Blake Swihart

[Hitch]

We will miss what Leon gave us defensively,but I'm really exited to see what Swilhart can finally offer us. I've always liked the kid. The absolute best outcome is if Sandy clears waivers and takes the AAA assignment. We are covered all ways then.

[mvp 78]

Swihart is a stinky turd of a player. If he doesn't hit this year, he'll be out of baseball.

[notin]

Swihart is a stinky turd of a player. If he doesn't hit this year, he'll be out of baseball.

 

 

Maybe he can hook up with a hot baseball reporter and then go into business with Middlebrooks...

[mvp 78]

Maybe he can hook up with a hot baseball reporter and then go into business with Middlebrooks...

 

Jahmai Webster?

[harmony]

If they can stash Leon in Pawtucket that sounds like best case scenario to me...

The better plan may have been to place Blake Swihart on waivers in hopes that he would clear and be assigned to Pawtucket. Unlike Sandy Leon, Swihart could not refuse an assignment to Triple A. Unlike Leon, Swihart needs a season of consistent reps behind the plate.

 

However, if the Red Sox were shopping their catchers all offseason as rumored, the interest generated probably gave the front office a decent idea of whether Swihart and Leon would clear waivers. The Sox may have waived the player more likely to clear waivers.

 

Or not.

[mvp 78]

The better plan may have been to place Blake Swihart on waivers in hopes that he would clear and be assigned to Pawtucket. Unlike Sandy Leon, Swihart could not refuse an assignment to Triple A. Unlike Leon, Swihart needs a season of consistent reps behind the plate.

 

However, if the Red Sox were shopping their catchers all offseason as rumored, the interest generated probably gave the front office a decent idea of whether Swihart and Leon would clear waivers. The Sox may have waived the player more likely to clear waivers.

 

Or not.

 

I think Leon passes through waivers and goes to Pawtucket. Swihart probably gets taken by someone due to his perceived upside.

[moonslav59]

We will miss what Leon gave us defensively,but I'm really exited to see what Swilhart can finally offer us. I've always liked the kid. The absolute best outcome is if Sandy clears waivers and takes the AAA assignment. We are covered all ways then.

 

If he starts every time ERod starts plus a couple here and there, he may get just 40 games as a catcher, barring a Vaz injury.

 

Maybe he plays some at 1B, but we have Moreland and Pearce (who has shown he can hit righties better than Swihart), and Holt can play 1B and may be in need of some PAs to stay sharp.

 

Maybe he plays some OF, but with everyone healthy, JD should play OF in NL parks and/or when an OF'er needs a rest. Holt can also play OF (see 1B comment).

 

I doubt he plays 3B or 2B, unless there is an injury. We have Nunez and Holt, and would call-up Lin if an infielder gets hurt.

 

I'm still not sure Swihart gets "the chance" everyone is waiting for.

[moonslav59]

I think Leon passes through waivers and goes to Pawtucket. Swihart probably gets taken by someone due to his perceived upside.

 

If he clears waiver and agrees to go to Pawtucket, do we still owe him $2,4M?

[mvp 78]

If he starts every time ERod starts plus a couple here and there, he may get just 40 games as a catcher, barring a Vaz injury.

 

Maybe he plays some at 1B, but we have Moreland and Pearce (who has shown he can hit righties better than Swihart), and Holt can play 1B and may be in need of some PAs to stay sharp.

 

Maybe he plays some OF, but with everyone healthy, JD should play OF in NL parks and/or when an OF'er needs a rest. Holt can also play OF (see 1B comment).

 

I doubt he plays 3B or 2B, unless there is an injury. We have Nunez and Holt, and would call-up Lin if an infielder gets hurt.

 

I'm still not sure Swihart gets "the chance" everyone is waiting for.

 

He needs to stick with C this year. Having him work on other positions seems like a waste.

[mvp 78]

If he clears waiver and agrees to go to Pawtucket, do we still owe him $2,4M?

 

Yup.

[moonslav59]

Yup.

 

Had we just released him, would we have been off the hook?

[Bellhorn04]

Swihart is a stinky turd of a player. If he doesn't hit this year, he'll be out of baseball.

 

And if he does hit, he'll smell much better.

[FredLynn]

Red Sox Place Sandy Leon On Waivers

By Mark Polishuk | March 24, 2019 at 5:12pm CDT

 

The Red Sox have placed catcher Sandy Leon on waivers, as per WEEI.com’s Evan Drellich (Twitter link).

 

Sandy Leon's time has passed; for him, "Winter is Coming".

I will be very interested to see how Swihart does catching 40% or more of the games. I think he will do fine defensively and will be a much better hitter than either Leon or Vasquez. JMO....we shall see.

[Slasher9]

Had we just released him, would we have been off the hook?

 

Nope. this years contract was guaranteed. our only hope is that someone picks him up and takes the salary....

[iortiz]

Sandy Leon's time has passed; for him, "Winter is Coming".

I will be very interested to see how Swihart does catching 40% or more of the games. I think he will do fine defensively and will be a much better hitter than either Leon or Vasquez. JMO....we shall see.

 

Totally agree.

[FredLynn]

The better plan may have been to place Blake Swihart on waivers in hopes that he would clear and be assigned to Pawtucket. Unlike Sandy Leon, Swihart could not refuse an assignment to Triple A. Unlike Leon, Swihart needs a season of consistent reps behind the plate.

 

However, if the Red Sox were shopping their catchers all offseason as rumored, the interest generated probably gave the front office a decent idea of whether Swihart and Leon would clear waivers. The Sox may have waived the player more likely to clear waivers.

 

Or not.

 

Wrong.

If Swihart gets picked up we are stuck with Leon all year. No thanks.

[Slasher9]

Wrong.

If Swihart gets picked up we are stuck with Leon all year. No thanks.

 

i mean he was the starting catcher of a world championship team about 4 months ago.......

[Hitch]

If he starts every time ERod starts plus a couple here and there, he may get just 40 games as a catcher, barring a Vaz injury.

 

Maybe he plays some at 1B, but we have Moreland and Pearce (who has shown he can hit righties better than Swihart), and Holt can play 1B and may be in need of some PAs to stay sharp.

 

Maybe he plays some OF, but with everyone healthy, JD should play OF in NL parks and/or when an OF'er needs a rest. Holt can also play OF (see 1B comment).

 

I doubt he plays 3B or 2B, unless there is an injury. We have Nunez and Holt, and would call-up Lin if an infielder gets hurt.

 

I'm still not sure Swihart gets "the chance" everyone is waiting for.

 

He will be playing Catcher and no other position. He will get to work wit the pitching staff day in and day out (rather than train at every position) and build better relationships as he does so. He will catch Rodriguez at the very least. Vaz has had several injuries and dips in form, so he will likely get games in that way,

 

He will get plenty of game time to develop.

[mvp 78]

Had we just released him, would we have been off the hook?

 

No.

[FredLynn]

i mean he was the starting catcher of a world championship team about 4 months ago.......

 

Actually Vasquez played much more in the postseason than Leon. And when DD announced that the team would not carry three catchers the handwriting was on the wall for Leon. Teams that win rings and hope to repeat have to improve, or try to improve wherever possible. I think that this represents that effort.

[mvp 78]

And if he does hit, he'll smell much better.

 

True enough! He needs to defend well too though.

[harmony]

Wrong.

If Swihart gets picked up we are stuck with Leon all year. No thanks.

The Red Sox pitching staff likely disagrees.

[FredLynn]

The Red Sox pitching staff likely disagrees.

 

So you, a Mariners fan, have appointed yourself to speak for the Red Sox pitching staff. I doubt you will find a single Sox pitcher who would say that they are uncomfortable with Swihart behind the plate. However, if you have evidence that "the Red Sox pitching staff disagrees" this would be a good time to present it. Link?

[harmony]

So you, a Mariners fan, have appointed yourself to speak for the Red Sox pitching staff. I doubt you will find a single Sox pitcher who would say that they are uncomfortable with Swihart behind the plate. However, if you have evidence that "the Red Sox pitching staff disagrees" this would be a good time to present it. Link?

 

https://www.bostonherald.com/2018/08/25/sandy-leon-catching-plenty-of-attention-for-sox/

 

You're welcome.

[FredLynn]

 

https://www.bostonherald.com/2018/08/25/sandy-leon-catching-plenty-of-attention-for-sox/

 

You're welcome.

 

Gosh. I looked at all of the words on those links and I could not find a single sentence where a single pitcher said that they are uncomfortable with Swihart behind the plate, which was what I wrote. I asked you for a link to indicate that anyone is uncomfortable with Swihart and you answered a different question. Care to try again?

Fact is, no pitcher is going to bad mouth their receiver while they are still on the same team. Complimenting Leon (or Vasquez) does not mean that they do not also like throwing to Swihart. So your statement that the Sox pitching staff disagrees is unsupported. But I am a fair guy...I will give you another chance to provide a link to support your position. Please make it relevant this time.

[harmony]

Gosh. I looked at all of the words on those links and I could not find a single sentence where a single pitcher said that they are uncomfortable with Swihart behind the plate, which was what I wrote. I asked you for a link to indicate that anyone is uncomfortable with Swihart and you answered a different question. Care to try again?

Fact is, no pitcher is going to bad mouth their receiver while they are still on the same team. Complimenting Leon (or Vasquez) does not mean that they do not also like throwing to Swihart. So your statement that the Sox pitching staff disagrees is unsupported. But I am a fair guy...I will give you another chance to provide a link to support your position. Please make it relevant this time.

The question simply asked for "evidence that 'the Red Sox pitching staff disagrees.'"

 

Readers can decide whether the question was answered.

[FredLynn]

The question simply asked for "evidence that 'the Red Sox pitching staff disagrees.'"

 

Readers can decide whether the question was answered.

 

Here is what I wrote:

 

"I doubt you will find a single Sox pitcher who would say that they are uncomfortable with Swihart behind the plate. However, if you have evidence that "the Red Sox pitching staff disagrees" this would be a good time to present it. "

 

You have failed to show that the Sox pitchers are uncomfortable with Swihart behind the plate, instead showing proof of the obvious: that they are comfortable with Leon catching. The fact that they are comfortable with Leon does not exclude the possibility that they are also comfortable with Swihart catching. Your link is a non-sequitur. And your statement that the Sox pitching staff disagrees (with what, I might ask, do they disagree?) lacks proof or logic.

But sure, I will await the judgement of other readers here.

Edited March 25, 2019 by FredLynn

[moonslav59]

I think it is pretty obvious 2-3 SP'ers on the Sox loved to have Leon catch them.

 

They will never say they don't want Swihart catching them, but the fact is Swihart has 0 PAs caught with Sale and 48 with Price. That is not just happenstance.

[FredLynn]

I think it is pretty obvious 2-3 SP'ers on the Sox loved to have Leon catch them.

 

They will never say they don't want Swihart catching them, but the fact is Swihart has 0 PAs caught with Sale and 48 with Price. That is not just happenstance.

 

Its a reflection of the fact that management had decided that Leon and Vasquez were going to be the catchers in the past. Its hard to really know if you are comfortable with someone else until you actually try it. You never know if you will like chocolate until you try it, do you.

Look, I am not arguing that Leon was not a good defensive catcher that most if not all of the staff was comfortable with. What I am saying is that that fact does not exclude the possibility that they will also all be comfortable with Swihart catching. Of course, we will never know more than likely because no pitcher is going to throw his catcher under the bus. What I object to is the illogical arguement used by Harmony that the Sox staff likes Leon and therefore is uncomfortable with Swihart. Perhaps they are MORE comfortable with Leon (maybe because he is familiar to them) than Swihart; I could almost buy that. Lets see what the comments are as the season rolls on.....if there are issues with Swihart's defense, pitch framing, or game calling.

[harmony]

Its a reflection of the fact that management had decided that Leon and Vasquez were going to be the catchers in the past. Its hard to really know if you are comfortable with someone else until you actually try it. You never know if you will like chocolate until you try it, do you.

Look, I am not arguing that Leon was not a good defensive catcher that most if not all of the staff was comfortable with. What I am saying is that that fact does not exclude the possibility that they will also all be comfortable with Swihart catching. Of course, we will never know more than likely because no pitcher is going to throw his catcher under the bus. What I object to is the illogical arguement used by Harmony that the Sox staff likes Leon and therefore is uncomfortable with Swihart. Perhaps they are MORE comfortable with Leon (maybe because he is familiar to them) than Swihart; I could almost buy that. Lets see what the comments are as the season rolls on.....if there are issues with Swihart's defense, pitch framing, or game calling.

Blake Swihart has appeared as a catcher in 121 MLB games (and in 342 minor league games). Evaluators have an idea whether the chocolate is to their liking.