Well, this has been quite a week. Who'd have ever thought the Sox would actually land Josh Rutledge?
But rather than gumming up threads about any particular moves, I figured a new thread about the 40-man roster would be in order. Because it's now more unbalanced than any time I can remember, with 24 pitchers to only 16 position players. Even worse, lots of those pitchers are out of options, or would need to clear waivers to keep in the system after an outright assignment, or both.
The good news is, the Sox could field a really good team just by playing the guys who can't be moved off the active roster easily. The bad news is, that may not be the best team they could field. And worse, after claiming Rutledge in today's Rule 5 Draft, the Sox now need to get rid of a potentially useful asset, in addition to Bryce Brentz, so that he and Moreland can fit onto the 25-man.
MLB Roster Locks (17):
1. LHP - Price
2. LHP - Sale
3. LHP - Abad
4. LHP - Pomeranz
5. RHP - Porcello
6. RHP - Buchholz
7. RHP - Kimbrel
8. RHP - Thornburg
9. RHH - Ramirez
10. RHH - Pedroia
11. RHH - Young
12. RHH - Bogaerts
13. RHH - Betts
14. LHH - Moreland
15. LHH - Bradley
16. LHH - Benintendi
17. SWH - Sandoval
No Options Left (7):
18. LHP - Elias
19. RHP - Wright
20. RHP - Hembree
21. RHH - Vazquez
22. RHH - Brentz
23. RHH - Rutledge
24. SWH - Leon
Must Pass Waivers (3):
25. LHP - Ross
26. RHP - Kelly
27. LHH - Holt
Optionable at Will (12):
28. LHP - Rodriguez
29. LHP - Owens
30. LHP - Johnson
31. LHP - Jerez
32. LHP - Scott
33. LHP - Ysla
34. RHP - Barnes
35. RHP - N. Ramirez
36. RHP - Martin
37. RHH - Marrero
38. LHH - Hernandez
39. SWH - Swihart
DL to Start Season (2):
40. RHP - Smith
41. RHP - Workman
And actually, looking at the imbalanced roster, a DFA of Brentz may not even make the most sense, due to the suddenly stunning dearth of optionable position players in Pawtucket.
Trading or cutting Abad and Elias just to make room might actually make more sense, given that all your LHP are belong to us already. The Sox also could trade away someone better (Buchholz is obvious, but Hanley would fit this example, too) to get a fair prospect or some salary relief. The Sox could also trade away someone good and still cheap to start restocking the farm quickly (Rodriguez, JBJ, etc.).
Or the Sox could simply cut bait on Workman, whose recovery stalled at the end of last year and is now entering his first year of arbitration eligibility. And then let the 25-man get sorted out in spring training.
Personally, I think the Sox actually do have too much pitching on the 40-man, and need to pare some out through minor moves. Carrying 12 LHP fills 30% of all the available roster slots from which the Red Sox have to put their entire team on the field.
But rather than gumming up threads about any particular moves, I figured a new thread about the 40-man roster would be in order. Because it's now more unbalanced than any time I can remember, with 24 pitchers to only 16 position players. Even worse, lots of those pitchers are out of options, or would need to clear waivers to keep in the system after an outright assignment, or both.
The good news is, the Sox could field a really good team just by playing the guys who can't be moved off the active roster easily. The bad news is, that may not be the best team they could field. And worse, after claiming Rutledge in today's Rule 5 Draft, the Sox now need to get rid of a potentially useful asset, in addition to Bryce Brentz, so that he and Moreland can fit onto the 25-man.
MLB Roster Locks (17):
1. LHP - Price
2. LHP - Sale
3. LHP - Abad
4. LHP - Pomeranz
5. RHP - Porcello
6. RHP - Buchholz
7. RHP - Kimbrel
8. RHP - Thornburg
9. RHH - Ramirez
10. RHH - Pedroia
11. RHH - Young
12. RHH - Bogaerts
13. RHH - Betts
14. LHH - Moreland
15. LHH - Bradley
16. LHH - Benintendi
17. SWH - Sandoval
No Options Left (7):
18. LHP - Elias
19. RHP - Wright
20. RHP - Hembree
21. RHH - Vazquez
22. RHH - Brentz
23. RHH - Rutledge
24. SWH - Leon
Must Pass Waivers (3):
25. LHP - Ross
26. RHP - Kelly
27. LHH - Holt
Optionable at Will (12):
28. LHP - Rodriguez
29. LHP - Owens
30. LHP - Johnson
31. LHP - Jerez
32. LHP - Scott
33. LHP - Ysla
34. RHP - Barnes
35. RHP - N. Ramirez
36. RHP - Martin
37. RHH - Marrero
38. LHH - Hernandez
39. SWH - Swihart
DL to Start Season (2):
40. RHP - Smith
41. RHP - Workman
And actually, looking at the imbalanced roster, a DFA of Brentz may not even make the most sense, due to the suddenly stunning dearth of optionable position players in Pawtucket.
Trading or cutting Abad and Elias just to make room might actually make more sense, given that all your LHP are belong to us already. The Sox also could trade away someone better (Buchholz is obvious, but Hanley would fit this example, too) to get a fair prospect or some salary relief. The Sox could also trade away someone good and still cheap to start restocking the farm quickly (Rodriguez, JBJ, etc.).
Or the Sox could simply cut bait on Workman, whose recovery stalled at the end of last year and is now entering his first year of arbitration eligibility. And then let the 25-man get sorted out in spring training.
Personally, I think the Sox actually do have too much pitching on the 40-man, and need to pare some out through minor moves. Carrying 12 LHP fills 30% of all the available roster slots from which the Red Sox have to put their entire team on the field.