The Red Sox have signed outfielder Bradley Zimmer to a minor league deal, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive. Zimmer had been with the Dodgers on a minor league deal until being released this week.
Zimmer, 30, was a first round draft selection of Cleveland in 2014 and a top 100 prospect as a minor leaguer. Unfortunately, he hasn’t yet been able to put it together as a hitter, currently sporting a career batting line of .213/.298/.333 in 975 major league plate appearances. He’s struck out in 33.9% of those while walking at just a 7.8% rate. Zimmer signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers this winter but hit just .219/.322/.343 in 121 Triple-A plate appearances, striking out at a 38% clip.
Despite the poor production at the plate, Zimmer still has plenty of appeal in the other parts of his game, as his speed and defense are both generally considered elite. He has 42 stolen bases in his brief major league time and also has strong grades from advanced defensive metrics. He’s accrued 15 Defensive Runs Saved, 14 Outs Above Average and a grade of 7.8 from Ultimate Zone Rating in his career.
The Red Sox have been dealing with uncertainty in center field for much of the season. Once Trevor Story required elbow surgery in the offseason, the club planned to move Enrique Hernández in from center to cover shortstop. They then signed Adam Duvall to cover center but he fractured his wrist after just eight games. Jarren Duran has stepped up and taken the job by hitting .361/.418/.588, but his .464 batting average on balls in play suggests he’s due for some regression. Zimmer will give the club a bit of extra depth at the position and try to earn his way back to the big leagues.
Minor League Contract. Bloom blah, blah, blah ridiculous, blah blah blah the worst.
Figured I’d give you guys a headstart.
I kind of like the signing as depth. Obviously the biggest OF move will be reinstating Duval from the IL.
Zimmer will replace Greg Allen at AAA. Allen had an upward mobility clause and was traded to the Yankees.
I don’t really check posts for other teams…do they get as wound up about nothing minor league signings as a certain small group of people do here?
Sox haters like to come here and deride every move.
Facts. You should hear our local sports radio, it’s almost like we hate our own teams – I must document I am one of the few with common sense haha oh and btw let’s go C’s!
Like on a Friday night at the bar, let’s give it one more shot.
Don’t we all deserve one?
If Sox fans thought JBJ brought little to the table in terms of offensive production, this guy will have you begging KC to send him back to Boston.
Was JBJ on a minor league contract too?
I read the headline quickly and thought it was JBJ coming back again lol.
SMH
In before all the Bloom haters blow a gasket over a minor league signing…
Rsox – Same was said about Pablo Reyes and …. well, you know how that turned out.
Many of these “minor league signings” end up with the Red Sox … and it’s not necessarily always a bad thing, but often it is.
Yeah, 8-19 with 3 2Bs and 4 RBI in 5 games. God that move sucked.
King – Obviously I was referring to everyone here saying he was gonna be in the minors, and yet he was immediately added to the Sox active roster. But hey hope you enjoyed your rant.
WHY would anyone complain about the FANTASTIC job Chaim Bloom has done since coming to Boston??? The guy is amazing and he has the Sox down to the 11th highest payroll now–down from the top 3. John Henry has to be thrilled with the job he has done.
Randy – I am with you, but did you see how empty Fenway was during the series this week. Henry can’t be happy with the huge drop in revenue.
I hope that the fans stay away in droves as the team is honestly only trying to put a competitive team on the field. They are now 11th highest in payroll. Henry must be pleased with that. Sox will have plenty to deal at the deadline but they will likely be on the fringe of a postseason berth so likely won’t be sellers and the guys on short-term deals will walk for nothing like last year.
Randy Red Sox22 hours ago
I hope that the fans stay away in droves as the team is honestly only trying to put a competitive team on the field. They are now 11th highest in payroll.
===========================
1-Attendance is up from last year.
2-1th highest payroll, with the 9th best record.
Bet’cha didn’t know either of those, did you.
Joe—I was simply responding to a previous comment about the empty seats. I myself have seen empty seats at some games. As for the record if you as a Red Sox fan are happy with the 9th best record I say “HAVE AT IT”
Wow. That was fast. He is fast.
Was the signing half-fast?
Nothing wrong in signing him as long as these minor league retreads don’t get in the way of Rafaella and others advancing.
More like he provides an option for them to go to instead of rushing someone like Rafaela before he’s ready for the majors.
King – You don’t follow AAA, Rafaela had 6 steals in one game recently. They won’t rush him because there’s a logjam already with 5 outfielders on the Sox active roster. His time will come if Tapia or Ref tail off.
Rafaela is AA. He’ll need some time in AAA before they’ll consider moving him up.
He doesn’t look that close to me. 34/8 K/W with one HR. He has some talent, but I’d be surprised if the came up any earlier than late 2024.
outside his rookie year he really has not shown much, except he is really good a padding pitchers K rates.
He has shown exceptional defense and speed.
But yeah, can’t hit worth a damn.
Ted – He’ll fit right in with Wong, Chang, Casas, Dalbec, etc.
Good one fever bltch guy
Maybe not the others but Wong has been pretty solid with hitting homeruns and as bad as Casas is, he has a good eye, so his form will come. But let’s still be negative just to be negative.
yeah why would any Red Sox fan complain about Chaim bloom after 2 of his 3 seasons ended in last place AL East finishes and we are currently in last place again. WHY ???
Oh complaining is fine but I was pointing out those two players are actually on the upside. No one wants to see any positives whatsoever.
And although we are in last place, we have a winning record right now at least, which is above my expectations.
You can’t just blame it all on Bloom. The winning record, to me, is progress.
the complaining becomes problematic when people get as riled about a minor league signing as they do about losing Boegart
Bag – You keep creating new accounts and I’ll keep muting them. No time for people like you.
Conner Wong has been one of the best defensive catchers in all of baseball so far and let’s be clear that’s the most important aspect for a catcher. His offense is secondary but he does bring some pop and I believe he will improve offensively as the season goes along. He’s a valuable member of the Red Sox for his defense alone.
Yu Chang was picked up for his defensive ability not his bat and he is a utility player a true utility player he doesn’t move the needle much offensively but a a high quality defender and a useful player when healthy.
Triston Casas has actually been very solid since May 1st. Yes he started very slowly but it’s no surprise pitchers figured out he wasn’t going to chase so they started throwing a lot more strikes to him and figuring out if has a weakness they can exploit. I expect now that he is taking much better swings in the zone pitchers are going to adjust again and see if there is an area in the strike zone they can get him to chase and get him out but the reality is his K rate is plummeting his walk rate is still excellent and he is making better decisions on swinging in the zone and making a lot more very loud hard contact. I see good things moving forward for Triston Casas probably going to be another adjustment period as he continues to learn big league pitchers and they adjust to him but I expect by the end of the season for him to be one of the most dangerous hitters on the Red Sox.
Everybody Wong Chang tonight.
Don’t hate it, don’t love it, let’s see how it turns out. It’s a minor league signing.