Sox to trade for Garrett Cooper, Pablo Reyes DFA’d

[Tony Pena's Gas Cloud]

Honestly, between Reyes, Hamilton, Dalbec and Valdez they're all pretty much the same 7level of who cares, because they shouldn't be on the active roster of an MLB team that ostensibly still has winning the World Series as it's goal anyway.

Technically I think Reyes has the least control and probably the fewest (if any) options remaining, so I guess he should be the one to go.

Plus, one of the others will be gone once Grissom is activated anyway.

Stop being ridiculous. "None should be on an active roster"? How many teams are rolling out five-tool guys off the bench? They're role players for a reason - they have one or two strengths and serious flaws otherwise. The 2018 team - the best in history - had Holt, Swihart, Lin, and Hanley Ramirez spending most of the year as backup (and Nunez, post-trade). How are they much different than the quartet you listed?

 

[grimshaw]

It's entirely possible Pablo clears waivers, accepts a spot in Worcester and clears a spot on the 40 man.

Ya, I mean the A's had no use for him last season and he isn't showing the ability to be competent defensively anywhere this season. I was hoping he'd be the casualty.

 

[grimshaw]

Stop being ridiculous. "None should be on an active roster"? How many teams are rolling out five-tool guys off the bench? They're role players for a reason - they have one or two strengths and serious flaws otherwise. The 2018 team - the best in history - had Holt, Swihart, Lin, and Hanley Ramirez spending most of the year as backup (and Nunez, post-trade). How are they much different than the quartet you listed?

Aside from Hamilton's speed what are any strengths that any of those listed bench guys bring to the table? Ideally a bench guy can at least play defense or have weak side good platoon split.

 

[normstalls]

Aside from Hamilton's speed what are any strengths that any of those listed bench guys bring to the table? Ideally a bench guy can at least play defense or flexibility doesn't matter a whole lot or have a good platoon split.

I admittedly have not seen every game this season, but I would argue BobbyD has played pretty solid defense at multiple positions. His bat is obviously an entirely different story.

 

[grimshaw]

I admittedly have not seen every game this season, but I would argue BobbyD has played pretty solid defense at multiple positions. His bat is obviously an entirely different story.

Fair, but it would be tough to envision another team having him anywhere other than AAA right now.

 

[Tony Pena's Gas Cloud]

Aside from Hamilton's speed what are any strengths that any of those listed bench guys bring to the table? Ideally a bench guy can at least play defense or have weak side good platoon split.

They can play infield for a few games or even a week and not be completely incompetent. Kind of like.......those other guys I mentioned.

 

[simplicio]

Fair, but it would be tough to envision another team having him anywhere other than AAA right now.

Houston is currently praying Loperfido will work out, cause Jose Abreu has somehow managed to be worse than Bobby so far.

 

[KillerBs]

So on the burning issue of who goes down for Grissom, I am thinking Hamilton makes the most sense. I assume Grissom can slide to SS if needed to spell Rafaela, which means they do not need to keep Hamilton for this reason. Dalbec still has limited role as the back up 3b, spot start vs lefties. I still think Valdez offers more than Hamilton at the bat and can get ABs vs a righty here and there and to get Grissom a day off a week. I wonder if Valdez could play some 1b for us, when we wanted another lefty bat in lineup.

 

[Niastri]

Today's lineup with Grissom and Cooper instead of Valdez and Dalbec could stay afloat.

Grissom is timing his Red Sox debut perfectly... Considering the fact that everybody else is injured, even if he starts slow the fans are going to be really happy he's in there.

 

[simplicio]

So on the burning issue of who goes down for Grissom, I am thinking Hamilton makes the most sense. I assume Grissom can slide to SS if needed to spell Rafaela, which means they do not need to keep Hamilton for this reason. Dalbec still has limited role as the back up 3b, spot start vs lefties. I still think Valdez offers more than Hamilton at the bat and can get ABs vs a righty here and there and to get Grissom a day off a week. I wonder if Valdez could play some 1b for us, when we wanted another lefty bat in lineup.

Hamilton also bats left (better than Valdez so far) and can cover both spots (I'm opposed to moving Grissom around before we see what he really is at second). Plus he offers pinch running value.

 

[Big Papi's Mango Salsa]

Aside from Hamilton's speed what are any strengths that any of those listed bench guys bring to the table? Ideally a bench guy can at least play defense or have weak side good platoon split.

That‘s pretty much were I’m coming from as well. It seems Breslow agrees on Reyes, which is why he’s been DFA’ed. I’d be incredibly surprised if he’s given an MLB job anywhere.

Dalbec has not been able to put up a wRC+ above 79 since 2021 (thanks for catching this @Ale Xander). His defense is currently above average, but with scores def WAR scores of -14.2, -5.3 and -1.3 the past three seasons, I’d be really surprised if it continues. Valdez has a wRC+ of 69 over his career at the MLB level, with a -2.6 def WAR. Or he could be any other in a list of guys that can hit in the minors but not at the MLB level.

Hamilton is at least fast, like mentioned. None of the others bring much of anything offensively or defensively to the table, even for bench players.

Someone like Holt had incredible versatility, Swihart provided the ability to in essence carry a 3rd catcher on the roster as a utility player. Hanley was off the roster before Memorial Day and played only 16 more games in his MLB career after that point - or he wasn’t an MLB caliber player at that point either.

Just to look at a good but not great Red Sox team (2017) had bench pieces that at least did something well. Marrero’s defense, Holt’s incredible versatility, Lin provided at least “alright hitting” with an OPS+ of 89 in ‘17 and 100 in ‘18 and was at least just slightly below average defensively (at least as far a dWAR can be trusted). Young was mostly the black hole that provided nothing and even he had an 86 OPS+ that year.

The guys in question (Reyes, Dalbec, Hamilton and Valdez) really haven’t shown anything close to that, possibly excepting 2018 Hanley, who was again, not really worthy of being on an MLB roster at that point.

The guys with options have that as their most valuable facet, so they shouldn’t be DFA’ed. They’re probably not MLB caliber and can be stashed in Worcester. Reyes can’t, and as someone that is just as bad and can’t be stashed in Worcester, it makes perfect sense that he’s gone. Though as others have implied, it’d be a surprise if he is picked up anywhere else and doesn’t end up in Worcester.

 

[AB in DC]

The guys with options have that as their most valuable facet, so they shouldn’t be DFA’ed. They’re probably not MLB caliber and can be stashed in Worcester. Reyes can’t, and as someone that is just as bad and can’t be stashed in Worcester, it makes perfect sense that he’s gone. Though as others have implied, it’d be a surprise if he is picked up anywhere else and doesn’t end up in Worcester.

But there's no real point in DFAing anyone if they don't need the spot on the 40-man. And Reyes can backup all four infield positions, which you can't really say about the other three. Whereas Hamilton can't either hit or field. If this were postseason and you needed a speedster PR, that'd be one thing, but what else does he bring to the ML roster right now?

 

[simplicio]

Dalbec has not been able to put up a wRC+ above 79 since 2001. His defense is currently above average, but with scores def WAR scores of -14.2, -5.3 and -1.3 the past three seasons, I’d be really surprised if it continues.

This is kind of a strange take to me. If you watched him playing in 2021-2022 versus how he looks now, it's immediately apparent that his fielding has improved a ton, and his defensive metrics across the board back that up. He's clearly improved his defensive skills and I'm not sure why you'd expect him to regress to being terrible again.

 

[YTF]

TBH, I think that Hamilton as a pinch runner is not enough of a reason to keep him around. There aren't too many guys on this team that you might need to PR for. Sure he's faster than most, but this team has pretty decent speed everywhere with the exception of perhaps the corner infielders and depending on the circumstances you're not likely to run for Raffy for fear of losing his bat.

 

[Big Papi's Mango Salsa]

This is kind of a strange take to me. If you watched him playing in 2021-2022 versus how he looks now, it's immediately apparent that his fielding has improved a ton, and his defensive metrics across the board back that up. He's clearly improved his defensive skills and I'm not sure why you'd expect him to regress to being terrible again.

Im probably guilty of some recency bias from last night, but I guess I kind of expect him to make mental lapses like playing so far pinched in leading to a routine ground ball instead being a run scoring single. That said, he could have been instructed to be playing as such I suppose. Though I don’t recall seeing Casas doing that in similar situations.

All that said, I’m not saying he needs to be DFA’ed (options left), but the only thing I see keeping him employed is the fact that he is cheap and already in the organization not that he’s a capable major leaguer.

But there's no real point in DFAing anyone if they don't need the spot on the 40-man. And Reyes can backup all four infield positions, which you can't really say about the other three. Whereas Hamilton can't either hit or field. If this were postseason and you needed a speedster PR, that'd be one thing, but what else does he bring to the ML roster right now?

If one wanted to get rid of Hamilton instead of Reyes, that’s fine too. I don’t think any of them are good or worth getting worked up over. But they’re who the Sox have. I‘d hope that the plan is Grissom and Rafaela every day and if one gets hurt to go find someone (like Cooper) to cover said position.

 

[Rovin Romine]

So our IF depth charts now look something like this:

3B Devers Dalbec Reyes Romy Grissom Hamilton Valdez Wong
SS Story Rafaela Reyes Romy Hamilton Grissom
2B Grissom Valdez Reyes Rafaela Romy Hamilton Wong
1B Casas Cooper Dalbec Reyes Romy Refsnyder Valdez Wong

In the minors, we have (assuming Dalbec is optioned when Grissom returns, although Valdez and Hamilton are also candidates):

3B Dalbec Westbrook Sogard Meidroth
SS Sogard Simas Mayer
2B Sogard Simas Yorke Mayer
1B Dalbec Kavadas Hickey

Two days ago Romy's wrist was reported as better and he was taking some swings in the batting cage.

That may have been the deciding factor with Reyes being DFA'd.

When Romy comes back, I actually think sending Hamilton and Valdez down make some sense. I don't think Dalbec will benefit from any more AAA time.

But I think Valdez might stick - LHB since the IF would be a bit RH heavy - Cooper/Grissom/Rafaela are all RH, as is Romy.

 

[shaggydog2000]

TBH, I think that Hamilton as a pinch runner is not enough of a reason to keep him around. There aren't too many guys on this team that you might need to PR for. Sure he's faster than most, but this team has pretty decent speed everywhere with the exception of perhaps the corner infielders and depending on the circumstances you're not likely to run for Raffy for fear of losing his bat.

How often do you pinch run for a guy in the regular season? Not nearly enough to keep a guy around just for that.

 

[Yelling At Clouds]

I wouldn't mind seeing Chase Meidroth get a spot on the 40 man. He had a nice spring and is slashing .282/.453/.791 in 95 PAs with WOOstah. He's walked 20 times, has only struck out 9 times and from what I've seen he's a decent defender at several IF positions.

Yep, this might be overstating things, but I think you could make an argument that he's already an upgrade in the utility IF spot over Hamilton, Lopez, Romy, et al. I guess you don't want to pigeonhole someone into that role early in their career, but that's how they're playing him in Worcester already. And based on the way things have gone so far this year, a backup infielder should still get plenty of PAs.

 

[simplicio]

Im probably guilty of some recency bias from last night, but I guess I kind of expect him to make mental lapses like playing so far pinched in leading to a routine ground ball instead being a run scoring single. That said, he could have been instructed to be playing as such I suppose. Though I don’t recall seeing Casas doing that in similar situations.

I'd be really shocked if he was playing that far off the line of his own accord; I think positioning across the game is purely dictated by data these days.
Mervis's spray chart has a pretty hefty cluster where he was set up, too.

How often do you pinch run for a guy in the regular season? Not nearly enough to keep a guy around just for that.

Probably a lot fewer while Casas is out, but Masa seems to get replaced on base with some frequency.

 

[Ale Xander]

That‘s pretty much were I’m coming from as well. It seems Breslow agrees on Reyes, which is why he’s been DFA’ed. I’d be incredibly surprised if he’s given an MLB job anywhere.

Dalbec has not been able to put up a wRC+ above 79 since 2001. His defense is currently above average, but with scores def WAR scores of -14.2, -5.3 and -1.3 the past three seasons, I’d be really surprised if it continues. Valdez has a wRC+ of 69 over his career at the MLB level, with a -2.6 def WAR. Or he could be any other in a list of guys that can hit in the minors but not at the MLB level.

Bobby peaked as a 6 year old? Somehow I doubt that.

 

[shaggydog2000]

Bobby peaked as a 6 year old? Somehow I doubt that.

T-ball stats convert poorly to the MLB level. But he dominated.

 

[soxhop411]

Garrett gets injured in his first game with the Sox.
1. Bobby Dalbec had 9 lives.
2. This team is cursed

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

Can we reverse the Reyes DFA?