
Sale’s August numbers are actually better than his pre-May numbers, and some of his August numbers are even better than July.
May & June are definitely his best months, but it’s not until September when he usually begins to tire.
I’ll give him a pass on the postseason, because he was injured in 2018 and just came back from injury in 2021 and of course Cora is responsible for Sale’s horrific 2017 postseason performance.
FWIW – I think because Sale has missed so much time the past couple seasons, he may not tire in September.
KD – Great post, I completely agree! Yes too many choices for Cora to constantly over-manage.
KD – Well it’s a somber night tonight as Sale left the game early with shoulder soreness. Cross our fingers and hope for the best, but this is probably the main reason why trading him at the deadline (only if the Sox are out of the postseason race) is the smart thing to do.
We just can’t expect him to ever remain healthy. It’s sad, because when he’s healthy he truly is one of the best in the game.
FPG – Lets see how bad the injury is. Shoulder stiffness vs should repair.
It’s disappointing for sure.
Fever Pitch Guy
of course Cora is responsible for Sale’s horrific 2017 postseason performance.
___________________________________________________________
In 2017 manager of Red Sox was John Farrell
FPG – Who is Nick? Clearly we need to give him some money to buy a clue.
KD – He’s the rookie writer from New Zealand that loves the Yankees. LOL
If correct the Red Sox finish May 15=12 or 4 games over the predicted May wins. Thus, after 2 months the 74 win season would be upgraded to 79 wins.
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Two months into the season, and you’re already off by 5 games?
Boston has 1 game left in their May series that complete tomorrow on June 1.
They finished 9 series in April with a series record of 6-3 and a game record of 15-14.
In May they finished 9 series with a series record of 5=3=1 and a game record of 13-13 so far with tomorrow’s game deciding if they are over .500 by 1 game for the second month in a row.
The prediction for April was 14-15 and they overachieved by going 15-14 putting them 1 game ahead of a 74 win pace calculated from strength of schedule. May’s prediction was 11=16 and they are guaranteed to finish at least 2 games ahead of the prediction and it could be 3 with a win against CIN on Thursday. So either 14-13 or 13-14 vs the predicted 11-16. With 14 wins their cumulative wins above the forecast would be 4 thus moving their projected 2023 numbers to 78=84 the same as last year.
Considering the massive downgrade of the hitting it would be an excellent year if they matched their 2022 record. Granted the balanced schedule might be part of the upturn but two things should happen if they do finish 2023 with a record of 78-84.
The players should all be complimented for their peroformance and the GM & Manager should be fired.
KD – Sox play 4 games with Tampa this weekend, do you think the Rays will lose any of the games?
Your analysis is great, but I put more emphasis on game wins rather than series wins.
Here’s why: If the Sox win 2 of 3 in one series, and lose all 4 games in another series, does that really mean it’s a wash? I don’t think so.
FPG – Great question! You are hitting on a very key point to what’s going on.
I like to monitor both series record and game record because they are so telling of the issues within a club. We completely agree that the games are the most important.
When a team plays in 18 series and wins 11, loses 6 with 1 tie you would think that team would be way over .500 but the Red Sox are ONE game over pending tonight’s outcome. That means they are getting swept a lot!!
For me, the prediction for this weekend is 2-2 based on normal expectations of playing a GOOD team at home. Do I think they will meet the expectation? NO.
The problem is I have no idea what they will do because when they should win they lose and when they should lose they win. If it ends up 0-4 I won’t be surprised. If it ends up 4-0 I won’t be shocked because it would follow the previous pattern of winning games they shouldn’t. 4-0 against TOR makes no sense to me but it happened. 0-3 vs STL PIT, LAA and possibly CIN makes no sense to me.either. This team is an enigma. Predicting probably makes sense to guys like JB and some of the other gamblers on this website but to me I wouldn’t put money either way on this team. They are simply too unpredictable. The fact that they have had some big wins surprises me as do the big losses to bad teams. To me it’s still a 74 win team but it has a beta that is probably more standard deviations than I might guess.
So for now, I keep tracking them against the 74 win strength of schedule prediction and watch in amazement as they defy the odds by winning when they shouldn’t and losing when they shouldn’t.
To have the greatest chance of being right, I’m going to answer your question with the prediction I mentioned for the four game series. 2-2 give or take 2 games!! hahaha
I had made the prediction that by the end of May the Red Sox would be 13 games out if first place. Yeas they did a little bit better than that by 2 1/2 games. There have been surprises like Duran Casas, Crawford and Bello who have played well. Sale is getting back to form. Kluber was a bust. Paxton seems okay as well. Tampa got off to a great start and they hold first place. The Red Sox have to jump over 3 teams where we are currently in last place in the division. I am still upset with Bloom for failing to hang on to Bogaerts. Ten and a half games out after May with a team barely .500 is not a Bloom success story. I still think after anther bad year Bloom will be shown the door.
Bloom is doing what owners want him to do., I doubt he will get fired for that.
syco – Yes and no.
Yes, Bloom has drastically reduced payroll which is what ownership wanted.
No, Bloom hasn’t spent wisely nor made good trades nor kept the team competitive … all things ownership wanted by now.
And the massive drop in revenue is certainly something ownership didn’t want.
I do believe either Cora and/or Bloom could be gone this year, especially if they finish last again and miss the postseason again.
Sycophant – Do you know for certain that is the case? Jerry Jones over manages the Dallas Cowboys like you are suggesting the Red Sox ownership is monitoring every action of Bloom but that’s not normal.
If Bloom is simply a placeholder in the organization that has never been documented before. Here is how a normal organization runs.
There is a front office staff with lots of areas of responsibility all feeding suggestions to the GM. The GM evaluates the suggestions and either gets on board with the suggestion or rejects it. If he/she is on board they bring it to the head of baseball operations to get funding or to be evaluated. The Head of Baseball operations reviews the proposal and determines whether they are going to go forward with it to the owners.
This is where things vary greatly across teams. Some GMs/HOBOs have a spending limit that they can execute transactions without ownership approval. They simply notify them of the change. Does Bloom have a spending limit? I don’t know. His cheap choices suggest to me that he does so he makes all the dumpster diving without the owners approval but he informs them after the fact. Deals like letting go Mookie, Price, Benny, JD, Bogey and Eovaldi must involve some level of discussion and they may be directives from the owners but nobody knows for sure unless you have a high level source in the Red Sox organization.
So now lets discuss why Bloom hasn’t been fired. Bloom failed miserably and got extended. In the normal business world, that happens all the time thanks to politics. If Bloom has a secret or public connection to someone that has great power in the organization they are keeping him here despite his performance. When does something like that change? When the results become embarrassing and the connected person finds a good landing place for their protege.
The Red Sox and LAD have had many strange deals in the past that suggest some level of collusion or mutual respect that allows one team to take the bad end of a very big deal. Freidman is Bloom’s mentor so that may be the connection back to Boston. There is no way of knowing for sure but there has to be a “supporter” high up in the organization for Devers, Bloom and Cora. They have made wrong choices with these three for many years now. When that high level supporter moves on, passes away or gets replaced then we might see some NORMAL activity in the Red Sox organization. Until then, there is no way to know when Bloom and Cora will be forced out and Devers will be forced to DH.
For now, all a fan can do is bring up the need for change at every opportunity they can, which is precisely what I do daily. I keep hoping enough noise from Red Sox nation might force the change. That’s all a fan can do.
Al – Did you really just group Casas in the “played well” category?
That has to be a typo, right?
FPG – If AL is comparing him to what he expected him to do then he might be considered a guy playing well!! I had low expectations too and he’s done better than I expected. Since the team is rubbish I still would like to see Dalbec getting a chance to show his talent so a trade rather than a DFA happens.