Craig Breslow hired as Head Of Baseball Operations

[Hitch]

The price tag for Dylan Cease was just dumb. At least be reasonable about the guy you're trading.

 

I wonder if the White Sox still feel burned by the way the return for Sale went and are in never again mode.

[Hitch]

Pass. I wouldn't trade Rafaela straight up for him. Yorke? Sure.

 

Same. Yorke I'd pull that trigger all day.

[moonslav59]

https://985thesportshub.com/listicle/milliken-kyle-boddy-joins-red-sox-pitching-development-makeover/

 

If there’s been one clear message sent by the Red Sox in the last few months, it’s been that the organization’s pitching pipeline needed a makeover that would erase almost two decades of shortcomings. That started with the hiring of new CBO Craig Breslow, who was the face of the Cubs overhaul in pitching development over the last few seasons. Since being brought aboard, he has wasted no time beefing up the pitching infrastructure, with the likes of Andrew Bailey, Justin Willard, and now the founder of Driveline, Kyle Boddy, joining the mix.

 

Boddy, who will be serving as a Special Advisor to Breslow for the upcoming season, will be assisting in Research & Development on the pitching side of things. He’s become a titan in that space since Driveline was founded in 2007, bringing a data-driven approach to every aspect of training pitchers and hitters.

 

It’s clearly been a major success, as Boddy has left his mark on the sport in a big way while doing consultant work for a number of clubs and other professional sports leagues. He even took a full-time role with the Reds in October of 2019 as the director of pitching initiatives and pitching coordinator, with the goal of overhauling their minor league pitching development. There were other teams chasing him at the time, and while Boddy ended up leaving the organization after 2021 when his contract expired, it takes a quick look at the Reds rotation of promising young starters to see his impact.

 

During Boddy’s time with Reds, their minor-league arms went from the 6th-worst xERA to the 6th-best out of 30 organizations in just two years time. That played a big part in their farm system skyrocketing from 28 to 8 in Baseball America’s rankings.

 

There’s no denying that Boddy cracked the code for pitchers adding velocity, which was shown in a 2018 study by the American Sports Medicine Institute. It was led by former Red Sox athletic trainer and physical therapist Mike Reinold (fired after 2012), who cited that a weighted ball program could lead to a significant increase in how hard a pitcher throws (3.3% increase in this study of HS arms), but also resulted in a higher injury rate of 24%. What many get confused though is that Reinold wasn’t saying that the training itself was a problem, but how it was implemented.

 

Boddy didn’t deny those findings, but emphasized his training was not only about velocity but efficiency, which was why he believed his system was able to keep guys healthy through biomechanical analysis and proper rest. Reinold also included in his study that he used weighted ball programs himself in his own work with athletes. As pitching injuries continue to spike in baseball though, trying to throw hard has become a polarizing topic in the sport.

 

In recent years, Driveline employees have infiltrated baseball in a number of ways, even inside the Red Sox organization. Director of Hitting Development and Program Design, Jason Ochart, Roving Complex Hitting Coach, John Soteropulos, and Coordinator for Player Development, David Besky, were all hired by Chaim Bloom. In the last week, Breslow hired JP Fasone as the new hitting coach for the Greenville Drive.

 

Finally, some evidence that an attempt to improve our pitching pipeline has begun.

 

All I can say is, "What took them this long?"

 

This is one of the most encouraging things I've read about this club in years.

[Bellhorn04]

It's almost like they should have hired Breslow as Head of Pitching Ops instead of CBO (and paid him the same money). Because what happens if he does a great job as the former and a bad job as the latter?

[moonslav59]

I wonder if the White Sox still feel burned by the way the return for Sale went and are in never again mode.

 

I don't think teams hold grudges over their past mistakes. Maybe they learned from their mistakes on Moncada and Kopech, but I doubt they blame a team.

 

I do not think Yorke is worth the 13 value BTV gives him, and I doubt any GM does.

 

He'd likely be a nice throw-in to a deal, and not needing t be on the 40 is a plus.

 

Being a secondary target begs the question, "Who is the primary guy?"

 

Let's say most GMs value Yorke between 6-10, and we don't want to part with a top 3 prospect. We aren't going to get a projected #1-2 SP'er. It's doubtful we can get a #3, unless we package 3-4 mid level guys.

 

Some teams likely want Rafaela, but I'd hesitate on trading him. We have to give to get, and I don't see us trading Duran and Rafaela, even if we sign Duvall.

 

Maybe Duran or Rafaela plus Yorke and a promising A+ prospect.

Maybe Houck + Yorke + Wikelman or Peralez for a #3-4 SP.

 

If MIA needed a 2Bman, trading Yorke plus 2 prospects between 10-25 would be good, for us, but they don't need Yorke. (3 teamer?)

 

Giving up someone like Houck + Yorke and a3rd tier prospect(s) better work, as the guy we get back has to be a better bet than Houck, who could be a good SP'er, as is.

 

I can see why many are hesitant to trade Duran. If he can play like 2023 for a full season, he's a very nice piece to the line-up. He can probably be an average LF'er in 2024 on D.

 

[mvp 78]

I wonder if the White Sox still feel burned by the way the return for Sale went and are in never again mode.

 

If that's the case, they are doing their org a disservice.

[mvp 78]

Finally, some evidence that an attempt to improve our pitching pipeline has begun.

 

All I can say is, "What took them this long?"

 

This is one of the most encouraging things I've read about this club in years.

 

Finally? It began when they hired Breslow, Bailey and Willard.

[moonslav59]

Finally? It began when they hired Breslow, Bailey and Willard.

 

Yes, "finally." They just hired these guys, after we've known about this problem for over 10+ years.

 

I was hoping Bloom would bring some people in.

[notin]

It's almost like they should have hired Breslow as Head of Pitching Ops instead of CBO (and paid him the same money). Because what happens if he does a great job as the former and a bad job as the latter?

 

We’ll have lots of quality trade bait?

[moonslav59]

It will be interesting to see if they draft more pitchers than we have been, recently. (I hope we continue drafting the best available player, pitcher or not.)

 

This year's IFA signings does not show a shift towards signing more pictures than in the past. We did sign Dalvinson Reyes to the 3rd highest bonus (tied), but he's the only pitcher with a bonus higher than $175K. (3 of the top 17 signing bonuses were to pitchers.

 

[jad]

Brslow: "The timing didn’t work in our favor thus far but, again, I think it’s worth reiterating that I wouldn’t say this is predictive or indicative of how we intend to operate going forward."

 

Good God. WTF does this even mean? "It is worth repeating thaat I would not say that ..."

 

It sounds like the kind of sentence one had to construe in order to pass a language exam. Or maybe in a Latin grammarbook on the sequence of tenses.

[redsoxrules]

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/01/kennedy-red-sox-not-likely-to-match-last-years-payroll.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

[Hugh2]

It will be interesting to see if they draft more pitchers than we have been, recently. (I hope we continue drafting the best available player, pitcher or not.)

 

This year's IFA signings does not show a shift towards signing more pictures than in the past. We did sign Dalvinson Reyes to the 3rd highest bonus (tied), but he's the only pitcher with a bonus higher than $175K. (3 of the top 17 signing bonuses were to pitchers.

 

 

I think they will, but I will predict that are still going to draft an up the middle position player

with their first pick.

[Hugh2]

If that's the case, they are doing their org a disservice.

 

John Henry is still feeling heart broken from the David Price contract. Just when he thought he could love again Chris Sale broke his heart.

 

Now, he may never dance again.

[Hugh2]

Is anyone else having an issue with their comments being deleted when they go to edit a comment?

[redsoxrules]

Is anyone else having an issue with their comments being deleted when they go to edit a comment?

 

Yeah it doesn't work for me. I can't edit a comment as it just ends up deleting the whole thing. It only works on the desktop version for me

[Hugh2]

Yeah it doesn't work for me. I can't edit a comment as it just ends up deleting the whole thing. It only works on the desktop version for me

 

Same.

 

It’s a double whammy, because fat fingers and mobile devices make it a lot easier to make spelling and grammatical errors. Which is whatever, except I’d at least like my point (when I have a good one) to be expressed clearly.

[notin]

Is anyone else having an issue with their comments being deleted when they go to edit a comment?

 

All the tome.

 

 

(And I can’t go back and fix this one either.)

[mvp 78]

Is anyone else having an issue with their comments being deleted when they go to edit a comment?

 

Yes, happens a lot recently.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Brez from Winter Weekend, when TC asked if there's still a chance for a trade: "It's my responsibility to force that opportunity..."

[moonslav59]

Brez from Winter Weekend, when TC asked if there's still a chance for a trade: "It's my responsibility to force that opportunity..."

 

Sounds like the FO pushes back on some.

 

I like the trades he has made so far.

[Dipre]

Yeah it doesn't work for me. I can't edit a comment as it just ends up deleting the whole thing. It only works on the desktop version for me

 

Same 'ere

[moonslav59]

Same 'ere

 

I will say, this was happening before Brez was hired.

 

[jad]

Have to say, it's a lot more interesting listening to discussions of editing posts on iPhones than to what the FO is doing.

[Dipre]

Have to say, it's a lot more interesting listening to discussions of editing posts on iPhones than to what the FO is doing.

 

I mean, it's a discussion about something. The FO is doing nothing, so yeah.

[Bellhorn04]

Giolito - instantly flushed down toilet.

Grissom - injured.

Sale - looking good so far.

[Randy Red Sox]

Giolito - instantly flushed down toilet.

Grissom - injured.

Sale - looking good so far.

 

hey the good news is that Giolito will not opt now so we have him for 2 years

[moonslav59]

Giolito - instantly flushed down toilet.

Grissom - injured.

Sale - looking good so far.

 

Giolito - instantly flushed down toilet. ...and no plunger available!

Grissom - injured. Not worried about this.

Sale - looking good so far. Famous last words.

[notin]

Giolito - instantly flushed down toilet. ...and no plunger available!

Grissom - injured. Not worried about this.

Sale - looking good so far. Famous last words.

 

It is amazing how suddenly Sale’s injury-prone image is what’s been flushed down the toilet. For multiple seasons here, it was “you can’t count on Sale”. But now, as he has managed to throw all of 4.2 innings without getting hurt, he’s clearly back and in pre-injury form…

[notin]

hey the good news is that Giolito will not opt now so we have him for 2 years

 

More likely less than 1.5.

 

 

But at some point the Sox can add Giolito, Hendricks, and Mata (?) to the 60 day IL, which would open up 3 spots on the 40 man roster. (Not sure why Hendricks hasn’t been added already.)

 

I assume CJ Cron gets one of these spots. But that does leave two open. The Sox are going to fill them…