Red Sox Sign Masataka Yoshida

[mvp 78]

Yes, I've mentioned it being a waste to have a platoon DH and take up two roster spots, but consider this: Yoshida does not play OF, anymore, and he's worse than Ref in the OF. EValdez is likely just as bad at 2B as Yoshida is in LF, but 2B gets more chances to be exposed. I guess EValdez can play LF about as badly as Yoshida, so if we replaced Yoshide with Valdez, not much changes, except Ref DHs vs LHPs and not corner OF. That means we need another RHB for 25, like maybe O'Neill extended.

 

Either way, Yoshida isn't going anywhere, so Valdez should. He won't bring back much, but he does have an excellent bat vs RHPs.

 

If Valdez played Yoshida level defense in LF after only 18 career starts, they would have kept him out there. My guess is that he was bad enough in the 3 starts for WOO that they ended that nonsense.

[moonslav59]

If Valdez played Yoshida level defense in LF after only 18 career starts, they would have kept him out there. My guess is that he was bad enough in the 3 starts for WOO that they ended that nonsense.

 

They ended Yoshida's "nonsense" in LF, too.

 

Valdez would be a fine DH vs RHPs, which is about 400 PAs a year, with some PH'ing mixed in. He should never play 2B or LF, so that lessens his value to us and to a potential trade partner, but Yoshida is a DH only player, too.

 

Yoshida hits LHP'er way better than Valdez, but not as well as Refsnyder. To me, haveing a Valdez-Refnsyder DH platoon would be as good or better than Yoshida, on paper, but they take up 2 slots on the 26. That does not make much difference as Ref would still be the 4th or 5th OF'er, as he is now, and Valdez would only DH, like Yoshida does, now.

 

Anyway, we aren't trading Yoshida, so this is all moot. We should trade Valdez for the best we can get, no matter how little that might be. He is wasting a 40 man roster slot on our DH-only team. Other teams don't have a Yoshida and might want him.

[Bellhorn04]

Anyway, we aren't trading Yoshida, so this is all moot.

 

Yes, it's all moot, so we should only have a couple dozen more posts about it.

[mvp 78]

87 G - Masa

3 G - Valdez

 

A little bit of a difference IMO.

[moonslav59]

Yes, it's all moot, so we should only have a couple dozen more posts about it.

 

LOL.

 

QuickQ: which poster had the most posts about Yoshida, last year?

[moonslav59]

87 G - Masa

3 G - Valdez

 

A little bit of a difference IMO.

 

Career splits:

 

vs RHP:

.799 Yoshida

.783 Valdez

 

vs LHPs

.790 Refsnyder (.910, last 3 years combined)

.697 Yoshida

 

This will be my last post about Yoshida vs Vadlez/Ref at DH.

 

Yoshida kis our DH for many more years. He is looking better, this year.

[mvp 78]

LOL.

 

QuickQ: which poster had the most posts about Yoshida, last year?

 

Probably you.

[mvp 78]

If you want him traded, hope he balls out the rest of the way this year the way Nick Yorke did in AAA. Then you can package him with something and maybe a team takes on that contract.

[Bellhorn04]

LOL.

 

QuickQ: which poster had the most posts about Yoshida, last year?

 

Me, no doubt, at least from the point we realized he was a DH and Bloom had signed 2 DH's.

[vegasbob]

Interesting comments by Ian Browne on MLB about two reasons Yoshida had a strong July. One, his confidence to fully swing the bat after his thumb injury is back. Yoshida says he was reluctant to cut loose when first returning. I will say, somewhat obvious reaction to hurting yourself. A significant thought about Triston Casas's return from the rib injury.

 

Second, Yoshida's family ( wife/2 kids) came to Boston and he is a happy Yoshi . Mental attitude is a key to a positive approach to your job. Hopefully, this happy camper will hit very well in August too. But, damn, he is a slowpoke on the bases.

 

The contract is what it is for another 3 seasons . At some point Yoshi could hit his way into a more valuable DH type, but always in a limited capacity as a non-fielder. I still think the Angels could be a place for him before the contract ends. LAA loves bad deals

[Bellhorn04]

Yoshida had 2 huge hits against the Yanks in July, that helps to boost his cred. The game tying homer was the real deal, long AB, fouled off some tough pitches, got one he liked and crushed it. That was good stuff.

[Maxbialystock]

Interesting comments by Ian Browne on MLB about two reasons Yoshida had a strong July. One, his confidence to fully swing the bat after his thumb injury is back. Yoshida says he was reluctant to cut loose when first returning. I will say, somewhat obvious reaction to hurting yourself. A significant thought about Triston Casas's return from the rib injury.

 

Second, Yoshida's family ( wife/2 kids) came to Boston and he is a happy Yoshi . Mental attitude is a key to a positive approach to your job. Hopefully, this happy camper will hit very well in August too. But, damn, he is a slowpoke on the bases.

 

The contract is what it is for another 3 seasons . At some point Yoshi could hit his way into a more valuable DH type, but always in a limited capacity as a non-fielder. I still think the Angels could be a place for him before the contract ends. LAA loves bad deals

 

A terrific post!! Well done, well researched.

 

I'm interested in this season, so not too concerned about a possible Angels deal.

 

As for this season, a lefty DH does make sense, even one who doesn't come anywhere near Big Papi's numbers. Yoshida didn't miss many July games, and his July OPS was .898.

 

Moreover, I don't think Ref and O'Neill, both reasonably good righty bats with OPS's of .955 and 1.092 vs. lefty pitchers, missed too many opportunities vs lefties. That includes games in which a righty starter for the other team is replaced by a lefty reliever because both are available to pinch hit for Abreu, Yoshida, or even someone else.

 

I don't know the exact number, but my guess is that righty arms outnumber lefty arms in MLB by about 2-1 or maybe 3-1.

 

The Sox right now have 9 righties and 4 lefties. So do the Orioles. The Yankees are 10 to 3. Rays 9 to 4. Jays 10 to 3. Dodgers 10 to 3.

 

Mariners lead MLB with lowest ERA and have 11 righties to 2 lefties. 2d best ERA is the Braves with 9 to 4. 3d best Phillies have 8 to 5. Guardians have the 4th best team ERA with 11 righties and 2 lefties. So the top 4 team ERA's have 39 righties and 13 lefties, a 3-1 ratio.

[Old Red]

He didn't set the world on fire, but in 111 games he would have been the Sox best OFer last season by a country mile.

 

Yoshida will be a big time upgrade for this team.

 

Wow!

[Old Red]

Yes, they should have kept Renfroe. An OF or Yoshida, Kiké, Renfroe looks pretty good to me.

 

Wow again!

[mvp 78]

Wow!

 

At least I go out on a limb to make predictions. Still waiting for yours Mr. I'll Wait Until The Season To Tell You How I Feel.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Me, no doubt, at least from the point we realized he was a DH and Bloom had signed 2 DH's.

 

And none were named Schwarber!

[mvp 78]

And none were named Schwarber!

 

He was the perfect fit for this team and town.

[Duran Is The Man]

at least i go out on a limb to make predictions. Still waiting for yours mr. I'll wait until the season to tell you how i feel.

 

lol

[notin]

He was the perfect fit for this team and town.

 

It was really weird that the Cubs non-tendered him before the 2021 season…

[mvp 78]

It was really weird that the Cubs non-tendered him before the 2021 season…

 

"Listen, he's always going to be a Cubs legend," Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said of Schwarber. "There's no question about that, as he should be."

 

Those moments are etched into Cubs lore, but Schwarber projected to earn around $9-10 million via arbitration this offseason, so the non-tender helps create some flexibility, while also creating an opening in the outfield as the Cubs plot their offensive plans.

 

He struggled in 2020, but so did a lot of players. That season ended up being an outlier.

 

The Cubs corner OFers in '21 OPS'd 718 and 627.

[Old Red]

On 12/8/2022 at 8:43 AM, mvp 78 said:

 

He didn't set the world on fire, but in 111 games he would have been the Sox best OFer last season by a country mile.

 

Yoshida will be a big time upgrade for this team.

Wow how things have changed.

[Old Red]

On 12/8/2022 at 8:05 AM, Old Red said:

The Red Sox are spending more money on this unproven Major League player than the Phillies are on Schwarber a proven Major League power hitter. Who got the better deal DD, or Bloom? Does anyone remember Rudsney?

Could see this coming when it happened, and Bloom was so proud of this move.

[Bellhorn04]

9 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Could see this coming when it happened, and Bloom was so proud of this move.

It's been largely one long series of blunders with the MLB team since that moment in 2019 when Henry lost his marbles.

[notin]

41 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

It's been largely one long series of blunders with the MLB team since that moment in 2019 when Henry lost his marbles.

I think we can go back further to at least the end of the 2018 World Series.