The Red Sox announced Monday morning that they’ve designated infielder Pablo Reyes for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to newly acquired first baseman/outfielder Garrett Cooper, whom the Sox added in a cash deal with the Cubs over the weekend.
Reyes has been with the Sox dating back to last season but is out to a brutal start at the plate, hitting just .183/.234/.217 with a 29.7% strikeout rate in his first 64 plate appearances. It’s a far cry from the .287/.339/.377 slash he posted through 185 trips to the plate with the ’23 Sox, when he punched out in only 11.4% of his turns at the plate. Reyes’ 19 strikeouts on the season are already just two fewer than the 21 he posted in nearly three times as much action last year.
The 30-year-old Reyes has appeared in parts of six big league seasons but never topped last year’s 185 plate appearances. He’s a lifetime .248/.309/.349 hitter in 572 plate appearances between the Pirates, Brewers and Sox. He’s played every position on the diamond with the exception of catcher, including a four-inning cameo on the mound. Reyes has drawn solid ratings at third base, in particular, though his versatility has in a way prevented him from picking up a meaningful sample at any single position; his 289 career frames at the hot corner are the most he’s tallied at any one spot.
Reyes is out of minor league options, so the Sox didn’t have the ability to simply send him down to Triple-A Worcester without first exposing him to waivers. They’ll have a week to trade Reyes, attempt to pass him through outright waivers or release him. He’s previously been outrighted in his career (twice, in fact), which gives him the right to reject a minor league assignment in the event that he does clear waivers.
Crazy how fast they have already moved on from Kevin Pillar.
Wrong Sox
“Wrong Sox”…True. It’s the wrong “Sox”, but I have a hard time believing the Wsox have 4-5 OFs better than Kevin Pillar. Granted, nobody(outside of Chicago)is really watching the Wsox these days, so maybe Pillar is really scuffling, but I’m still surprised. And I’m not just saying that because Pillar always rakes for me in “MLB The Show”.
It had to be done, Pablo wasn’t doing the job on offense or defense.
Looking forward to seeing what Grissom can do.
Looks like dalbec wins out as the remaining 3B depth piece, and, by Tues one of hamilton/valdez are headed down. A bit surprising given Pablo’s positional versatility, but, apparently the team feels improved health issues around the corner.
That 5 game hitting streak seems to have made some impression anyways, as has a possible change to his swing – remember how I’d highlighted his negative 2 degree launch angle and lack of pop infield fly balls,
(Assuming Reyes even gets claimed, (or traded) instead of being outrighted.)
Honestly of the three you’d think Hamilton and Valdez BOTH get sent down just to preserve depth, as well as let them continue to work on defense. But, as I said, maybe Breslow thinks Reyes can pass through waivers right now.
Maybe this is signaling a shift to prioritizing defense a little more as well for the MLB-club infield, one can only hope.
Pablo Reyes? I’m not buying it. I think it is Pablo Ozuna in disguise trying another trick to get back to MLB. They bust you on age, try the ol’ name change trick.
Now that you mention it, I’ve never seen them both in the same room at the same time….
Pablo may go unclaimed and wind up in AAA.
Suit, very possible. But, I’d assume 2023’s numbers and his utility potential get him a home at least with a nothing to lose club like the White Sox, if not somewhere even better than that.
Right now I’m more curious what the lineup card will look like the next couple days while Yoshida sits again.
Your best defense comes with dalbec at first, and Cooper or Ref handling DH duties.
Cora’s boy Hamilton *should* be the one to go down, and, here’s why:
We’ve already seen Devers and Casas go down at the same time. If dalbec went down, and Devers had any trouble, you need valdez to be an emergency 3B where he played in the minors for HOU. That’d certainly be better than moving ref/cooper/hamilton over there even if you could slide a catcher to 1B in a pinch.
Dalbec sharing dh duties keeps his 5 game hit streak bat in the lineup, and reduces injury risk while fielding, but not hitting or base-running. And I think sitting him and removing those regular ABs undoes some of the progress we’re seeing. What a guy did 3 weeks ago isn’t as important as what he’s doing lately.
So while both hamilton & valdez haven’t gotten things done, one had more emergency value and the other doesn’t.
The fact remains, this club is still very weak at 3B depth.
GASox – Speaking of Houston, not fair the Sox have to wait until August to play them. I’m not counting them out, they are still only 6 games out of first place and they are getting back some of their injured players.
Fever – Houston is playing better than their record suggests.
They’re also 0-7 in one-run games this year. Let that sink in. No way that trend continues.
GASox – I’m not a Hader hater, but what the hell is wrong with him??? Another hidden injury?
With Hader, cosider this nugget:
His era vs fip has a whopping 5-run difference!
Metrics generally like what he’s doing. If you threw out whatever that abysmal ATL showing was where he gave up 4 runs with only one out recorded, he’s nowhere near as bad. Still not great, but a lot better than it was.
HOU has a reputation for finding something else in their arms. I wonder if the rough early games reflected them asking him to do something differently, or, maybe it was just pressure to live up to the contract.
But except for ATL Hader really has settled down a lot since then. Its worth watching of course, but I suspect things will improve.
GASox – It’s just in the back of my mind how volatile closers can be.
Remember Edwin Diaz’s first year with the Mets?
Cooper at DH? I’m pretty sure that’s not why he was acquired.
There is no situation on this roster where Yoshida playing the field is the best option.
Apparently I didn’t read your whole comment.
I doubt Dalbec has a better glove than Cooper, though.
Fielding metric like dalbec better, but we all know the issues with those.
You’ve also got to consider 28yo vs 33yo, floor and ceiling, all that.
Obviously cooper wasn’t gotten to ride the bench. At the same time, the effort to get Cooper would’ve started before dalbec began really stringing together his hitting streak where not much was being expected.
As a team you have to want Bobby to finally be putting something together again. I’d hope while the dh slot was wide open due to yoshida’s discomfort, you let things ride and see how it keeps playing out.
You are correct though, the thought in seeking to pursue Cooper wasn’t to stick him in a pure bench role at that time.
Cora’s boy Hamilton *should* be the one to go down
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Does this happen with other teams, where certain players are considered the managers “pet players”? Or is it just a RS thing?
I think it happens to a degree with other teams to. Not every manager is as blatant/open in comments about certain players, or, players from certain regions, as Cora has been that give the impression of that favoritism.
Cora has like 15 “boys” apparently.
GA and Joe – Nepotism has been a founding philosophy since the early 1900s. The long history has led to long biases whether it comes to skin color or country of origin.
I blame the poor farm system on the lack of equitable reviews of skills in the managers and coaches. The good old boy system has prevailed and dragged the program down. Breslow’s changes were refreshing but he needs to do a lot more and it needs to be about the best candidate getting the job not the best connected.
As soon as Cora is gone there is a whole string of firing that should happen including the highly lauded and untalented manager at AA. Fresh blood needs to be brought into the coaching community within the Red Sox organization.
The difference the current pitching coaches are making is the essence of what Boston needs to do to improve the farm system training just like they did the MLB pitching training.
The sooner Cora goes the sooner the whole program can improve and the nepotism can be significantly reduced.
I’ll say 2 things for Pablo: he’s consistently inconsistent, and he’s made a nice career as a utility player who doesn’t play any position particularly well defensively.
Red Sux gonna Red Sux…
What a clever comment.
He’ll be back Cora loves him
Sweet = Lets hope Cora joins him!!!
nooo not our best closer, with a career ERA of 0
It’s not as though any of the options they’ve been running out in the infield are realistically MLB-caliber, but I’m still a little surprised to see them keep Dalbec or Valdez over Reyes, especially considering that both of them have options. But given how awful the defense from Reyes/Hamilton/Valdez has been I suppose it makes sense to keep at least one competent defender on the roster in Dalbec. Either way, Cooper and Grissom will be very welcome arrivals.
Red sox are kinda underrated
liberalsteve – Or just maybe their opponents so far were over rated!!
Sox did not need to DFA anyone. Cooper and Grissom were both already on the 40 man roster, which was only at 39 after the DFA of Joely Rodriguez.
They do need to create another place on the active roster, most likely they will option Enmanuel Valdez to Worcester, since he has 2 options left and is being replaced by Grissom anyway.
Not sure why the DFAd Reyes when they could have just demoted Hamilton or Dalbec. I guess Cora still wants those guys around. Hamilton might be a useful ghost runner. Beyond that, he brings very little.
Ketch: You are correct. The 40 man roster is at 38 now. They might have something else in the works.
soxprospects.com/40man.htm
Technically you are correct: both valdez and Hamilton could’ve been optioned, or dalbec, without the DFA of Reyes.
However, you have to consider what each brings to the table.
Reyes has versatility, no question. But boston has no need for more OF depth. Not omly can cooper also play the OF, adding to oneill, Yoshida, Duran, abreu, refsnyder, moving ceddane in an ultimate pinch… OF is covered on the 26 man for sure. So what can he add? His defense is sub-par. His bat hasn’t played up well. At ss you’re better with ceddane backed by Hamilton or valdez in emergency than Reyes. Dalbec is hands down a better 3B. 1B you’ve got cooper, dalbec, sliding a catcher over in an emergency. So that OF experience doesn’t bring value right now
Fact is, Reyes was expendable if he passes through waivers. He wasn’t doing any one thing well enough to stick on the roster with the current needs.
If your goal is to either give a player with room for growth mlb experience, or, go with the best combination of offensive and defensive production, Reyes loses out. The *only* argument to keep him where he was is if you are afraid of losing him through waivers, or, think you need that extra depth going forward with injury risk.
That’s about right. Hamilton and Dalbec have some upside, even if we haven’t seen it. Reyes is your basic -0- WAR player.
GA: If you feel like it, please go here and rear the exchange between me and FPG.
mlbtraderumors.com/2024/04/nl-central-notes-imanag…
If you agree that FPG is confusing facts and opinions, please see if you can explain the difference to him. The only facts we have about the Red Sox spending is now much they have actually spent and their CBT calculation. How to evaluate whether or not they are cheap from there is all a matter of opinion. It is an opinion whether or not to pay attention to the actual spending numbers or the CBT calculation. Also, each person will have their own opinion about what is a cheap level of spending. I know you believe that each person is entitled to their opinion.
FPG is a troll. You’d be better suited discussing baseball with a pillow.
As much as I dont like Reyes, I think Dalbec should have been the target
koudey – If Cooper gets hurt in this first game Dalbec is the back-up Reyes doesn’t have a comparable role so he’s more expendable.
Well, they could have gone one game with Reyes at 1B and recalled Dalbec from Worcester. Dalbec can be demoted; Reyes cannot.
Kelch – While Dalbec isn’t a quality back-up he is a last resort back-up. The price for a Pablo Reyes is a dime a dozen. The system has more comparable players than Dalbec and if the stock pile is low you don’t toss the guy who is closest to the front line even if he can come back up. You dump the guy who is worth a penny amongst a bunch of pennies. He was the weakest link.
This comment has nothing to do with this article, but I don’t know who to ask. The Tuesday chat has a link in The Opener to ask a question beforehand. On Sunday there is no Opener. Can someone please tell me how I can get on the Sunday chat to ask a question?
Addition by subtraction. Removing Reyes and Joely from the roster is great news. I hope they find another team to play for, but they ran out of time to perform with the Sox (imo).
I wonder what the corresponding move will be for Grissom tomorrow. Yoshida to the IL? Hamilton/Dalbec DFA’d? I feel like it has to be Hamilton or Yoshida. You need some backups at the corner IF spot, and that’s currently Dalbec.
Joemo = Well said. I would start finding trading partners for Yoshida. The depth that could come from dealing his $18MM could reduce the issues for back-ups while the starters mend.
Yoshi has proven to not be a $18MM player so trade him for 4 players costing roughly $5MM and don’t get a lot of playing time. Make sure one or two can play the corners and then send Dalbec down and use the others to upgrade the back-up rolls because more injuries will happen. A $2MM bump in payroll is meaningless in 2024.
Troll – If Breslow can find a way to dump Yoshida, give him an award. I’m sure he could be useful on a team that really needs a LH OF bat. What the Red Sox needed, even last year, was a RH power hitting OF. Yoshida has been a LH, soft contact hitter. It looks like they have that in O’Neill. I would say if he could swap bad contracts that would be a win, I don’t really have a partner in mind but someone like Tim Anderson. Some veteran IF on a bad deal. You wouldn’t even need to throw in a prospect to sweeten the deal.
Roster spots will become tight soon, and Yoshida could be the next casualty.
Joemo – Yoshida is a real challenge to move and it seems unlikely they dump the contract. So maybe an Anderson deal might improve the situation to some degree but maybe they could trade Yoshida for Kyle Hendricks.
With Bellinger and Suzuki out as well as Hendricks, the Cubs gain an outfielder who needs to play every day and the Red Sox get a low rotation SP who is hurt and is only on a one year contract. If they need to throw in guys like Hamilton for his speed or a lower level prospect then do it to save the upcoming years of $18MM. Also, Hendrick might learn something about his current pitching issues that would allow him to be a viable piece of pitching depth.
Someone in the front office just needs to find the right need to move Yoshida. He’s not horrible, he’s just doesn’t fit the Red Sox needs.
Hamilton and Dalbec have options. They aren’t going to be DFA”d.
Joemo – Hamilton and Dalbec have options and can be optioned to AAA Worcester, so no DFA is necessary.
Whoops, got a little dfa happy. Thanks
Why do the Red Sox Pablo Reyes when they Chase Meidroth in AAA who plays 2B and 3B.
‘Infielder Chase Meidroth (No. 13) doesn’t chase. The 22-year-old has been a proverbial on-base machine, posting a .255/.463/.340 line thanks to a disciplined approach that has produced more than twice as many walks (16) as strikeouts (7), and the lowest chase rate (13 percent) among the 254 Triple A hitters who have faced at least 100 pitches out of the strike zone.’
The quote was from Alex Speier of the Boston Globe.
Fun – Cool handle paesano.