Brock Holt -- our answer at second base?

[mvp 78]

I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't know Brandon Phillips was in the Sox system. I don't pay a lot of attention to the minor leagues. I honestly thought he had retired.

 

He was only signed a few weeks ago. I'm sure you have much more important things going on in your life.

[notin]

As I said earlier, it's the perfect time for Pedey to retire as a hero (to everyone but MVP ). He should forego his remaining salary as a player and then sign on with the Sox as a coach for the same pay. Win/win.

 

Except that he probably doesn’t want to do that. The Ryan Dempster/Gil Meche types who retire mid-contract and forego the remaining money are indeed the minority, regardless of the post-playing opportunities.

 

And we as fans shouldn’t expect them to do so, regardless of how obvious the need to retire is. We demand a high level of competitiveness and intensity from players and then, when their play no longer suits us, expect them to suddenly dial back?

 

Pedroia will be here for a few more years. The Sox might be wise to keep depth around him. And might be wiser to not rely on Marco Hernandez for that depth...,

[notin]

I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't know Brandon Phillips was in the Sox system. I don't pay a lot of attention to the minor leagues. I honestly thought he had retired.

 

That’s ok. I’m actually embarrassed that I did know the Sox signed him...

[vegasbob]

We have 2-3 players we could DFA without losing much.

 

Here's a few opportunities: Robby Scott ; Marcus Walden and William Cuevas both near 30 yrs old. None of these 3 will make much difference to the Sox going to the playoffs. The only reason not to mention Carson Smith is because he does not count against the 40 man while on 60 day DL. Neither does Austin Maddox, but hopefully he could return next year.

[mvp 78]

Here's a few opportunities: Robby Scott ; Marcus Walden and William Cuevas both near 30 yrs old. None of these 3 will make much difference to the Sox going to the playoffs. The only reason not to mention Carson Smith is because he does not count against the 40 man while on 60 day DL. Neither does Austin Maddox, but hopefully he could return next year.

 

Scott is a great LOOGY guy. LHB can't hit him.

[Kimmi]

As I said earlier, it's the perfect time for Pedey to retire as a hero (to everyone but MVP ). He should forego his remaining salary as a player and then sign on with the Sox as a coach for the same pay. Win/win.

 

If/when Pedroia is ready to retire as a player, making him a coach with the same pay is a great idea.

 

I get the impression that he is not ready to do so yet.

[sk7326]

Reviewing the options we might have for 2B in trade, one of the things that jumped out at me is that in terms of raw slash stats, not too many of them are clearly superior to the guy we have out there right now. Of the guys out there available for trade (meaning, not guys who we merely think should be available like LeMahieu and Dozier but players actually being dangled) the only obviously superior options are Cabrera and Machado.

 

Holt isn't a superstar by any means but I certainly don't mind him hitting 8th and 9th, or even occasionally second. He gives us the luxury of having a replacement level guy who can make contact with the baseball and not embarrass himself with his glove. This prevents us from making stupid desperation trades to further drain our farm, and if we need to save our ammunition to bring in a durable lower rotation starter instead, he gives us that luxury too, since he can provide ~1 WAR level coverage at a position where it can actually be pretty hard to find guys much above replacement level.

 

In other words, he gives us options to limit the damage of what IMHO is looking like a but of a seller's market at the deadline. And it's worth pondering given the injuries to our rotation whether it might be the course of wisdom to pass on filling the adequately-covered hole on the roster and move towards filling other more obvious holes, like 5th starter.

 

If things fall through and we can't upgrade at 2B, I'm certainly comfortable with rolling with Holt and upgrading other parts of the team instead. I doubt I'm the only one here. Which since it's a serious possibility if the prices on the trade market don't come down a bit, I think it's fair to consider the possibility that that is exactly what happens.

 

No. But if you don't have an actual answer - he is a good impersonator.

[moonslav59]

If/when Pedroia is ready to retire as a player, making him a coach with the same pay is a great idea.

 

I get the impression that he is not ready to do so yet.

 

I wonder, if he retired, gave up his money and then signed to a coaching contract at the same rate, if we could wiggle out of the luxury tax money.

[Bellhorn04]

I wonder, if he retired, gave up his money and then signed to a coaching contract at the same rate, if we could wiggle out of the luxury tax money.

 

No way in hell MLB would allow such a blatantly obvious attempt to circumvent the tax.

 

Any team with tax issues with a player who suffers a long-term injury or just stops being good would be able to try the same stunt.

[Dojji]

Since that "stunt" requires the consent of the player involved, I actually think that it's the MLBPA that would be more against this than the Commissioner's office per se. They do NOT like giving a team a way out of a guaranteed contract and would try to put pressure on the player not to agree.

[Bellhorn04]

Since that "stunt" requires the consent of the player involved, I actually think that it's the MLBPA that would be more against this than the Commissioner's office per se. They do NOT like giving a team a way out of a guaranteed contract and would try to put pressure on the player not to agree.

 

It's a non-starter all around.

 

Keep trying, though, folks.