Red Sox AAA depth
- Thread starter The_Dali
- Start date
On the bright side, it looks like the bombs ripped will at least be for the WooSox & not some other franchise.
View: https://mobile.twitter.com/tylermilliken_/status/1640347949518446592
Hmm, interesting. To get Tapia on the roster requires doing something with a position player in the roster - they don’t have enough healthy pitchers to DFA anyone.
Would they try to DFA Hamilton, perhaps? Or even Abreu himself? Other than that, they would need to deal Duran or Dalbec to free up a spot.
Would they try to DFA Hamilton, perhaps? Or even Abreu himself? Other than that, they would need to deal Duran or Dalbec to free up a spot.
If you can't trade or 60-day whoever you're dropping from the 40, I'd rather just let Tapia walk. I assume they have a plan & it's a matter of waiting & seeing what it is.
View: https://mobile.twitter.com/ChrisCotillo/status/1640366161241030656
Maybe like a Dalbec + Ort for an ~ok lefty reliever or some other permutation of a 2 for 1 trade?
Yes. This is pretty tricky. Feels like a trade is coming.
Honestly, if we’re keeping Tapia, we probably have more 40-man OF depth than IF, which argues for trading Duran. But I also think he has the most upside of any of these players, so you’d have to be confident in the evaluation.
Keeping Tapia over Duran is a weirdly win now move for a team widely expected to come in fourth or fifth in their division.
Isn't it still possible that they place someone (Joley Rodriguez?) on the 60 day to create the roster spot?
That is a possibility. In fact, it might be the way they get Sherriff on the 40-man to be the second lefty in the bullpen rather than keeping Tapia. Reports on Rodriguez after his injury was a grade 2 oblique strain and his timetable was "whenever he's ready". Kinda makes it seem like it won't be a quick thing. They'd have to be 100% sure Rodriguez couldn't be back sooner than 60 days to make that commitment though.
Great news on Alfaro. I know I sound low on him in this thread, but he's a fantastic option as a depth/break glass type of guy. There is some offensive talent, there. It's not impossible blooms super late and is a useful player (unlikely, sure). Much rather have him as a depth guy than just another guy who is serviceable (they already have that with Hamilton).
Also not surprised at all that no one else in MLB wanted him to break camp with them. His defense is really bad, and I think most clubs (and myself) tend to have a bias towards having glove first back ups.
If he can cut the K's a bit, it's worth living with the defense in a bench role. If he improves the defense, he's a great option as is (I think the former is more likely).
Tapia is an interesting case. Like, he's looked great, but there's very little reason to expect him not to be mostly terrible.
Also not surprised at all that no one else in MLB wanted him to break camp with them. His defense is really bad, and I think most clubs (and myself) tend to have a bias towards having glove first back ups.
If he can cut the K's a bit, it's worth living with the defense in a bench role. If he improves the defense, he's a great option as is (I think the former is more likely).
Tapia is an interesting case. Like, he's looked great, but there's very little reason to expect him not to be mostly terrible.
It's interesting how many people are swayed by hair and an attitude. Alfaro is not a good catcher. Nobody else in the majors sees him as an upgrade to their current #2 catcher. Per his contract, he's available, and has opted to go to AAA. So it's weird to see anyone advocate for jettisoning a potentially useful ML piece* to make room for him.
OF Depth:
MiL on the way up: Rafaela RHH CF+ 40man, Abreu LHH OF 40man. (Neither are ready now.)
The invites are a mixed bag.
Tapia might be the best of the bunch, since he has ML experience and has a chance to play all OF positions well. The speed may play up this year also. The downside is that his bat has an established track record of a 4th OF type - at best passible. Worse, it's a bat that's low on the LHH spectrum; Duvall hits his weaker platoon matchup better than Tapia hits his stronger. So you really only want him in on RHP to spell one of Duval, Verdugo, or Yoshida. Or PH for a weak RHP, or as a PR sub who stays in the game.
Useful - but he's 30 so major improvements are not likely. And you're playing him instead of Chang, Dalbec, Duran, Mondesi, etc., all of which have more overall upside as players. Which means playing him since Cora has never really not played a moderately-awful older "regular": JBJ, Cordero, Pham, Gonzalez, Santana.
I'd partially value Tapia if he kept Duran in AAA where he would get regular ABs to further cement his new approach for a bit. But there's no way I'd jettison Duran or even Dalbec just to find a 40 man spot for Tapia.
*Ort excepted, of course.
Exactly.
Yep. I think he's also a good break-glass option for AAA depth, except there we also have Duran, who is possibly a wash but has higher upside. We also technically have Enrique Hernandez as OF depth, should Mondesi be ready soon, and/or Story make it back around the ASB, or Valdez catch fire, etc. which somewhat lessens the pressure and pushes Tapia down the depth chart. Also it does not hurt that some of the OF can play CF in a pinch - Refsnyder and Verdugo.
OF Depth:
Duvall, RHH, CF
Verdugo, LHH
Yoshida, LHH, LF
Refsnyder, RHH, CF/corner
Duran, LHH, CF
E. Hernandez, RHH SS/CF
MiL on the way up: Rafaela RHH CF+ 40man, Abreu LHH OF 40man. (Neither are ready now.)
The invites are a mixed bag.
Tapia, age 30, LHH (mild split), corner OF, emergency backup CF. Arm for RF. Main tool is speed.
Crook, age 27, RHH, corner OF. Meh defense. Poor hit tool, some power.
Allen, age 30, SH corner, good defense, no power. Platoon in favor of RHP, which makes him redundant.
Wilson, age 26, RHH. Average to good tools, but hit tool is poor.
Tapia might be the best of the bunch, since he has ML experience and has a chance to play all OF positions well. The speed may play up this year also. The downside is that his bat has an established track record of a 4th OF type - at best passible. Worse, it's a bat that's low on the LHH spectrum; Duvall hits his weaker platoon matchup better than Tapia hits his stronger. So you really only want him in on RHP to spell one of Duval, Verdugo, or Yoshida. Or PH for a weak RHP, or as a PR sub who stays in the game.
Useful - but he's 30 so major improvements are not likely. And you're playing him instead of Chang, Dalbec, Duran, Mondesi, etc., all of which have more overall upside as players. Which means playing him since Cora has never really not played a moderately-awful older "regular": JBJ, Cordero, Pham, Gonzalez, Santana.
I'd partially value Tapia if he kept Duran in AAA where he would get regular ABs to further cement his new approach for a bit. But there's no way I'd jettison Duran or even Dalbec just to find a 40 man spot for Tapia.
*Ort excepted, of course.
Not sure where you are seeing that. He was targeting opening day. Obviously if the Sox were catastrophizing stuff like fans do, then they would have him over to the 60-day, but I don't think they believe that. In fairness, nobody knows what day he wakes up and suddenly feels like 100%.
The whole Ort saga, doesn't that give us a hint about how the Sox lean toward long term projection over short term flash? If so, it would be crazy to put Tapia over Duran if you can't just keep Duran in Worcester for a bit.
I think we will really want Mondesí for the brutal late-April through May stretch, if he can be ready. We’re going to need quality depth.
I got the info from the Red Sox web site injury report. It says May at the earliest:
"INF Adalberto Mondesi (torn right ACL)
Expected return: May at earliest
Mondesi estimates he is running at 80-85 percent. He is participating in all baseball activities. The infielder estimated that he will be cleared to play in Minor League games "soon."
"Everything is good. It's a long process, but I'm headed in the right direction," said Mondesi. (Last updated: March 24)"
Alfaro has a career slugging% 47 points higher vs lefty pitchers than righty. Oddly, vs starters, his numbers are neutral. In small sample sizes, he's crushed lefty relievers... Having him as a weapon for pinch hitting against lefty relief pitchers might be a niche role where he can really help the team.
But mostly he's only useful if one of the two catchers ahead of him get hurt.
But mostly he's only useful if one of the two catchers ahead of him get hurt.
I like it. It seems to me that a lot of teams have most of their "next year's expected graduates" in AA these days, and it really isn't that big of a jump from AA to AAA, and he will likely be facing pitchers with better stuff than he will see in AAA much of the time, since a lot of teams stash their AAAA depth starters there, and not their true prospects. Let him rake for a couple months in AA, move him to AAA if the need arises, and either way he could be ready for a cup of coffee in the late season, but it also avoids that pressure of being "on the doorstep" so to speak.