Swihart DFA

[Fan_since_Boggs]

I never would have made this move. 1. If the Red Sox are going to have a down year, which is looking more and more likely, it would have made sense to keep and play a player like Swihart. Vazquez and Leon are garbage and they will never be anything but garbage. At least Swihart has potential. 2. Sandy Leon is not a major league caliber hitter; he isn't a major league caliber player.

 

Bottom line: the Red Sox will be in the market for a starting C in 2020.

[Bellhorn04]

I never would have made this move. 1. If the Red Sox are going to have a down year, which is looking more and more likely, it would have made sense to keep and play a player like Swihart.

 

So you think the team should start making decisions after 17 games on the basis that the next 145 don't matter?

[notin]

I never would have made this move. 1. If the Red Sox are going to have a down year, which is looking more and more likely, it would have made sense to keep and play a player like Swihart. Vazquez and Leon are garbage and they will never be anything but garbage. At least Swihart has potential. 2. Sandy Leon is not a major league caliber hitter; he isn't a major league caliber player.

 

Bottom line: the Red Sox will be in the market for a starting C in 2020.

 

 

Some of us thought they needed one for 2019...

[moonslav59]

Can we just be honest for 1 min....

 

Yes. The SPing seems to like Sandy. Sandy is a good, but not great defensive catcher. Vaz is a good defensive catcher with very decent skills, but obviously no head for catching a game, & giving the SR CONFIDENCE that HE IS THE GUY to guide them seamlessly through a game.

 

Swi? A very decent athlete.... not to bright. With how hum baseball skills & baseball smarts. He was NEVER going to LEAD ANY TEAM to anything.

 

Honestly, Leon is a GREAT defensive catcher.

 

This doesn't mean he's the answer to our problems, but let's be totally honest, here.

[Sox75]

Look, I like Sandy. In fact, I love the guy.

But, "great?" Come on now. He's a good defensive catcher, but he's clearly past his prime.

 

When you combine his offensive game, the case for him being labelled a "GREAT" catcher is closed.

He simply isn't.

 

Now, clearly the Sox are capable of hiding him in a GREAT hitting lineup, but when the rest of the guys are struggling, he is a standout MAJOR HOLE in the lineup.

[Bellhorn04]

Some of us thought they needed one for 2019...

 

Not me. They won 119 games with Vazquez & Leon, and they already had baseball's biggest payroll without adding someone like Cervelli.

[Bellhorn04]

Look, I like Sandy. In fact, I love the guy.

But, "great?" Come on now. He's a good defensive catcher, but he's clearly past his prime.

 

When you combine his offensive game, the case for him being labelled a "GREAT" catcher is closed.

He simply isn't.

 

Now, clearly the Sox are capable of hiding him in a GREAT hitting lineup, but when the rest of the guys are struggling, he is a standout MAJOR HOLE in the lineup.

 

Swihart's ability to be a consistently good hitter has yet to be proven either.

 

Most catchers can't hit.

[Bellhorn04]

Cervelli currently has a 485 OPS, BTW, so Vazquez is outhitting him.

[Sox75]

Swihart's ability to be a consistently good hitter has yet to be proven either.

 

Most catchers can't hit.

 

No doubt about it. I've said this since the beginning with Swi, whom I also like. BUT, he simply put has NEVER had a good hitting season in the majors or the minors.

It is beyond me when folks impute "excellent" offensive player to Swi, let alone good or even pretty good.

He's never put together a good hitting season.

[Sox75]

All you have to do is Google Swi's minor league hitting stats. 1 decent season.

 

BUT, because he is considered a "great" athlete, & versatile, he gets a great deal of undue credit for things he simply is not. Such as, a good to plus mlb player.

He is not. Still love the kid, & wish him all the best.

 

On top of that, our SR has never fallen close to in love with his game behind the plate. Not even a mild crush.

 

Now Sandy? They do like Sandy!

[Sox75]

All of this begs the question????

 

Why is Vaz not progressing as a catcher & mlb hitter?

He does not seem to be making great strides in his game.

I think it's time the Sox start targeting a catcher?

idk.... 3 catchers has always made me wonder???

What the hell is the problem?

[notin]

All of this begs the question????

 

Why is Vaz not progressing as a catcher & mlb hitter?

He does not seem to be making great strides in his game.

I think it's time the Sox start targeting a catcher?

idk.... 3 catchers has always made me wonder???

What the hell is the problem?

 

Vazquez, like Hanley and Crawford and Sandoval and possibly Sale before, might be suffering from Contract Complacency Syndrome. It’s a rare disease whereupon a player’s abilities are zapped away by the simple act of signing his name...

[Bellhorn04]

Vazquez, like Hanley and Crawford and Sandoval and possibly Sale before, might be suffering from Contract Complacency Syndrome. It’s a rare disease whereupon a player’s abilities are zapped away by the simple act of signing his name...

 

Betts, on the other hand, might be suffering from Future Contract Anxiety Syndrome.

[Hitch]

Betts, on the other hand, might be suffering from Future Contract Anxiety Syndrome.

 

There's one good way to get around that...

[notin]

Cervelli currently has a 485 OPS, BTW, so Vazquez is outhitting him.

 

Wilson Ramos has a .780 OPS and was available for roughly the cost of Steve Pearce...

[Kimmi]

i think it depends. I think if you are a cy young caliber pitcher making 20+ million a year, , it shouldn’t matter.

 

It shouldn't matter, but reality says that it does.

 

When a pitcher has his A game working, he can pitch to any catcher. When a pitcher just doesn't have it, it doesn't matter who the catcher is, the pitcher will stink. It's the vast majority of the games where the pitcher is somewhere in between that a catcher can make a difference.

[Kimmi]

Nice to see this transaction worked.

 

As most of us have said, the pitching woes are not Swihart's fault. That said, Leon will likely make a difference in how well the pitchers pitch.

 

Spot on tweet from Koch:

 

Bill Koch‏ @BillKoch25 7h7 hours ago

 

Chris Sale has thrown 100+ innings to four catchers. - Sale career OPS/Leon OPS - .621/.561 - Sale career K-BB/Leon K/BB - 5.27/7.76

Rick Porcello has thrown 100+ innings to five catchers. - Porcello career OPS/Leon OPS - .746/.731 - Porcello career K-BB/Leon K-BB - 3.12/4.74

 

Those aren't especially small samples. They are noteworthy differences. This isn't to say the #RedSox handled the Blake Swihart situation well, be it developing the player or maximizing his value. They certainly did not. But locking into this rotation could force concessions.

[Kimmi]

I listened to the Dombrowski interview and he said that there were many different opinions on the Swihart situation, but it "finally became my decision" and he cut Swihart. That is a comment that reeks of discord in the front office

 

There is no discord in the FO. If I read the interview correctly, Dombrowski was talking about the decision to keep Swihart over Leon at the beginning of the season, not the decision to cut Swihart.

 

Cora wanted Leon from the beginning. That is evident by how little playing time Swihart got last year. Dombrowski made the business decision to keep Swihart rather than the baseball decision of keeping Leon. I believe they were all on the same page in calling Leon back up.

[Kimmi]

Vazquez isn't even a "good defender" he's been declining in every important category from throwing out runners, pitch framing, defensive runs saved, DWAR. Whatever metric you want to use, he was awful last year.

 

I'm not saying Leon is great, he was a negative WAR player last year, but the bar for Red Sox catchers has been set very very low.

 

Vazquez has not lived up to his defensive hype, but he is still performing rather well with regards to pitch framing.

 

Also, Cora obviously sees something in his game calling skills.

[Kimmi]

Not me. They won 119 games with Vazquez & Leon, and they already had baseball's biggest payroll without adding someone like Cervelli.

 

!!!

[Kimmi]

There's one good way to get around that...

 

But then he would suffer from Contract Complacency Syndrome.

[notin]

But then he would suffer from Contract Complacency Syndrome.

 

 

Unless he was insinuating a trade of Betts...

[Kimmi]

Unless he was insinuating a trade of Betts...

 

Hmm...

[Hitch]

Ha! I was not.

[Needorsilloback]

So I guess Swihart is the scapegoat for the starters not being prepared for the start of the season...okay, then.

 

100% agree. Throw Swihart under the bus thinking he's the reason for the slow start. Mookie, Xander, JD will all come around but the issue to me is the bats of Pearce, Nunez and Bradley. No better CF in baseball than JBJ but his offense is not what you need from a CFer.

[notin]

Ha! I was not.

 

 

Too late!!

 

 

I’ve already placed you on the “Trade Betts” bus! In fact, I have you as the driver...

[dgalehouse]

The catching situation should have been addressed during the off season . Apparently, the front office decided to rest up and take a long winter's nap . Not a good idea .

[Bellhorn04]

Wilson Ramos has a .780 OPS and was available for roughly the cost of Steve Pearce...

 

Sure, and I know you mentioned Ramos, but we also discussed Cervelli because there were rumors about him.

 

So I'm picking on the guy whose stats suck right now and you're picking the guy whose don't LOL

[notin]

Sure, and I know you mentioned Ramos, but we also discussed Cervelli because there were rumors about him.

 

So I'm picking on the guy whose stats suck right now and you're picking the guy whose don't LOL

 

 

I also mentioned Grandal, whose rocking MLB pitching right now. I wondered if DD was hoping for a Moustakas type situation, but Grandal did get paid.

 

And maybe/hopefully DD was hoping Grandal would go all Moustakas...

[a700hitter]

I also mentioned Grandal, whose rocking MLB pitching right now. I wondered if DD was hoping for a Moustakas type situation, but Grandal did get paid.

 

And maybe/hopefully DD was hoping Grandal would go all Moustakas...

Grandal can’t catch.