Workman called up, Brewer DFAd

[shanks]

brandon workman exercised his opt out and the sox gots 48 hrs to either add him to the 40 and call him up or grant his release.

in 7 innings at worcester he’s got a 1.29 era w/ 4 walks and 10ks.

of course we’d be thrilled to have him up and pitching like the sox version of ‘19. any thoughts on if the sox should pull that trigger?

https://www.mlb.com/news/brandon-workman-opts-out-of-minor-league-deal

 

[RIrooter09]

He can't be worse than Brewer. I say give it a shot.

 

[Humphrey]

Any position player w/less value than Brewer, not that Brewer has very much (excluding Franchy, who I would think they will bite the bullet on for at least the balance of 2021)

 

[shanks]

sox are all about retaining as much talent as possible. while looking at the 40 man to see who workman can replace:

is mata not on e 60 day IL? if not, they could move him there to make room for workman, right?

otherwise there’s hudson potts, who’s yet to play that they may slip through waivers.

this is in case they’re really worried about losing brewer on waivers.

would hate to see workman do poorly back in the bigs but would be great to see him regain enough to trust him w/ the 7th or 8th.

 

[jon abbey]

Mata is on the minor league IL, to put him on the 60 day, he would need to be promoted and you’d burn service time and an option.

 

[grimshaw]

Workman is completely fungible. If he can find a job elsewhere, good for him.

 

[shanks]

Mata is on the minor league IL, to put him on the 60 day, he would need to be promoted and you’d burn service time and an option.

knew there was something. couldn’t find it m’self. thanks

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

Mata is on the minor league IL, to put him on the 60 day, he would need to be promoted and you’d burn service time and an option.

Slight nitpick, but they've burned an option on him already. You don't use an option to bring a guy up to the big league roster/IL, you use one if he's not on the big league roster/IL. That said, players do accrue service time on the big league IL, so yeah, that's a non-starter.

On the 26-man roster, Brewer is the most obvious casualty if they want to bring up Workman. 40-man wise, Brandon Brennan seems to me to be the odd man out. He's not a prospect. He's only been around for a month so there's no attachment. They might be able to slip him through waivers and outright him if they want to keep him around.

Overall though, I'm not sure Workman is worth it.

 

[Rovin Romine]

If they think Workman has something, they've already burnt this year's option on Brewer. So send him down, jigger the roster, and call Workman up.

Unless they're sure he can't help, or the season's lost, and the least roster risk isn't worth it. But if that's the case, why give Workman a flyer at all?

Workman is completely fungible. If he can find a job elsewhere, good for him.

It's not either/or, but Brewer's got a taint of funge about him as well.

Brewer's 28, has one option (left?), and is a FA in 2025. He was serviceable in 2019, but hasn't been a stand-out, a couple years before or since, at any level.

I don't know anything about the guy we traded for Brewer. . .but were he here, he might be a better option than Chavis. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=quiroz000est

 

[Sandy Leon Trotsky]

Brewer's got a taint of funge

gross.

 

[Cesar Crespo]

He was really good but it was 7.0 ip and AAA. I'd be willing to sacrifice Brewer but ultimately, not sure it's worth it.

 

[strek1]

Might as well give Workman a shot. The pen is a mess anyway.

 

[YTF]

Eck and DOB touched on this during the game last night and seemed to think that Brewer might be the one getting dropped and reclaimed if he makes it through waivers.

 

[chawson]

Might as well give Workman a shot. The pen is a mess anyway.

The pen is 3rd in the AL in fWAR and FIP on the season. A little more middle of the pack this past month, but that’s mostly on bad outings from Brice, Brewer and Andriese (and that one bad Whitlock outing). Barnes, Ottavino, Valdez, Taylor, Hernandez and Sawamura have all been quite good this month.

I doubt Workman is worth it either. The way the team is constructed, there’s an opportunity cost to playing someone who doesn’t have trade value or a role in 2022+, and Workman has neither.

Brasier also needs a spot on the 40 once his rehab assignment is up in a couple weeks. Brewer really took some lumps in emergency starter duty last year and his stuff is interesting, but wouldn’t be a huge loss. Maybe we’d be able to slip him through waivers like we did Brice, Walden and Schreiber.

Workman aside, the trade deadline’s now 8 weeks out. We should probably get a thread going on that, because it’s gaining influence on roster questions like these.

 

[grimshaw]

If they think Workman has something, they've already burnt this year's option on Brewer. So send him down, jigger the roster, and call Workman up.

Unless they're sure he can't help, or the season's lost, and the least roster risk isn't worth it. But if that's the case, why give Workman a flyer at all?

I would guess to just check under the hood at mechanics or get a closer look to see if he was tipping his pitches. But ya, all of their fringe options are equally worthless.

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

I doubt Workman is worth it either. The way the team is constructed, there’s an opportunity cost to playing someone who doesn’t have trade value or a role in 2022+, and Workman has neither.

if Workman comes back and approaches his former Red Sox abilities then he might well have similar trade value to what he had last time around. Brewer will likely make it thru waivers. I think you can get a read on Workman between now and Brasier’s return.

 

[Sandy Leon Trotsky]

if Workman comes back and approaches his former Red Sox abilities then he might well have similar trade value to what he had last time around. Brewer will likely make it thru waivers. I think you can get a read on Workman between now and Brasier’s return.

It would be absolutely astonishing if Chaim could spin Workman a second F'in time into another young cost controlled starter that pitches as good as Pivetta has, and another top tier pitching prospect. I would feel horrible for whatever GM made that deal- especially if Workman turned into the Phillies version of Workman again.
If that happened for some crazy reason... and Workman gets released again, I'd wager Bloom would try it a third time even!

 

[mauf]

Any thoughts on why the Sox called up Brewer instead of Workman several days ago when Franchy was sent down?

Were they anticipating that something might happen to let them avoid the 40-man decision they now face? Did they think Workman wouldn’t opt out?

It’s odd because, while both would be subpar options, I think we’d all rather have Workman than Brewer on the mound with the game on the line. So if you knew you would need to address Workman’s situation in a week, why not make the move then?

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

Any thoughts on why the Sox called up Brewer instead of Workman several days ago when Franchy was sent down?

Were they anticipating that something might happen to let them avoid the 40-man decision they now face? Did they think Workman wouldn’t opt out?

It’s odd because, while both would be subpar options, I think we’d all rather have Workman than Brewer on the mound with the game on the line. So if you knew you would need to address Workman’s situation in a week, why not make the move then?

Because Brewer was already on the 40-man and Workman is not. And you always put off decisions that could cost you a player until you absolutely have to make it.

 

[mauf]

Because Brewer was already on the 40-man and Workman is not. And you always put off decisions that could cost you a player until you absolutely have to make it.

That’s fair if you think Workman and Brewer are interchangeable.

If you believe (as I do) that Workman is clearly the better player of the two, then I think you give him the 26-man spot a week early as a vote of confidence, and live with losing a marginal asset needlessly if someone suffers a serious injury during that week. I’d feel differently if we had a deep 40-man like we did a few years ago, but that isn’t the case.

 

[geoflin]

This way the asset you risk losing is Brewer rather than somebody else. I doubt if many here are strongly in favor of keeping rather than losing Brewer. I would definitely prefer to see what Workman has rather than keep Brewer here or even in the organization if he doesn't pass through waivers. Good luck to any team that takes him on waivers, his best year was 2019 when he had a 1.70 WHIP.

 

[soxhop411]

View: https://twitter.com/alexspeier/status/1400472148976848897?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1400472148976848897%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=

fixed.: thanks @Red(s)HawksFan

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

Brewer NOT DFA. He's been optioned. 40-man move will be announced later.

View: https://twitter.com/alexspeier/status/1400472148976848897

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

That’s fair if you think Workman and Brewer are interchangeable.

If you believe (as I do) that Workman is clearly the better player of the two, then I think you give him the 26-man spot a week early as a vote of confidence, and live with losing a marginal asset needlessly if someone suffers a serious injury during that week. I’d feel differently if we had a deep 40-man like we did a few years ago, but that isn’t the case.

I'm not arguing who is better. I'm just telling you that's the reason they did what they did. Maximizing control of their assets for as long as they can.

And now that they've added Workman and aren't sacrificing Brewer to do so (he's been optioned), I think it's clear that they see something in Brewer that they like.

 

[chawson]

Would placing Mata on the 60-day IL effectively add him to the major league roster in some way that affects his service time? I’m unclear on this.

If so, maybe it’s Bazardo to the 60-? I’m kinda surprised Workman’s here when Brasier and Sale, plus potential other additions, are a couple months away.

 

[Cesar Crespo]

Would placing Mata on the 60-day IL effectively add him to the major league roster in some way that affects his service time? I’m unclear on this.

Yes.

I wouldn't rule out a small trade either.

 

[jon abbey]

Changed the title:

View: https://twitter.com/mlbtraderumors/status/1400503006207041541?s=21

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

Workman be working elsewhere

https://www.masslive.com/redsox/2021/08/brandon-workman-elects-free-agency-after-boston-red-sox-outright-him-to-triple-a-worcester.html

Brandon Workman’s second tenure with the Boston Red Sox has come to an end.


Boston designated the 32-year-old righty for assignment Thursday. The former closer cleared waivers Saturday and the Red Sox outrighted him to Triple-A Worcester. But he declined the assignment and instead elected to become a free agent