Christian Arroyo activated, Raimel Tapia DFA’d
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Tapia wasn’t great, but DFA? Don’t they need more OF than 2B? Or is this a function of resigning Ref and seeing improvement from Duran?
And he’s been entertaining too
And he’s been entertaining too
I'd much rather see Duran go back down to AAA than release Tapia. They have similar skillsets, but Tapia is much less streaky.
I had grown to like Tapia too, but kind of the odd man out with Arroyo pushing Kike to the OF more, and Duvall on the way back.
Duran has been terrible lately and is back to the player has has previously been. Why DFA a player when you have the option of just sending Duran back to AAA?
This was my exact thought. Why not send Duran down?
Unless maybe by some miracle they are going to obtain a real SS and move Kike back to center? I know Duval is returning soon but anything that will get Kike off SS is something I would love to see them explore.
I could see Tapia getting dropped when Duval or Story comes back off the 60 day, but this seems like a few days too early.
Sad to see Tapia go. Really fun player. He will certainly catch on somewhere. But I agree with not sending Duran down. He has nothing left to prove or learn at Worcester. He has conquered that level. The question now is simply whether he‘s truly a big leaguer or just a 4-A player, and that’s a question that must be answered in the majors. We knew he wasn’t as good as his hot streak implied, and he may not be as bad as his current slump implies. It’s important for the organization to let him see if he can recover his form and, with his retooled approach, be somewhere in between. He may not succeed, but someone like Tapia is the price they have to pay to find out.
Claimed or traded for a lottery ticket is best case scenario. My guess is that with what he offers, someone will want him at minimum salary once he's a free agent rather than giving anything up or paying his full remaining salary.
Tapia being released now makes sense in combination with Kike shifting to the outfield. No reason to carry six outfielders and two middle infielders (presuming Reyes or Valdez is the alternative move to a Tapia DFA). Tapia also clears the 40-man spot for when Duvall is ready (and presumably Duran or Valdez is the counter-move then).
100% no options for Tapia and MI is more
of a concern so Reyes stays. Perhaps Duran gets sent down when Duvall returns. Yoshida, Duvall, Kike', Verdugo and RFsnyder as your OF.
Or what RHF said while I was typing.
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It's really not. They like Duran. He and Tapia are redundant if neither is an every day starter.
View: https://twitter.com/alexspeier/status/1665764433925120000
It’s kind of a drag. Tapia’s hitting .309/.373/.441 against righties, plays all three outfield spots competently and is due about $1.3M the rest of the way.
Maybe they’ve got a minor move lined up for him? He’s playing better than he did last year when he made twice as much.
Maybe they’ve got a minor move lined up for him? He’s playing better than he did last year when he made twice as much.
Arroyo for Tapia....In a week or so Duvall for Duran and then Chang for Reyes. We just lost a bunch of speed.
Unless we go by what Cora said above and plan on Duran being here, then it's Duvall for either Reyes or Valdez and Chang for the other of them. That leaves the middle IF back where it was a month or so ago with Hernandez, Arroyo, and Chang until Story returns, OF at Yoshida, Duvall, Verdugo, Duran, and Refsnyder.
Since Valdez has cooled off hitting I wouldn't mind seeing him go back to Worcester and see if he can learn to play defense. Helps with the lefty/righty issues as well.
100 percent agree with this post. This move looks like the days of Hernandez at shortstop are coming to a close with him going back to center.
I can't believe, after what we saw from Duran earlier this year, that people are advocating for playing Tapia over him. There are not many Jarren Durans around. He has a very unique skillset and needs to be a part of the future here.
I agree with this strongly. I understand that he has cooled considerably. But if you've been paying attention, he has been working counts and laying off pitches that he simply was not recognizing a year ago. I was frustrated at Kiki in yesterday's game when Jarren easily had 2nd stolen in a close game, and he didn't take the pitch to have a man at 2nd w/ no outs. Instead he GIDP a pitch later. Bad fundamental baseball right there.
Wonder if, at least partially, this signals a shift to more outfield play for kiké. That doesn't do anything for losing the left handed bat, but if it gets Hernandez out of the infield with great frequency, I guess I'm for it.
I'll echo, that I kinda liked tapia. Wasn't incredible, and on its face, he was the most deserving of a dfa based on talent imo. Mostly a positional decision, I reckon.
I'll echo, that I kinda liked tapia. Wasn't incredible, and on its face, he was the most deserving of a dfa based on talent imo. Mostly a positional decision, I reckon.
That play sucked. Kind of a game changer. Seems like Kike should have seen it happening and just take a pitch.
It's a little odd.
I think part of it is that Tapia is an enjoyable player to watch. He's fast and fun.
I think, in a way, he was sort of general OF insurance, given that Duran was far from a sure thing at the end of spring training. His main problem is his bat is just short of a corner OF bat. Although this year, his OPS is .815 v. RHP. (If he was hitting his career average .667 OPS v. lefties this year, he'd be a solid 4th OF - heavy rotation type for someone, but a bit redundant in our particular OF with 3 LHH starters.)
All in all, I was happy with Tapia's efforts for us. How could you not be?
I hope he catches on somewhere other than the AL East. I will root for him there, except any games he plays against the Sox.
This is the correct move. That doesn’t mean I have to like it.
Tapia is fun to watch. He’s the sort of player who probably isn’t quite good enough for The Show but plainly has squeezed every last drop out of his God-given ability. It doesn’t hurt that he also has a great attitude (at least from everything we can see) and fun hair. It sucks to lose him in favor of a guy whose effort and attitude have been called into question several times during his short tenure in Boston, and who isn’t exactly the second coming of Ronald Acuna himself talent-wise. But collecting replacement-level guys like Tapia doesn’t get you any closer to the promised land; letting young players with potential work through their challenges in the majors might. That’s why my head thinks this is the right move, even as my heart says it sucks.
Tapia is fun to watch. He’s the sort of player who probably isn’t quite good enough for The Show but plainly has squeezed every last drop out of his God-given ability. It doesn’t hurt that he also has a great attitude (at least from everything we can see) and fun hair. It sucks to lose him in favor of a guy whose effort and attitude have been called into question several times during his short tenure in Boston, and who isn’t exactly the second coming of Ronald Acuna himself talent-wise. But collecting replacement-level guys like Tapia doesn’t get you any closer to the promised land; letting young players with potential work through their challenges in the majors might. That’s why my head thinks this is the right move, even as my heart says it sucks.
Of course.
That said, I really don't understand the fascination with "getting Hernandez in there." His OPS+ is 80. That's the lowest of any Sox "regular" except for Arroyo (78 in only 79 PAs).
Hernandez also does not have any hidden skills. His OBP is below league average. He does not steal bases. His batting split (favoring LHP) is .245/.323/.359. Which is a slightly below average OBP. But that's it.
He had a semi-warm week two weeks ago, but it's not like he's on a tear or anything.
It's just absolutely perplexing.
Unless there's some sort of pitcher-specific or day-game, LHP at home split in play here. (In which case play him - it's not like he should be permanently benched or anything.)
Right!? Total game changer. Would've had man on 2nd w/ no outs. I thought Kiki had better baseball awareness than he showed there. I think Duran was pissed, because next time he got on 1st later in game after a leadoff walk i believe, he didn't try to steal once.
That would be quite a win-now move, which doesn't make much sense for where the team is at.
Besides, if we're dislodging someone based on performance, it should probably be Kiké.
Tapia is 4 RAR this year, bringing his career runs above replacement to 18. He's underwater defensively this year and in his career. Like him all you want, he has no real value unless your alternatives are somehow worse.
Yeah, he's a player I have kind of always enjoyed watching because he has a fun skillset, but isn't necessarily a good player. I think this is the right move, too.
If Duran let the play influence his effort later in the game, that would be a serious problem.
I think the situation had changed considerably and that's why Duran wasn't stealing.
Yes, the move they made was the right move and there really wasn't much to think about. The other option was likely Reyes. Between the two, there is more of a need for Reyes as a starting MI than there is for Tapia as a 6th OF.
Not including yesterdays or todays game but Durran is hitting .186 since May 6. He is who he is.
I meant returning to the crappy form he showed the past two seasons, and he’s sure heading in that direction.
Oh no, I understand what you were saying and I agree with you. Duran is not a very good Major League ball player.
It was probably time to trade him when he was destroying Worcester.
Duran - 26 y/o, 108 wrC+, 1.0 fWAR, 94th percentile sprint speed, 94th percentile outfield jump, UFA '29
Tapia - 29 y/o, 92 wRC+, 0.4 fWAR, 89th percentile sprint speed, outfield jump not listed, UFA '24
If those are your 2 choices, it's not a particularly close choice.
I think they view Hernandez as an integral glue guy who they don't want to piss off by mistreating after he re-signed & recruited people. Otherwise I think that might be a more interesting decision. They might also be trying to rehabilitate his value by reminding people he can still play CF before trading him.
Tapia - 29 y/o, 92 wRC+, 0.4 fWAR, 89th percentile sprint speed, outfield jump not listed, UFA '24
If those are your 2 choices, it's not a particularly close choice.
I think they view Hernandez as an integral glue guy who they don't want to piss off by mistreating after he re-signed & recruited people. Otherwise I think that might be a more interesting decision. They might also be trying to rehabilitate his value by reminding people he can still play CF before trading him.
Getting rid of your only left-handed hitting middle infielder doesn't solve any lineup balance issues. It's the outfield that is unbalanced, but Hernandez & Duvall in & Tapia out solves that.