Red Sox sign Cooper Criswell for 1 year, 1 million
- Thread starter DeadlySplitter
- Start date
I predict the legendary Criswell will be plan 9 out of the bullpen this season.
We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember, my friend: Future events such as these will affect you in the future. You are interested in the unknown, the mysterious, the unexplainable. That is why you are here.
We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember, my friend: Future events such as these will affect you in the future. You are interested in the unknown, the mysterious, the unexplainable. That is why you are here.
Anytime you can add a guy who pitched to a 5.73 era and a 1.55 whip in a place (Tampa) that churns out one elite pitcher after another, you simply have to do it.
"Thanks" - my wife is now awake, and wondering why I'm chortling across the hall!
Seven posts in, not one "can't believe..."
I sort of like looking at my phone alerts and seeing the team giving major-league money to a player I've never heard of. It makes me realize just how gigantic the universe is.
You’re making fun, but let’s wait and see how much of that $1M is deferred before we pooh-pooh it.
He was DFA'd by Tampa in November, at the moment I 'm hoping he's still a pitcher.
There's a very real question about whether he can be a more valuable pitcher than Ohtani next year.
I mean there are still plenty of high ticket players out there, you could argue only one is off the board that some wanted on the team. We need players like this too, and Breslow, who is known for pitcher development, was willing to sign this guy to a major league deal and not wait his market out. He can do both, it's kinda silly to be cynical about a deal like this
I would think that this is Breslow's "Ok, i know what I'm doing" sampler. He can fix this guy and make him a CY award winner.
With the option left I do wonder if the plan would be to have him as a starter in Worcester. He was a starter for Tampa at the top of the year.
Among Breslow prospects, a pretty good comp for him may be Hayden Wesneski, the former Yankee farmhand the Cubs got in the Effross deal. Criswell and Wesneski both have extremely long extensions and low vertical release points.
Roughly the same pitch mix too — sweeper, cutter, sinker, changeup. Wesneski has a 4-seamer that was great in 2022 and crushed last year.
Among Breslow prospects, a pretty good comp for him may be Hayden Wesneski, the former Yankee farmhand the Cubs got in the Effross deal. Criswell and Wesneski both have extremely long extensions and low vertical release points.
Roughly the same pitch mix too — sweeper, cutter, sinker, changeup. Wesneski has a 4-seamer that was great in 2022 and crushed last year.
Last edited:
Doesn't matter much but actually a different Yankees/Cubs deal, even up for Scott Effross at the 2022 deadline.
This was as scripted as a group of high school kids splitting up in a horror movie. Do better.
This is 100% what they are doing. I have been howling about this since people were complaining about the Verdugo trade, but the AAA rotation was/is a real organizational weakness.
They legitimately did not have an up and down starter in AAA going into this off season due to Drohan becoming a pumpkin.
Fitts and now Criswell helps fill out that void. I wouldn’t be surprised if Winkowski started in AAA as a starter either given their comments about him. That would be a greatly improved high minor staff which can be counted on for actual contribution.
Fitts, Criswell, Campbell, Weissert is a light year level upgrade of optional arms over Kaleb Ort and whatever waiver they can find in a given week.
And, again, this dev staff thinks they can improve pitch decisions. See below.
View: https://twitter.com/iancundall/status/1734784305761604003?s=46
Yeah a good move for depth. Think the furstration is that for years Bloom only upgraded around the fringes and Breslow has started off in a similar fashion. I would imagine bigger moves are to come but the natives are getting restless
Remember when $1MM for a pitcher was the one that broke the marker ("Sooooupppp!!!!")
His salary is a rounding error in today's terms. All he costs is a 40 man roster spot. If it doesn't work out, it's not like he'll get plucked up by anyone else if he clears waivers. If Breslow sees something in him, give him a shot.
On the other hand, TB let him go which makes me wonder what they know that Breslow doesn't.
His salary is a rounding error in today's terms. All he costs is a 40 man roster spot. If it doesn't work out, it's not like he'll get plucked up by anyone else if he clears waivers. If Breslow sees something in him, give him a shot.
On the other hand, TB let him go which makes me wonder what they know that Breslow doesn't.
Whoa, this is the first I’m hearing of this. Not a challenge, SBS, literally just a request for context. I missed those comments. Can you summarize? Definitely not excited about any plan that doesn’t have Winck with the big league club.
The only comment I've heard regarding Winckowski is Breslow saying that he was going to be preparing this winter as if he would be a starter next season. Which is the same thing Bloom and Cora were saying last year about him, Crawford, Whitlock, and Houck. I think it's both posturing for the free agent/trade market ("we've got plenty of starters already") and having maximum flexibility going into spring training. It's a lot easier to prepare to be a starter and move to the pen later than vice versa.
Ah, ok that makes more sense. Whatever role they use him in, he’s proven he can get big league hitters out, so here’s hoping there’s no plan to start him in Worcester.
Yea, they have said he will be stretched out as a starter and they have added highly intriguing Rule 5 pick Justin Slaten. Wink, Houck, Whitlock, someone is going to be in AAA or traded to maximize the usage of those three guys IMO. A true multi inning reliever going 3 innings everytime out doesn't really work in todays game.
His brother was supposed to play basketball for Holy Cross but got cheap shotted in an AAU game and suffered a Robert Edwards-level injury and his rehab wasn't enough to get him back on the court.
The school honored the commitment, which under the circumstances, they didn't have to do.
Ironic that this guy will probably spend more time toiling his trade in Worcester than his brother did.
The school honored the commitment, which under the circumstances, they didn't have to do.
Ironic that this guy will probably spend more time toiling his trade in Worcester than his brother did.
This makes a ton of sense and - not that I really cared about this signing at all - makes me now care about it a little and see the rationale behind it. Truly, thank you.
I would say that I don't necessarily lump in Fitts with Criswell, Campbell, etc (not that I think you meant in terms of future value anyway to be clear), just in that he is a pretty well reputed starting pitching prospect within the industry and the others are more depth pieces with options and such. If people don't follow the minors a ton, just mentioning that Fitts is a legitimate starting prospect, and much more highly regarded than guys like Mata, Walter, Drohan, Dobbins, etc.
Looking back at the PawSox pitching (I can't bring myself to not call them the PawSox), the only pitchers there that really even looked interesting were Guerrero, Benetiz and Murphy (though he did have a 2nd half ERA of 6.39 in Boston, which looked a lot more like his career 5.84ERA in AAA and a lot less like the 2.16ERA he put up in Boston in his first handful of games - and I know I'm not supposed to use ERA to judge pitchers, but I still do). Literally everyone else on there, I wouldn't bat an eye if they were DFA'ed at any point.
My goodness the "starters" in AAA truly was the thing baseball nightmares are made out of. Portland (excepting Gonzalez and maaaaaybe Coffey) wasn't much better.
Last edited:
So the Red Sox get a marginal MLB arm with upside for a little over minimum that has an option and people complain?
Edit - There is a minimum of 1377 IP that need to be covered through a season (that is if there is no extra innings and you lose every away game). The average MLB team had ~1425 IP.
The projected starting rotation at the moment is projected to do ~750 IP. You going to need a taxi squad to cover the rest. Options for relivers and starters will be gold. It is why YY is so much more valuable to the Sox than a Snell. It is 50 IP swing which is one full time reliever.
Edit - There is a minimum of 1377 IP that need to be covered through a season (that is if there is no extra innings and you lose every away game). The average MLB team had ~1425 IP.
The projected starting rotation at the moment is projected to do ~750 IP. You going to need a taxi squad to cover the rest. Options for relivers and starters will be gold. It is why YY is so much more valuable to the Sox than a Snell. It is 50 IP swing which is one full time reliever.
Last edited:
I...don't see much complaining about him? People are hoping Breslow can fix him, but the bloodless JM3-JMOH war of 12/12/2023 was a thermonuclear exchange in comparison. Mostly, people are still looking around for falling shoes and getting a little tired of waiting.
More like a lot of sarcasm. Some people still don't understand options and depth.
Yep. Folks all understand that a complete roster needs to be filled out, but we do this song and dance every time AAAA players are signed. It was funny in 2006, the first time the same 6 posts were done. Less so since.
The issue is they make sure everyone else knows they're annoyed in every thread.
This has to be a bridge year. I think Cooper Criswell was the name of one of the British soldiers in the Bridge Over the River Kwai.
I think it's actually 1/70th......or is it 1/2 considering the time value of money?
Could somebody please explain extension and it's value to a pitcher?
I've heard of several potentially valuable "non-stuff" attributes that can contribute to success, but not this one.