Sox sign Ryan Roberts to a ML deal.

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Corsi

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Roberts’ signing comes a day after Boston placed third baseman Will Middlebrooks on the disabled list. Roberts possesses significant third-base experience — more so than possible Middlebrooks replacements Jonathan Herrera, Brock Holt and Brandon Snyder — and strong platoon splits against left-handed pitching.
 
As such, Roberts would represent an upgrade as Herrera’s platoon partner in Middlebrooks’ absence. Herrera is a better left-handed hitter than right-, and Holt also only hits from the left side.
 
 
That Roberts was given a major-league deal suggests Middlebrooks’ right calf strain might require more than just the two weeks on the disabled list. Manager John Farrell classified the injury as a Grade 1 strain — the least severe on the grading scale — on Sunday.
 
The Red Sox will need to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Roberts. The team could move right-handed pitcher Steven Wright from the 15-day to the 60-day disabled list to do so, as Wright figures to be out until May recovering from sports hernia surgery.
 
http://www.providencejournal.com/sports/red-sox/content/20140407-red-sox-sign-if-ryan-roberts.ece
 

Eck'sSneakyCheese

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Corsi said:
Can't be a good sign for WMB..
 
Can't be a good sign for Brock Holt. Roberts is intriguing. He's pretty decent defensively and has a little bit of pop. They really don't want Herrera playing everyday.
 

SouthernBoSox

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He is okay vs. left handers with a carrer .785 OPS against them.

I'm expecting a platoon with Herrara.
 

kazuneko

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SouthernBoSox said:
He is okay vs. left handers with a carrer .785 OPS against them.

I'm expecting a platoon with Herrara.
Yes, though if your comparing career numbers he is actually slightly better than Herrera against RHP as well (.672 vs. 667 career OPS)..
 

mabrowndog

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From Fangraphs, the Top 30 in UZR/150 from 2011-2013 (minimum 1000 innings at 3B):
 
[tablegrid=]# Name Team Inn UZR/150 1 Juan Uribe LAD 1720.0 29.9 2 Manny Machado BAL 1858.0 27.9 3 Luis Valbuena CHC 1399.0 23.0 4 Nolan Arenado COL 1110.0 22.5 5 Evan Longoria TBR 2826.2 16.3 6 Josh Donaldson OAK 2006.2 11.0 7 Brandon Inge - - - 1482.0 10.6 8 Todd Frazier CIN 2054.0 9.6 9 Casey McGehee - - - 1379.1 9.0 10 Adrian Beltre TEX 3395.1 8.8 11 Mike Moustakas KCR 3222.0 8.5 12 Placido Polanco - - - 2559.0 8.3 13 Alberto Callaspo - - - 3015.0 7.5 14 Scott Rolen CIN 1266.2 7.4 15 Alex Rodriguez NYY 1704.1 6.2 16 Martin Prado - - - 1364.2 5.7 17 Ryan Roberts - - - 1575.0 5.1 18 Brett Lawrie TOR 2341.0 5.0 19 Pablo Sandoval SFG 2898.2 4.3 20 Chase Headley SDP 3527.1 3.9 21 David Wright NYM 3245.1 3.6 22 Jack Hannahan - - - 1758.1 2.3 23 Brent Morel CHW 1405.0 1.5 24 Kyle Seager SEA 2969.1 -1.3 25 Will Middlebrooks BOS 1404.1 -3.1 26 Matt Dominguez - - - 1680.0 -3.9 27 Pedro Alvarez PIT 3150.1 -4.1 28 Aramis Ramirez - - - 3140.2 -4.6 29 Eric Chavez - - - 1181.2 -4.8 30 David Freese STL 2878.1 -5.2 [/tablegrid]
 

benhogan

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Roberts definitely fills a hole now, but he has to stick around with no minor league options.
 
Maybe, and I just throwing this out there, its bad news on the Victorino front.
 
If WMB comes back in 2 weeks, then Roberts can replace Herrera.
 
Down the road we could potentially see a Nava/Roberts platoon in RF till Victorino is back?
 
Once again I'm just guessing here.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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benhogan said:
Roberts definitely fills a hole now, but he has to stick around with no minor league options.
 
Maybe, and I just throwing this out there, its bad news on the Victorino front.
 
If WMB comes back in 2 weeks, then Roberts can replace Herrera.
 
Down the road we could potentially see a Nava/Roberts platoon in RF till Victorino is back?
 
Once again I'm just guessing here.
 
With JBJ, I don't know that they'd be all that worried about Victorino right now.  I think Roberts only finds playing time in the outfield in a late game emergency situation or if Sizemore goes down (before Victorino returns) and necessitates JBJ playing full time in center.  But such a situation probably results in calling up Brentz or Hassan before Roberts gets handed even half of an OF platoon.
 

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Red(s)HawksFan said:
 
With JBJ, I don't know that they'd be all that worried about Victorino right now.  I think Roberts only finds playing time in the outfield in a late game emergency situation or if Sizemore goes down (before Victorino returns) and necessitates JBJ playing full time in center.  But such a situation probably results in calling up Brentz or Hassan before Roberts gets handed even half of an OF platoon.
 
Yes - plus Roberts doesn't play SS, so it doesn't seem likely that he'd be replacing Herrera. Roberts probably just gets dumped as soon as they think Will Middlebrooks is ready.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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I have partial season tickets for the Diamonbacks so got to watch him a fair amount in 2011 and 2012.  He's a fan favorite, and seems to be a good club house guy.
 
I think of him as a guy who doesn't hit that well for average, but has sneaky power at times.  He's a very competent fielder -- reliable with an occasional web gem.
 
But my perception might not be too reliable on other stuff, looking at stats.  I think of him as a patient hitter, but fangraphs suggests he's middle of the pack -- 3.868 pitches per PA in 2011 and 3.723 for 2012.  I also think of him as a good baserunner, but again it looks as though he rates at only a bit above average.  He bothers pitchers when he's on first, and will steal a base for you, but his attempts are lower than I would have thought. 
 

Lose Remerswaal

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benhogan said:
Roberts definitely fills a hole now, but he has to stick around with no minor league options.
 
Maybe, and I just throwing this out there, its bad news on the Victorino front.
 
If WMB comes back in 2 weeks, then Roberts can replace Herrera.
 
Down the road we could potentially see a Nava/Roberts platoon in RF till Victorino is back?
 
Once again I'm just guessing here.
 
For  $1 million, if WMB comes back quickly and healthy, they really don't have to keep Roberts around any longer than they want to.  Especially if it's not all guaranteed.
 

Corsi

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Lose Remerswaal said:
 
For  $1 million, if WMB comes back quickly and healthy, they really don't have to keep Roberts around any longer than they want to.  Especially if it's not all guaranteed.
 
Cafardo says it's not guaranteed.  If WMB comes back on time, they'll only have paid Roberts $80K or so.
 

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DennyDoyle'sBoil said:
I have partial season tickets for the Diamonbacks so got to watch him a fair amount in 2011 and 2012.  He's a fan favorite, and seems to be a good club house guy.
 
I think of him as a guy who doesn't hit that well for average, but has sneaky power at times.  He's a very competent fielder -- reliable with an occasional web gem.
 
But my perception might not be too reliable on other stuff, looking at stats.  I think of him as a patient hitter, but fangraphs suggests he's middle of the pack -- 3.868 pitches per PA in 2011 and 3.723 for 2012.  I also think of him as a good baserunner, but again it looks as though he rates at only a bit above average.  He bothers pitchers when he's on first, and will steal a base for you, but his attempts are lower than I would have thought. 
 
 
This fits my views of him from the Dbacks bleachers and tv over the last few years as well. He's a "grinder"/"dirt dog" type with a good glove and a decent swing. Think of him like the IF version of Gomes.... 
 

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He might be more wiling to accept a minor league assignment with the Sox then he was with the Cubs. He would definitely be a nice insurance policy down in Pawtucket.
 

nvalvo

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I like the move. We got caught short depth-wise by Middlebrooks injury, and Roberts, while not stellar, is a legitimate major leaguer, a decent bet to put up a .700ish OPS playing most of his games in a hitters park. 
 
We don't want this guy to get more than about 100 PA, though. Hurry back, Will. 
 

koufax37

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Ryan Roberts is better than Brock Holt, so not a bad signing.  Probably a rounding error of a win better in what I hope is a narrow window, but when you can get a better player take him.
 
He is not enough of a SS able utility to take a job from Herrera, so this has to be a really temporary thing unless WMB ends up being more serious (my "heard a pop during batting practice" calf strain took a month before I felt like sprinting again), but it could be valuable for him to show he is above replacement for another team.
 
Give his lack of SS ability, he can't really be on the roster with WMB, but I like him more than Herrera against both RHP and LHP, and leaves us with a utility infielder still on the bench.  And he is already a dirt dog type player before factoring in that he has maybe just a couple weeks to show another team that he is worth a roster spot.
 

rembrat

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So can someone explain why Roberts hadn't found a team yet and if this isn't WMB insurance why did the Sox wait until now to sign him? Really odd timing.
 

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rembrat said:
So can someone explain why Roberts hadn't found a team yet and if this isn't WMB insurance why did the Sox wait until now to sign him? Really odd timing.
 
I think any thought that he's anything but a temporary fix to Middlebrooks being down is folly.  Maybe they hope he'll slide through waivers and agree to be outrighted to Pawtucket, but unless there's another injury (or a trade, I suppose) Roberts is gone as soon as Middlebrooks is healthy and ready to be activated.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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rembrat said:
So can someone explain why Roberts hadn't found a team yet and if this isn't WMB insurance why did the Sox wait until now to sign him? Really odd timing.
 
I believe that he was under contract with the Cubs until the end of Spring Training.  I think he was probably expected to make the team, but it looks like maybe they went with a young guy (Olt) to be 3B platoon/utility guy -- it probably was imagined they would send Olt down given that he has options.  So, Roberts hasn't been on the market very long.
 

mabrowndog

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DennyDoyle'sBoil said:
 
I believe that he was under contract with the Cubs until the end of Spring Training.  I think he was probably expected to make the team, but it looks like maybe they went with a young guy (Olt) to be 3B platoon/utility guy -- it probably was imagined they would send Olt down given that he has options.  So, Roberts hasn't been on the market very long.
 
Yup, they signed him just before Christmas and released him March 27.  No empty chairs were left when the music stopped for Opening Day.
 

benhogan

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Red(s)HawksFan said:
 
With JBJ, I don't know that they'd be all that worried about Victorino right now.  I think Roberts only finds playing time in the outfield in a late game emergency situation or if Sizemore goes down (before Victorino returns) and necessitates JBJ playing full time in center.  But such a situation probably results in calling up Brentz or Hassan before Roberts gets handed even half of an OF platoon.
yep. I'm wrong. 
 
I thought the $1MM was guaranteed, so I was looking for a bigger role for Roberts.  
 
He gets waived once WMB returns. If he clears, the Sox re-assign him to AAA.
 
Nice move by the brain trust.
 
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