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

Tony Pena's Gas Cloud

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.
 

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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

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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

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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.
 

simplicio

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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

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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.
 
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AB in DC

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.
81793

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

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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.
 

soxhop411

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

Daniel_Son

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And thus with the reactivation of Yoshida, the Garrett Cooper era has ended. In 75 PAs, he logged just 12 hits - good for a .171 BA., a .455 OPS, and a 29 OPS+. He wasn't much better on the other side of the ball, either, posting a -0.4 dWAR in his brief stint at 1B.

All around - yikes.
 
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joe dokes

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People wanted him; people got him; no people will miss him. That's why it's called a "scrap heap."
 

Rovin Romine

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Can we reverse the Reyes DFA?
And thus with the reactivation of Yoshida, the Garrett Cooper era has ended. In 75 PAs, he logged just 12 hits - good for a .171 BA., a .455 OPS, and a 29 OPS+. He wasn't much better on the other side of the ball, either, posting a -0.4 dWAR in his brief stint at 1B.

All around - yikes.
Reyes OPS+ was 28 for the Red Sox. So they DFA'd him and picked up Garret Cooper whose OPS+ for Chicago was 119.

The reasonable goal of the staff was to find a bat that could improve over Reyes while having Dalbec as the bench IF/bat (and warm up). Snapshot of the roster: #355

Mission accomplished: Cooper's OPS+ was 29 for the Sox. And Dalbec did get a hit eventually.
 

Rovin Romine

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People wanted him; people got him; no people will miss him. That's why it's called a "scrap heap."
But in all fairness, I should add that Dom Smith's OPS+ for the Sox is currently 85, while playing a mostly adequate 1B.

That sort of minimally competent hitting is really what you need off the scrap-heap. Our record would be better if we'd gotten that kind of production from Valdez/Dalbec/Reyes/Cooper/Grissom. 419 PAs of suck. If you throw Rafaela (a net plus given defense and clutchness), McGuire, and Romy in there, who are all hitting worse than Smith, it's 812 PAs.

The total PAs for the team is 2524.

But any way you slice it, we've had black-hole hitters coming to the plate more often than Devers and O'Neill combined - 413 PAs. Hitters the coaching staff weren't able to get to even the minimally competent level.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Abreu has also been released. Is he remotely fixable? We just need a 45 day hot stretch, then he can retire.
Not worth it. He was sent down to the minors last month and hit .318/.375/.546 in 5 games at AAA only to come back and put up a .167/.186/.195 line in 43 PA. He's toast. Casas will be back in a month and Dom Smith has been adequate in his place.
 

YTF

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Not worth it. He was sent down to the minors last month and hit .318/.375/.546 in 5 games at AAA only to come back and put up a .167/.186/.195 line in 43 PA. He's toast. Casas will be back in a month and Dom Smith has been adequate in his place.
I agree about Smith he's largely been a good defender with a couple of glaring exceptions. Once Casas, Abreu, Romy and Grissom return and the roster gets reset I'd like to see Refsnyder used as the primary backup at 1st as a way to get him into a few extra games when Casas needs a day off or a 1/2 day off in the DH slot.
 

E5 Yaz

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I agree about Smith he's largely been a good defender with a couple of glaring exceptions. Once Casas, Abreu, Romy and Grissom return and the roster gets reset I'd like to see Refsnyder used as the primary backup at 1st as a way to get him into a few extra games when Casas needs a day off or a 1/2 day off in the DH slot.
That they haven't used Refsnyder there during Casas's absence makes me dubious that they are actually considering this.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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That they haven't used Refsnyder there during Casas's absence makes me dubious that they are actually considering this.
Refsnyder at first has been a pet desire around here since the off-season and I've yet to see any signals from the Sox that they've even considered it. Not even reports of him taking groundballs/throws during BP. We probably should let it go.
 

YTF

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That they haven't used Refsnyder there during Casas's absence makes me dubious that they are actually considering this.
While I was hoping he might see a start or two at 1st against the White Sox, I didn't really see much opportunity for him there with both Cooper and Smith on the roster, O'Neill and Abreu missing starts and Rafaela getting at least a 1/2 dozen starts at SS in the past few weeks.
 

YTF

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Refsnyder at first has been a pet desire around here since the off-season and I've yet to see any signals from the Sox that they've even considered it. Not even reports of him taking groundballs/throws during BP. We probably should let it go.
We probably should, but if/when the roster is back to full strength who's the backup at first? Also IIRC, earlier in the season when Refsnyder was getting ready to return from his toe injury, Cora said he would be seeing some time at first base.
 

SirPsychoSquints

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And thus with the reactivation of Yoshida, the Garrett Cooper era has ended. In 75 PAs, he logged just 12 hits - good for a .171 BA., a .455 OPS, and a 29 OPS+. He wasn't much better on the other side of the ball, either, posting a -0.4 dWAR in his brief stint at 1B.

All around - yikes.
Just wanted to point out, almost everyone will have negative dWAR at first base due to the positional adjustment. In cooper’s case, he was 2 runs below the average first baseman, accounting for half of his negative dWAR.
 

richgedman'sghost

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I agree about Smith he's largely been a good defender with a couple of glaring exceptions. Once Casas, Abreu, Romy and Grissom return and the roster gets reset I'd like to see Refsnyder used as the primary backup at 1st as a way to get him into a few extra games when Casas needs a day off or a 1/2 day off in the DH slot.
Casas isn't coming back anytime soon. He is only starting to take swings without a bat in his hands. He still has to progress to dry swings, then BP then finally games on the farm. If he's back by August I'll be surprised. So it would be best to continue to prepare as if he's out for the year.
 

Van Everyman

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Casas isn't coming back anytime soon. He is only starting to take swings without a bat in his hands. He still has to progress to dry swings, then BP then finally games on the farm. If he's back by August I'll be surprised. So it would be best to continue to prepare as if he's out for the year.
This is way too negative. The Globe just wrote this:

Casas hopes to be back by July 2 when the team visits Miami, his hometown, for a series with the Marlins. If Casas, in fact, is to hit that target date, then, presumably, he would begin a rehab assignment in the near future.
Even if that’s too ambitious—and Cora says they will be cautious—the idea that Sox should probably proceed as if Casas is gone for the season is silly.
 

YTF

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This is way too negative. The Globe just wrote this:


Even if that’s too ambitious—and Cora says they will be cautious—the idea that Sox should probably proceed as if Casas is gone for the season is silly.
Casas also hoped to be back when he was eligible to return from the 60 day IL (June 21st). He's is a positive energy type of guy and hoping to be back sooner than later would be a natural, optimistic response from him, but the fact of the matter is that he's not yet swinging a bat. When he starts it's likely to be something that is approached in stages and no one can predict how his body will respond. It's really one of those "we'll know when we know" situations. I'm sure the team realizes this and likely has ideas as to how they will approach Casas in the short and long term. Like it or not, ATM Dom Smith and Bobby Dalbec are the short term solution. It would be great if there was another/better 1st base solution in house, but apparently there isn't. I don't see the team committing to another outside solution unless/until the team makes a serious run at a playoff spot and it's clear that Casas will not return prior to the trade deadline. In the meantime, perhaps they take a shot on another castoff or minor trade that can help to better fill the void, but the answer to who's on first is likely to be a familiar one for the time being.

I think the team should definitely consider what the rest of the season without Casas might look like, but I also think that the current situation (while not ideal) can be manageable when a few more players are back from the IL. We've already seen the lengthening of the batting order with the return of O'Neill and Yoshida. Valdez and Rafaela seem to be finding their stoke and if we can reinsert a healthy Abreu into that lineup they may be able to keep that offense chugging. Despite the lack of power, this team can be a doubles machine and with the speed that they possess they can score runs, but in order for that to happen they need find a way to keep healthy and put more balls into play.
 

TheYellowDart5

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Surely we've rebranded that as a Steve Pearce around these parts?
Hah, I completely forgot about his (admittedly very short) stint on the Yankees; I also had him confused in my head with Eric Hinske (who got four out of five ALE teams but missed Baltimore).
 

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My heart just sank. This thread was at the top of the forum summary page and I saw, "Sox to trade for Garret C..." I thought Breslow was really pushing some chips into the middle.
 

dynomite

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Hah, I completely forgot about his (admittedly very short) stint on the Yankees; I also had him confused in my head with Eric Hinske (who got four out of five ALE teams but missed Baltimore).
Pearce is an immaculate grid MVP, especially since I try to always include a Sox WS winner when anyone qualifies.

Anyway, surprised he ended up with Baltimore. I guess it's injury insurance, but they already have one of the best 1B platoons in MLB in O'Hearn/Mountcastle and don't even have room in their lineup for all of their incredible bats. As MLBTR says:

Baltimore doesn’t present the cleanest path back to the big leagues for Cooper. The O’s have arguably the deepest lineup in the majors. Ryan O’Hearn and Ryan Mountcastle respectively have first base and designated hitter secured. Baltimore has Anthony Santander and Colton Cowser as their main corner outfield tandem, while Austin Hays and Heston Kjerstad are also in the mix. It might take an injury for Cooper to get a look at Camden Yards.
I was expecting the MFY, who just lost Rizzo and are relying on a prospect in Ben Rice.