Red Sox sign Enrique Hernandez (2 years, 14 mil)

Minneapolis Millers

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Jul 15, 2005
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...They could have done more with this offseason. The lack of attention to bullpen in particular is pretty unsettling. I feel like a team carrying Chavis and Peraza but also a Hendricks and a Brad Hand would be more competitive for 2021.
Well, the off-season isn’t over. Hand is still out there. So is Rosenthal. I doubt the Sox go in on them, but I could see Bloom try to get Robertson on a one year plus option deal. (I don’t understand the reference to Peraza, but that’s ok.)
 

johnnyfromspain

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Nov 10, 2006
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As a Spaniard, I can add that the most common way of referring to a young man called "Enrique" (the Spanish equivalent of Henry) is "Quique". It is pronuounced /'ki - keh/ with stress on the first syllable. So, I am quite surprised to see he has been labelled "Kiké", using two "k's" to spell his name and, most importantly, placing the accent mark (indicating the stressed syllable) on the second syllable, instead of the first.

But hey, to each his own!

BTW, it is not at all derogatory to use "Quique", much in the same manner as it is not to use "Hank" for someone called Henry.

Sorry to derail the discussion! And, in any case, I think he is a great signing for this team!
 

soxhop411

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Dec 4, 2009
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Kiké Hernandez Consulted Former Red Sox Players About Playing For Alex Cora
Kiké Hernandez had some reputable sources on what it was like playing in Boston for Alex Cora, and it appeared to help him make a decision.

The Red Sox officially signed the infielder/outfielder to a two-year deal Tuesday after spending the last six seasons with the 2020 World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

Hernandez has known Alex Cora for a while, but he didn’t exactly know what it was like to play for him. Luckily, he could talk to Mookie Betts, Joe Kelly and David Price, who all spent time with Cora as their manager.

“It made my decision a lot easier to come in and have the opportunity to play for Alex,” Hernandez told reporters Tuesday. “I’ve talked to Joe (Kelly), Mookie (Betts) and (David Price), and they all preach about Alex and what he brings to the table as a manager and how good of a communicator he is. I’m just really, really excited to be able to play for a Puerto Rican manager.”

Hernandez also spent a brief time getting to know Alex Verdugo before he was traded to Boston as part of the Betts deal.

https://nesn.com/2021/02/kike-hernandez-consulted-former-red-sox-players-about-playing-for-alex-cora/
 

grimshaw

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Kiké 2021: 241/.313/.435 with a wRC+ of 100. BABIP .277.
Career Kiké : .240/.313/.426 with a wRC+ of 99. BABIP .273

Pretty much doing exactly what he has his whole career. He's earned 11.7 of his 2 yr 14 mill contract already. The perfect stopgap so far. Bloom wins again.
 

YTF

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SoSH Member
[QUOTE="grimshaw, post: 4491246, member: 3273
Kiké 2021: 241/.313/.435 with a wRC+ of 100. BABIP .277.
Career Kiké : .240/.313/.426 with a wRC+ of 99. BABIP .273

Pretty much doing exactly what he has his whole career. He's earned 11.7 of his 2 yr 14 mill contract already. The perfect stopgap so far. Bloom wins again.
[/QUOTE]
If he is exactly who Chaim thought he was, how has he earned over 80% of his total contract with 75% of it still hanging in the balance?
 

Cesar Crespo

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If he is exactly who Chaim thought he was, how has he earned over 80% of his total contract with 75% of it still hanging in the balance?
Because people use a generic $9 mil per 1 WAR or something because that's the FA price. It doesn't really work like that though so I'm not sure why people do it. Almost everyone is worth their contract when you do 1 WAR=9 mil.
 

Niastri

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[/QUOTE]
If he is exactly who Chaim thought he was, how has he earned over 80% of his total contract with 75% of it still hanging in the balance?
[/QUOTE]

Bloom could have signed any number of players, he chose to sign Hernandez at a good deal for the Sox. Hernandez is hitting at his career norms after his recent home run streak. I imagine this level of performance is what Bloom wanted. The price was right partially because of the depressed market after a weird season.

That is what we expect Bloom to be good at, signing decent players for great value.

What we don't now about him is how he handles a big budget once the contract handcuffs come off a bit.
 

YTF

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I get that baseball is, always has been and always will be a game of stats and I get that I never have and never will understand a lot of those stats. I also know that there has to be a better and much less euphemistic way to say that Hernandez has been playing well lately and that Bloom did well to sign him.
 
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brandonchristensen

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Considering he was unbelievably bad until recently I struggle to think he’s already earned more than his yearly salary.

Having said that, he’s been awesome as of late.
 

scottyno

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Considering he was unbelievably bad until recently I struggle to think he’s already earned more than his yearly salary.

Having said that, he’s been awesome as of late.
When was he unbelievably bad outside of the first week in April and 1 week from late May into early June?
 

brandonchristensen

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When was he unbelievably bad outside of the first week in April and 1 week from late May into early June?
Was that all it was? It felt like he was a black hole until recently. I'd have to go look at his splits. Either way - this thread was bumped for a reason. He's been great.
 

nvalvo

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Because people use a generic $9 mil per 1 WAR or something because that's the FA price. It doesn't really work like that though so I'm not sure why people do it. Almost everyone is worth their contract when you do 1 WAR=9 mil.
On average, yes. But this is circular, because aggregating all the free agents' performance and dividing that by their paycheck is how that number was derived. The market for free agents is telling us what a projected win above replacement is worth on the free agent market on average. So yes, everyone collectively is worth — again collectively — all the contracts they received.

I find that people who find the $9m/WAR figure too high often aren't considering how many free agent signings are unmitigated disasters. When the Mets sign Jed Lowrie for 2/$20m and he gives them 8 PA total over the life of the two-year contract, that divide by zero error goes into the average, just as it goes into the average when the A's sign him for $1.5 and he plays decently. Jason Heyward's in year six of a 8/$184m deal, and he's been worth 8 or 9 WAR over those six seasons, depending on your preferred system. He's cost about $20m per WAR. But on the flip side, Max Scherzer's been worth about 38 WAR on his $191m deal: an amazing value at $5m/WAR.

There's a whole lot of FA money on the IL every season. There are a whole lot of busts. But then there's Marcus Semien on an 8 WAR pace at the All Star Break on a 1/$18m deal. We toss them all into the average.

If you compare Kiké's contract and performance to just the contracts that worked out amazingly well — say, Toronto's deal for Marcus Semien — and then say it isn't as good a value as those, that's... true, I guess. It's also setting kind of a weird standard. The more relevant comparison is to ALL FA contracts, and that set includes some real dogs, some real bargains, and everything in between.
 

scottyno

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Hernandez and JBJ are on pace to combine to roughly end up matching that $9m per war figure, Bloom hit a home run by picking the right center fielder.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Dec 22, 2002
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Was that all it was? It felt like he was a black hole until recently. I'd have to go look at his splits. Either way - this thread was bumped for a reason. He's been great.
Beginning to May 20th: 138 PA, .260/.312/.457, .304 BAbip.
From May 21st to June 17th: 84 PA, .167/.226/.231, .232 BAbip.
Since: 66 PA .308/.424/.673, .275 BAbip.

I never got the Enrique hate or the people lumping him in with Dalbec, Marwin and the like. He was never that level of bad, especially considering position and was always a good week or two away from turning a meh season into a decent one.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Dec 22, 2002
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On average, yes. But this is circular, because aggregating all the free agents' performance and dividing that by their paycheck is how that number was derived. The market for free agents is telling us what a projected win above replacement is worth on the free agent market on average. So yes, everyone collectively is worth — again collectively — all the contracts they received.

I find that people who find the $9m/WAR figure too high often aren't considering how many free agent signings are unmitigated disasters. When the Mets sign Jed Lowrie for 2/$20m and he gives them 8 PA total over the life of the two-year contract, that divide by zero error goes into the average, just as it goes into the average when the A's sign him for $1.5 and he plays decently. Jason Heyward's in year six of a 8/$184m deal, and he's been worth 8 or 9 WAR over those six seasons, depending on your preferred system. He's cost about $20m per WAR. But on the flip side, Max Scherzer's been worth about 38 WAR on his $191m deal: an amazing value at $5m/WAR.

There's a whole lot of FA money on the IL every season. There are a whole lot of busts. But then there's Marcus Semien on an 8 WAR pace at the All Star Break on a 1/$18m deal. We toss them all into the average.

If you compare Kiké's contract and performance to just the contracts that worked out amazingly well — say, Toronto's deal for Marcus Semien — and then say it isn't as good a value as those, that's... true, I guess. It's also setting kind of a weird standard. The more relevant comparison is to ALL FA contracts, and that set includes some real dogs, some real bargains, and everything in between.
I don't think the figure is too high. I just think it's misleading. No one is signing 1 WAR players to $9 mil contracts. When the Redsox signed Enrique Hernandez, I doubt they were going into thinking "If he produces 2 WAR in 2 seasons, the contract was worth it."
 

begranter

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On average, yes.
It'd be interesting to know what the standard deviation and distribution of this type of calculation is. That would probably be a more useful understanding of value delivered vs the average.
 

brandonchristensen

Loves Aaron Judge
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Feb 4, 2012
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Beginning to May 20th: 138 PA, .260/.312/.457, .304 BAbip.
From May 21st to June 17th: 84 PA, .167/.226/.231, .232 BAbip.
Since: 66 PA .308/.424/.673, .275 BAbip.

I never got the Enrique hate or the people lumping him in with Dalbec, Marwin and the like. He was never that level of bad, especially considering position and was always a good week or two away from turning a meh season into a decent one.
So it was really the May 21 through June 17th then. And a lot of that seems to be bad luck.

Intersting - thanks for sharing.
 

effectivelywild

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Jul 14, 2005
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On average, yes. But this is circular, because aggregating all the free agents' performance and dividing that by their paycheck is how that number was derived. The market for free agents is telling us what a projected win above replacement is worth on the free agent market on average. So yes, everyone collectively is worth — again collectively — all the contracts they received.

I find that people who find the $9m/WAR figure too high often aren't considering how many free agent signings are unmitigated disasters. When the Mets sign Jed Lowrie for 2/$20m and he gives them 8 PA total over the life of the two-year contract, that divide by zero error goes into the average, just as it goes into the average when the A's sign him for $1.5 and he plays decently. Jason Heyward's in year six of a 8/$184m deal, and he's been worth 8 or 9 WAR over those six seasons, depending on your preferred system. He's cost about $20m per WAR. But on the flip side, Max Scherzer's been worth about 38 WAR on his $191m deal: an amazing value at $5m/WAR.

There's a whole lot of FA money on the IL every season. There are a whole lot of busts. But then there's Marcus Semien on an 8 WAR pace at the All Star Break on a 1/$18m deal. We toss them all into the average.

If you compare Kiké's contract and performance to just the contracts that worked out amazingly well — say, Toronto's deal for Marcus Semien — and then say it isn't as good a value as those, that's... true, I guess. It's also setting kind of a weird standard. The more relevant comparison is to ALL FA contracts, and that set includes some real dogs, some real bargains, and everything in between.
I wonder if it would make more sense when evaluating contract value to try to divide them into subsets----maybe short (1-2 year), medium (3-5) and long (6+) year deals to get more of an apples to apples comparison. Yes, you create smaller samples but you also then make a better apples to apples comparison of contract and player types. You could also try to do break it down by salary---low, medium and high---and see if that helps with making comparisons. And maybe more useful than a strict $/WAR measure, you could instead then evaluate those contracts as to whether they provided bad, ok or good value. So for example with Kike, if you got a sense that his type of contract had, say, a 25% chance of delivering poor value, 60% ok value and 15% great value, that might be more worthwhile than trying to figure out if he was providing 8 mill per WAR or 9 mill per WAR.
 

sean1562

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Is this also the Hernandez appreciation thread? 3 bWAR in 81 games pretty much justifies the entire contract. He has a .262/.387/.656/1.042 batting line this month so far. 6 of his 14 HRs have been hit this month.
 

Sandy Leon Trotsky

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Is this also the Hernandez appreciation thread? 3 bWAR in 81 games pretty much justifies the entire contract. He has a .262/.387/.656/1.042 batting line this month so far. 6 of his 14 HRs have been hit this month.
A lot of this is on Cora.... I, along with at least half of SoSH, was pretty sure he was at best, a 4th OF after the end of May and was 100% convinced he shouldn't be anywhere near the top of a lineup. He's definitely picked up the slack that Verdugo dropped since around the same time (FWIW, I still think he's playing with nagging injuries but has started to look a little more centered at the plate). With Renfroe looking like he'll at least be consistent and dependable offensively, if Kiké can continue like this and Verdugo rebounds... I think we're in good shape no matter if it's Dalbec at 1B for the remainder of the season.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Dec 22, 2002
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Is this also the Hernandez appreciation thread? 3 bWAR in 81 games pretty much justifies the entire contract. He has a .262/.387/.656/1.042 batting line this month so far. 6 of his 14 HRs have been hit this month.
Since June 19th: 27 games, 122 PA/98 AB, .276/.393/.653 on a .240 BAbip. 17bb/17k/4hbp. 10 doubles, 9 HR.
 

lurker42

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Jul 15, 2005
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A lot of this is on Cora.... I, along with at least half of SoSH, was pretty sure he was at best, a 4th OF after the end of May and was 100% convinced he shouldn't be anywhere near the top of a lineup. He's definitely picked up the slack that Verdugo dropped since around the same time (FWIW, I still think he's playing with nagging injuries but has started to look a little more centered at the plate). With Renfroe looking like he'll at least be consistent and dependable offensively, if Kiké can continue like this and Verdugo rebounds... I think we're in good shape no matter if it's Dalbec at 1B for the remainder of the season.
Calling him a 4th OF is/was definitely selling him short; he's a league-average bat who provides above-average defense at multiple up-the-middle positions. That's a really useful player.

I still think it's a mistake to be batting him leadoff (low OBP, taking plate appearances from better hitters), but that's a "this could be optimized better" mistake rather than a "what is this moron doing?" mistake.
 

benhogan

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Nov 2, 2007
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Yes, I love rooting for players to make more millions and win full time jobs. Rooting for the team? That's pretty 2004. Now we root for plucky no-hit infielders to make money.

When the time comes for Bloom to spend big - which I understand is not this offseason - we better not still be trying to put together a platoon based "sum-greater-than-the-parts" offense and trying to rehabilitate pitchers like Pivetta to round out the staff.

They could have done more with this offseason. The lack of attention to bullpen in particular is pretty unsettling. I feel like a team carrying Chavis and Peraza but also a Hendricks and a Brad Hand would be more competitive for 2021.
a lot of static with this post

Chaim Bloom is starting to feel like the Floyd Mayweather of GMs
 

amRadio

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Feb 7, 2019
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a lot of static with this post

Chaim Bloom is starting to feel like the Floyd Mayweather of GMs
Ok.

The bolded was written on January 23rd. They acquired Ottavino two days later, Sawamura two or three weeks later, and at this point I don't think anyone really knew what to expect from Whitlock. I still don't like the Hernandez signing, but he's certainly exceeded expectations. I would go back and find your posts from 6 months ago, take them out of context and take pot shots at you, but that would be a waste of time. Seems more like your thing.
 

benhogan

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Ok.

The bolded was written on January 23rd. They acquired Ottavino two days later, Sawamura two or three weeks later, and at this point I don't think anyone really knew what to expect from Whitlock. I still don't like the Hernandez signing, but he's certainly exceeded expectations. I would go back and find your posts from 6 months ago, take them out of context and take pot shots at you, but that would be a waste of time. Seems more like your thing.
relax

I made zero calls on the Sox because, much like yourself, I had no idea what our mad scientist/genius was doing in the basement

it's props to Chaim. Your post while short and wildly wrong, was just collateral damage. There are probably dozens like it from this winter
 
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amRadio

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Fair enough. I'm wildly wrong all the time, my posts about Corey Kluber from the winter are probably good fodder too. I've been pretty reactionary to Bloom since he came over, but I was pretty happy with the offseason by the time it was over.
 

Sandy Leon Trotsky

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Calling him a 4th OF is/was definitely selling him short; he's a league-average bat who provides above-average defense at multiple up-the-middle positions. That's a really useful player.

I still think it's a mistake to be batting him leadoff (low OBP, taking plate appearances from better hitters), but that's a "this could be optimized better" mistake rather than a "what is this moron doing?" mistake.
That's also not a "starter" for a contending team. That's the best definition of a "4th outfielder" actually. Someone who is league average but a good defender.... won't hurt you to give them an occasional start around the entire OF to give your actual starters a break. From Kiké's career line, I would surmise that he's exactly a 4th outfielder. He's so far exceeded expectations but at the end of May... he was underperforming and I was ready to call him a flop. I don't think his recent 5 week stretch is sustainable but if he can play a consistent offensive line at his current level then he's very valuable and a decent but not ideal leadoff hitter and an above average CF'er. I'll take it.
 

benhogan

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Fair enough. I'm wildly wrong all the time, my posts about Corey Kluber from the winter are probably good fodder too. I've been pretty reactionary to Bloom since he came over, but I was pretty happy with the offseason by the time it was over.
SoSH, and I'm sure yourself, are wildly more astute than 95% of sports fans in the mainstream.
 

chawson

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That's also not a "starter" for a contending team. That's the best definition of a "4th outfielder" actually. Someone who is league average but a good defender.... won't hurt you to give them an occasional start around the entire OF to give your actual starters a break. From Kiké's career line, I would surmise that he's exactly a 4th outfielder. He's so far exceeded expectations but at the end of May... he was underperforming and I was ready to call him a flop. I don't think his recent 5 week stretch is sustainable but if he can play a consistent offensive line at his current level then he's very valuable and a decent but not ideal leadoff hitter and an above average CF'er. I'll take it.
Seen another way, he’s the 15th-best position player in the American League by bWAR, and the best defensive center fielder in baseball by defensive runs saved.
 

nvalvo

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Fair enough. I'm wildly wrong all the time, my posts about Corey Kluber from the winter are probably good fodder too. I've been pretty reactionary to Bloom since he came over, but I was pretty happy with the offseason by the time it was over.
Hey man. I was out here saying we should sign José Quintana, so it could be worse.
 

Le Bastonois

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Jun 16, 2019
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The mother's of Kiki Hernandez, Yacksel Rios, Christian Vasquez, Ramón Vázquez, and Alex Cora all get together in Caguas and have lunch.
 

scottyno

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Now at .249/.329/.458, 112 wRC+ and on pace for 4+ fWAR.
Easily Bloom's best free agent signing, having him Renfroe and Verdugo all already locked in for next year at under $15m total total makes it a lot easier to fill in other holes, and also gives them a lot of flexibility on deciding what to do with Duran.
 

chawson

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Easily Bloom's best free agent signing, having him Renfroe and Verdugo all already locked in for next year at under $15m total total makes it a lot easier to fill in other holes, and also gives them a lot of flexibility on deciding what to do with Duran.
He’s at 3.6 bWAR right now. That’s 12th in the AL, a shade higher than Bogaerts and Altuvé.

Seems like an interesting guy to consider extending another 2-3 years. He’s a fabulous CF who’s playing at a level that may exceed the ceilings of Duran and Jimenez, and he can play a credible shortstop in case Bogaerts opts out. I wonder how long into his thirties he can keep it up, but the defensive aptitude and versatility can’t be beat, and it seems like they value his character highly too.

The offensive profile is not a fluke.

43402
 

scottyno

late Bloomer
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@Rovin Romine is still wondering who one of the best CF in baseball that Chaim signed for 2-14 is.

What a fucking game, what a fucking year.
 

Jason Bae

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Kike's stat line looks much like a Mike Cameron season, without the steals. What a signing.
 
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Archer1979

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We need to change the title of this thread to "Red Sox Sign First Name Last Name".

But it underscores just how dangerous this line up is when everyone is available. Key point in last night's game... Sox scored 14 runs in a game where their lead-off spot was 0 - 5.