11 replies to this topic

[mabrowndog]

Alex Speier

The Red Sox plan to call up Justin Germano on Wednesday. The right-hander had exercised an opt-out clause in his contract on Monday after he was not added to the Red Sox' big league roster by July 1. However, the Sox will add Germano to their roster within the 48-hour window that they have (which expires on Wednesday afternoon) to do so. The 29-year-old is 9-4 with a 2.40 ERA, 72 strikeouts and just 13 walks in 105 innings this year for the PawSox.

I assume they'll either DL Middlebrooks or option Mortensen to AAA, but they'll still need to clear a spot on the 40-man and that should be interesting. Mauro Gomez was brought up today anyway to bolster the bench in Middlebrooks' absence. Might there be a deal in the works to ship out Lars Anderson (.238/.333/.365/.698 with 1 HR through May 4, .268/.382/.468/.851 with 8 HR since) or Podsednik? They'll have to clear 2 more spots anyway after the ASB once Crawford & Ellsbury come off the 60-day DL.

[Eric Van]

No need to clear a spot. They freed one when they DFA'd McDonald to make room for Beckett off of the 15-day list, and there was no 40-man roster move.

[Lose Remerswaal]

No need to clear a spot. They freed one when they DFA'd McDonald to make room for Beckett off of the 15-day list, and there was no 40-man roster move.

They had to make room on the 25 man roster, and that was Mortensen. Matsuzaka was DL'd for Gomez

[mfried]

Alex Speier



I assume they'll either DL Middlebrooks or option Mortensen to AAA, but they'll still need to clear a spot on the 40-man and that should be interesting. Mauro Gomez was brought up today anyway to bolster the bench in Middlebrooks' absence. Might there be a deal in the works to ship out Lars Anderson (.238/.333/.365/.698 with 1 HR through May 4, .268/.382/.468/.851 with 8 HR since) or Podsednik? They'll have to clear 2 more spots anyway after the ASB once Crawford & Ellsbury come off the 60-day DL.

What's the Sox' attitude on Mortensen? The guy has been outstanding when he's had the chance. Seems like ideal long relief. I understand the short-range consideration which makes him unavailable till Friday or Saturday, but we should save on the train fare back to Pawtucket. Give this guy 4-5 chances next time he's brought up.

[Red(s)HawksFan]

What's the Sox' attitude on Mortensen? The guy has been outstanding when he's had the chance. Seems like ideal long relief. I understand the short-range consideration which makes him unavailable till Friday or Saturday, but we should save on the train fare back to Pawtucket. Give this guy 4-5 chances next time he's brought up.

Other than Melancon, he's the only reliever they have with options (at least of the ones on the big league roster). As a result, he gets to ride the shuttle no matter how well he may be pitching. I think the fact that they keep bringing him up when there is a need is evidence that they like what he brings to the table. It's just that the roster flexibility he provides is as valuable as his on-field contributions.

[JakeRae]

Other than Melancon, he's the only reliever they have with options (at least of the ones on the big league roster). As a result, he gets to ride the shuttle no matter how well he may be pitching. I think the fact that they keep bringing him up when there is a need is evidence that they like what he brings to the table. It's just that the roster flexibility he provides is as valuable as his on-field contributions.

This is right. In this case, they have a starter who has pitched just as well who they either lose for nothing or call up and try to find a trading partner to give up something for by the end of the All Star break (when the roster crunch will hit with Ellsbury and Crawford coming off the DL in addition to Buchholz likely returning). It makes sense to showcase Germano and see if another organization is willing to give up something of marginal value to acquire him. There's also a slightly better chance of keeping him if you call him up and then DFA him since, if he passes through waivers, he might recognize that no one is interesting in giving him an MLB job. In either event, this move is all upside for the organization even if the upside is pretty limited.

Bigger picture, Mortensen is pitching for his job next year. He probably knows that. Melancon is an established MLB player and is not getting demoted to taxi squad status. Mortensen has real value, but it's doing precisely what he's been doing and will continue to do.

[Plympton91]

If you look at his major league splits over the past 3 years, he looks deceivingly like Scott Atchison in 2010 and 2011. His overall numbers are skewed by a start in which he gave up 7 hits and 5 runs in two innings.

In the 46 innings pitched as a reliever, he's got a slash line of .206 / .293 / .365, with only 13 BB and 32 K's. He seems to have been a flyball pitcher and gave up 6 HRs in those innings, however.

So, despite the hoped for usefulness of Germano, once again we have the Red Sox absolutely determined to design a role for a 12th man on a pitching staff instead of losing him to waivers. Yet, they couldn't figure out a way to keep Youkilis even though they knew Middlebrooks was nursing a sore hamstring. It boggles the mind.

Edited by Plympton91, 04 July 2012 - 10:25 AM.

[Buzzkill Pauley]

So, despite the hoped for usefulness of Germano, once again we have the Red Sox absolutely determined to design a role for a 12th man on a pitching staff instead of losing him to waivers. Yet, they couldn't figure out a way to keep Youkilis even though they knew Middlebrooks was nursing a sore hamstring. It boggles the mind.

Apples and Oranges.

Of course Ben knew how to keep Youkilis around, but BobbyV didn't want him on the team. That was made pretty clear in the two weeks leading up to the trade.

[JimBoSox9]

So, despite the hoped for usefulness of Germano, once again we have the Red Sox absolutely determined to design a role for a 12th man on a pitching staff instead of losing him to waivers. Yet, they couldn't figure out a way to keep Youkilis even though they knew Middlebrooks was nursing a sore hamstring. It boggles the mind.

Losing Youks had nothing to do with the 25-man roster crunch, and everything to do with the 9-man lineup crunch. Carrying 12 pitchers is irrelevant to the Youks trade.

[Eric Van]

Germano, by the way, has a decent Davenport Translation: 3.75 ERA. No doubt he deserves a chance to pitch somewhere in the bigs. But he's like the 18th or 19th best pitcher in this organization, so I really do hope this is just a stopgap leading to a minor deal.

Edited by Eric Van, 04 July 2012 - 11:56 AM.

[Plympton91]

Germano, by the way, has a decent Davenport Translation: 3.75 ERA. No doubt he deserves a chance to pitch somewhere in the bigs. But he's like the 18th or 19th best pitcher in this organization, so I really do hope this is just a stopgap leading to a minor deal.

Based on age-matched traditional and intermediate stats, It doesn't strike me that he's destined to be worse than Mortensen, however. Do your advanced metrics show that to be true? I guess he's the logical one to go when Buchholz comes back, or maybe between him and Cook they trade the one that brings back a better return. With so many teams in the hunt for the 2nd wild card, somebody must be short a major league quality arm and willing to at least give up a AAAA 3Bman that it looks like the Red Sox might need.

[JakeRae]

Based on age-matched traditional and intermediate stats, It doesn't strike me that he's destined to be worse than Mortensen, however. Do your advanced metrics show that to be true? I guess he's the logical one to go when Buchholz comes back, or maybe between him and Cook they trade the one that brings back a better return. With so many teams in the hunt for the 2nd wild card, somebody must be short a major league quality arm and willing to at least give up a AAAA 3Bman that it looks like the Red Sox might need.

We've got a AAAA 3B already. His name is Andy LaRoche.

I think the hope is that Cook can have another good start, generate some trade interest, and be spun for a couple interesting low level prospects. With Stewart in the organization now, there is really no need to add any players for taxi squad purposes.