Blake Swihart

[harmony]

Seattle reportedly is in the market for a defensively superb right-handing hitting catcher to complement presumed starter Omar Narvaez:

 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/02/mariners-rumors-martin-maldonado-interest.html

 

The Mariners reportedly are interested in free agent Martin Maldonado, who last year finished seventh in the Fielding Bible voting at catcher, two slots behind Sandy Leon.

 

http://www.fieldingbible.com/complete-votetally.asp

 

In 2017 Maldonado finished a runaway first in the voting, Christian Vazquez seventh and Leon ninth:

 

http://www.fieldingbible.com/complete-voteTally2017.asp

 

Regardless I doubt the Red Sox and Mariners matched up in a trade.

[notin]

From what I’ve read, the Mariners want someone that can go to the minors if need be. This disqualifies all 3 Sox catchers...

[notin]

In retrospect, the most obvious trade partner is the Tigers, as they currently have only one catcher on their 40 man roster, a 27yo rookie named Greyson Greinger. And Dombrowski should have some familiarity with a few of the names in their farm system or on their staff...

[BillyWilliams]

Blake Swihart faces uncertain future in Boston

WWW.MLB.COM

---

BRADENTON, Fla. -- There was a time Blake Swihart was the catcher of the future for the Red Sox, the one they didn’t want to package for Cole Hamels all those years ago. Then, he became the player who had to battle back from a major foot injury that ruined

[a700hitter]

A poll with six choices, including the very unrealistic choice of retiring, but it doesn't include the more reasonable choices of trading Leon or keeping 3 catchers.

[notin]

A poll with six choices, including the very unrealistic choice of retiring, but it doesn't include the more reasonable choices of trading Leon or keeping 3 catchers.

 

 

Well Dombrowski has said he is actively trying to trade a catcher, which makes keeping 3 catchers less likely. As it stands, the Sox cannot fit all 3 on the 25 man roster right now.

 

And Sandy Leon, with one year at $2.75mill, is virtually untradable. Any team looking for a defensive catcher could easily sign Martin Maldonado for the same or less. And Maldonado is a better hitter...

[a700hitter]

Well Dombrowski has said he is actively trying to trade a catcher, which makes keeping 3 catchers less likely. As it stands, the Sox cannot fit all 3 on the 25 man roster right now.

 

And Sandy Leon, with one year at $2.75mill, is virtually untradable. Any team looking for a defensive catcher could easily sign Martin Maldonado for the same or less. And Maldonado is a better hitter...

They could carry fewer pitchers to start the season as there are more off days in March and April. Carrying 3 catchers to start the season is a viable option. $2.75 million makes him virtually untradeable? I don't think so, and there is the option for DD to eat most or all of the salary in a trade.

[notin]

They could carry fewer pitchers to start the season as there are more off days in March and April. Carrying 3 catchers to start the season is a viable option. $2.75 million makes him virtually untradeable? I don't think so, and there is the option for DD to eat most or all of the salary in a trade.

 

 

Well, the Red Sox currently have 11 pitchers out of options and a rough schedule to start the season to the point where Brian Johnson is expected to start the sixth game. And since most pitchers come out of the gate on pitch counts or shorter outings, the bullpen is a big factor. And even if the Sox decided to go with one fewer pitcher, that only buys time. Unless there is an injury, the issue remains.

 

And Leon just isn’t good trade bait. He has one year left, is one dimensional, and it does very little for the Sox to pay part of his salary and keep him on the budget if they are as concerned with the upper tax limit as they have been acting. And even then, which catcher between Leon and Swihart will get a better player back? If you were a GM for another team, which one would you want to acquire?

[Fan_since_Boggs]

 

And Sandy Leon, with one year at $2.75mill, is virtually untradable. Any team looking for a defensive catcher could easily sign Martin Maldonado for the same or less. And Maldonado is a better hitter...

 

And this is why the Red Sox should demote Leon to AAA and not worry about it. There is a good chance he will pass through waivers and accept his AAA assignment.

[notin]

And this is why the Red Sox should demote Leon to AAA and not worry about it. There is a good chance he will pass through waivers and accept his AAA assignment.

 

 

They could do that, but they might prefer to DFA Swihart as he could get valuable playing time in Pawtucket.

 

However one has to wonder if Dombrowski has learned his lesson about DFAing a player he hopes can clear waivers after learning the hard way with Ben Taylor...

[a700hitter]

Well, the Red Sox currently have 11 pitchers out of options and a rough schedule to start the season to the point where Brian Johnson is expected to start the sixth game. And since most pitchers come out of the gate on pitch counts or shorter outings, the bullpen is a big factor. And even if the Sox decided to go with one fewer pitcher, that only buys time. Unless there is an injury, the issue remains.

 

And Leon just isn’t good trade bait. He has one year left, is one dimensional, and it does very little for the Sox to pay part of his salary and keep him on the budget if they are as concerned with the upper tax limit as they have been acting. And even then, which catcher between Leon and Swihart will get a better player back? If you were a GM for another team, which one would you want to acquire?

Someone on the roster will hit the DL before the season starts. You can bank on that. The question isn't which catcher would other teams want. The question is which ones does DD want to keep. He will not get much for Leon or Swihart, and I think Vasquez is still planned as the long term team catcher. Leon has caught 252 games on three divisional championship teams. We would not get a lot for him, but there are teams that would like to have him.

[notin]

Well DD apparently wants to trade a catcher for starting pitching to hedge against losing Sale and Porcello, which seems like a ludicrous goal for any of the three. But if he wants a pitcher back, he’s better off trading Swihart. I see no real reason to favor one catcher over the other with Swihart and Leon. Both have good points and bad points and neither is indispensable.

 

Someone certainly could hit the DL to enable keeping both. But it would probably have to be a position player since they’re likely to need all12 pitchers early on...

[Dojji]

Some folks here are convinced that because of Leon our pitchers are so "comfortable" on the mound. Maybe thats true. And maybe some other GM will see that too. And $2.75M nowadays isn't really a king's ransom, is it.

 

If I had a rookie catcher who I was trying to ease into the league, I'd love a guy like Leon to back up for him.

 

One thing I'm sure about, more people are interested in Sandy Leon as a catcher than were interested 12 months ago.

 

Personally though, there is no controversy. We don't have a problem at catcher right now. Leon and Vazquez are our 2 catchers and they'll split time between them. That was good enough to win a Championship last year -- in a year where both of them produced way below their career levels. Regression to the mean plays out in favor of the incumbents. I for one am happy to leave it at that. Defense is FAR more important than offense at that particular position and both Leon and Vazquez give us reason to be confident in them defensively.

 

If they can shoehorn Swihart into the roster somehow they probably will. If they can't I doubt they'll lose any sleep over having to DFA him.

Edited February 26, 2019 by Dojji

[Bellhorn04]

Well DD apparently wants to trade a catcher for starting pitching to hedge against losing Sale and Porcello, which seems like a ludicrous goal for any of the three.

 

Just looking for some depth for this year, wasn't he? He'd have to be doing magic mushrooms to think one of our catchers would bring back someone to replace Sale or Porcello next year.

[mvp 78]

Just looking for some depth for this year, wasn't he? He'd have to be doing magic mushrooms to think one of our catchers would bring back someone to replace Sale or Porcello next year.

 

Maybe it was the poster doing peyote, not DD?

[Maxbialystock]

Pretty good thread. I don't see how the Sox can keep Swihart after keeping him on the 25 man roster for the entire 2018 season and postseason--and basically not using him. He's a catcher who I think the pitchers don't trust/like. He isn't a good enough fielder or hitter to break into the outfield or infield. I voted he would be trading for pitching help, but now think he might simply be dfa'd.

[Kimmi]

If I had a rookie catcher who I was trying to ease into the league, I'd love a guy like Leon to back up for him.

 

One thing I'm sure about, more people are interested in Sandy Leon as a catcher than were interested 12 months ago.

 

Personally though, there is no controversy. We don't have a problem at catcher right now. Leon and Vazquez are our 2 catchers and they'll split time between them. That was good enough to win a Championship last year -- in a year where both of them produced way below their career levels. Regression to the mean plays out in favor of the incumbents. I for one am happy to leave it at that. Defense is FAR more important than offense at that particular position and both Leon and Vazquez give us reason to be confident in them defensively.

 

If they can shoehorn Swihart into the roster somehow they probably will. If they can't I doubt they'll lose any sleep over having to DFA him.

 

I am a fan of this post.

[harmony]

Steamer600, which assumes 450 plate appearances for each catcher, projects 2019 WAR of 1.9 for 32-year-old switch-hitting catcher Matt Wieters, a four-time All Star and two-time Gold Glove winner* who reportedly has signed a minor league contract with the St. Louis Cardinals:

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/projections.aspx?pos=c&stats=bat&type=steamer600&team=0&lg=all&players=0&sort=27,d

 

 

Steamer600 projects 2019 WAR of 1.4 for Christian Vazquez, 0.8 for Sandy Leon and 0.2 for Blake Swihart:

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/projections.aspx?pos=c&stats=bat&type=steamer600&team=3&lg=all&players=0&sort=27,d

 

The trade market for the Red Sox catchers may be limited.

 

* Wieters has posted 18.4 fWAR and 18.0 bWAR in 1,081 games over 10 MLB seasons while switch-hitting catcher Jason Varitek, a three-time All Star and one-time Gold Glove winner, posted 19.5 fWAR and 18.4 bWAR in 1,068 games over his first 10 MLB seasons (Varitek was two years older in age than Wieters in parallel seasons of the Georgia Tech products).

Edited February 27, 2019 by harmony

[moonslav59]

Steamer600, which assumes 450 plate appearances for each catcher, projects 2019 WAR of 1.9 for 32-year-old switch-hitting catcher Matt Wieters, a four-time All Star and two-time Gold Glove winner* who reportedly has signed a minor league contract with the St. Louis Cardinals:

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/projections.aspx?pos=c&stats=bat&type=steamer600&team=0&lg=all&players=0&sort=27,d

 

 

Steamer600 projects 2019 WAR of 1.4 for Christian Vazquez, 0.8 for Sandy Leon and 0.2 for Blake Swihart:

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/projections.aspx?pos=c&stats=bat&type=steamer600&team=3&lg=all&players=0&sort=27,d

 

The trade market for the Red Sox catchers may be limited.

 

* Wieters has posted 18.4 fWAR and 18.0 bWAR in 1,081 games over 10 MLB seasons while switch-hitting catcher Jason Varitek, a three-time All Star and one-time Gold Glove winner, posted 19.5 fWAR and 18.4 bWAR in 1,068 games over his first 10 MLB seasons (Varitek was two years older in age than Wieters in parallel seasons of the Georgia Tech products).

 

Just goes to show you badly WAR (and hence projected WAR) captures catcher intangibles.

[harmony]

Just goes to show you badly WAR (and hence projected WAR) captures catcher intangibles.

The footnote shows how much the free agent market has changed in 10 years because when Jason Varitek declined arbitration after the 2008 season apparently no club would sign Varitek with a compensation pick attached:

 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/01/jason-varitek-a.html

Edited February 27, 2019 by harmony

[Bellhorn04]

Just goes to show you badly WAR (and hence projected WAR) captures catcher intangibles.

 

Nothing captures intangibles. That's why they're intangibles.

[a700hitter]

Nothing captures intangibles. That's why they're intangibles.

Oh come on, isn't there an iWAR that also measures intangibles?;)

[notin]

Oh come on, isn't there an iWAR that also measures intangibles?;)

 

 

No, that’s the trademarked name of a card game app you play on an Apple phone...

[moonslav59]

Nothing captures intangibles. That's why they're intangibles.

 

Of course.

[cp176]

Went out on a limb with my thoughts that Kimbrel would come back. Looks like that isn't happening. My next great prediction - Swihart stays and we have two catchers on the roster to kick off the season.

[notin]

Went out on a limb with my thoughts that Kimbrel would come back. Looks like that isn't happening. My next great prediction - Swihart stays and we have two catchers on the roster to kick off the season.

 

 

So who goes?

 

I could see Swihart “staying” by being DFAd, clearing waivers, and going to Pawtucket. Is that what you mean?

[oldtimer]

So who goes?

 

I could see Swihart “staying” by being DFAd, clearing waivers, and going to Pawtucket. Is that what you mean?

 

Does it really matter?

[cp176]

So who goes?

 

I could see Swihart “staying” by being DFAd, clearing waivers, and going to Pawtucket. Is that what you mean?

 

I'm not sure who goes. Hard to say what they will do. Just for you though notin - Leon goes.

it does kind of sound like Vazqueth has the best shot at the job. Also sounds as though the intrigue over Swihart continues. Steady improvement behind the plate and clearly more potential from a hitting standpoint than either of the other two. I do have to add though that I am wrong most of the time.

I also happen to think that someone would snap Swihart up in a second if they could get him for next to nothing. Why wouldn't they?

[Bellhorn04]

Well, as far as the Sox are concerned, the fate of Mr. Swihart is the most interesting thing to be decided between now and Opening Day.

[cp176]

Well, as far as the Sox are concerned, the fate of Mr. Swihart is the most interesting thing to be decided between now and Opening Day.

 

Looks that way doesn't it. I think that the fate of the bullpen still looks unresolved as well. it will be interesting to see who steps up if anyone. I hope someone does for sure. Lets go Thornburg.