Article: Red Sox Bolster Depth With Seby Zavala and Nate Eaton

[Davy Andrews]

Stop the presses! The Red Sox handed out minor-league contracts to two useful depth pieces.

Last week, the Red Sox made a couple of minor-league deals, and in our haste to break down the thousand or so swirling rumors about potential trades and free agent signings, we neglected to cover what really matters: Seby Zavala. The Red Sox added the 31-year-old catcher, along with utilityman Nate Eaton. The two moves make a lot of sense for a Red Sox team with an extremely strong core but some real holes in the lineup. Let’s start at catcher.

At the moment, Connor Wong and Mickey Gasper are the only catchers on the 40-man roster. Wong will almost certainly be catching about half the time in 2025. Gasper will not. The 29-year-old Gasper made his major-league debut in 2024, but he only played first and second in Boston. He’s struggled with injuries, and he might not even be a catcher anymore. He spent most of his time at DH in 2024. All of this to say that he probably won’t affect the catcher role much. (On the other hand, it's at least worth noting that he absolutely raked in the minors, running a .970 OPS with 12 homers over 92 double-A and triple-A games with a solid 90-mph average exit velocity and 42.7% hard-hit rate to boot.)

That meant that the Red Sox went into the offseason with a dire need to sign a catcher in free agency, and even they did so, the need for at least one backup. Enter Zavala. He’s not going to slot into the lineup, but he’s an excellent option for a third catcher. Zavala has a sterling defensive reputation, along with the numbers to back it up. Since his debut in 2019, 83 different players have caught at least 1,000 innings. On a per-inning basis, Zavala ranks 15th according to Statcast’s Fielding Run Values and ninth according to FanGraphs’ Defensive Runs Above Average.

Now for the bad stuff. Zavala has a career 70 wRC+, which means that he’s been 30% below the league average as a hitter. That’s awfully low, even for a catcher, as catchers ran a combined 91 wRC+ last season. However, Zavala has also never really played for an organization known for helping hitters become their best selves. He came up with the White Sox, with whom he played in parts of four seasons, played seven games with the Diamondbacks in 2023 after the team picked him up on waivers, then got sent to Seattle in the Eugenio Suárez trade before the 2024 season. Zavala is no longer young, and he runs gargantuan chase, whiff, and strikeout rates. He’s almost certainly never going to be a good hitter, but getting him into an organization that has had real success grooming hitters certainly won’t hurt. And whether or not he starts hitting, the glove will make him a valuable safety valve for the big club while helping with the development of younger pitchers in triple-A.

Nate Eaton is a 27-year-old who has until now spent his entire career with the Royals. He’s likely to serve a 27th-man role, filling in as a utility player when someone gets hurt. Eaton played third base and all three outfield roles during his 72 career games with the Royals, as well as some second base and shortstop in the minors. That versatility helps, but it’s not going to erase the fact that he has a career 51 wRC+. He spent the entire 2023 season at triple-A Omaha. His raw numbers .738 OPS looks nice, but when you account for the friendly hitting environment of the International League, that only translates to a wRC+ of 87. In all, Eaton should be a serviceable fill-in, and having that kind of depth can help keep a contending team afloat during a rough injury spell. Eaton also has excellent speed to go with quite possible the strongest arm of any position player in baseball. He pitched one delightful inning with the Royals during the 2023 season, and I wrote about it here. Eaton is a perfectly reasonable depth move, but we should all be rooting for the Red Sox to try to turn them into their next great pitching prospect.

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[moonslav59]

It never hurts to have depth. Maybe they can prolong leaving some of our top prospects, like Meidroth, off the 40, a bit longer.

[Larry Cook]

9 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

It never hurts to have depth. Maybe they can prolong leaving some of our top prospects, like Meidroth, off the 40, a bit longer.

Some depth in the bullpen might be more helpful 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Larry Cook said:

Some depth in the bullpen might be more helpful 

If we add Scott & Holmes, our pen depth will be very nice.

Scott

Holmes

Slaten

Whitlock

Hendriks

Guerrero

Guerrero

Winckowski

Fitts, Criswell, Priester, Dobbins

Wilson, Fulmer, Bernardino, Kelly, Penrod

Booser, Weissert, Mata, Campbell

Shugart, Mills, Kwiatkowski, Gambrell, Drohan, Wikelman

Hoppe, Troye, Sandlin, I Coffey

We have tons of depth: we just need top RP'ers!

 

🤔

[Larry Cook]

18 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

If we add Scott & Holmes, our pen depth will be very nice.

Scott

Holmes

Slaten

Whitlock

Hendriks

Guerrero

Guerrero

Winckowski

Fitts, Criswell, Priester, Dobbins

Wilson, Fulmer, Bernardino, Kelly, Penrod

Booser, Weissert, Mata, Campbell

Shugart, Mills, Kwiatkowski, Gambrell, Drohan, Wikelman

Hoppe, Troye, Sandlin, I Coffey

We have tons of depth: we just need top RP'ers!

 

🤔

Yes, my bad, I should have said quality depth 

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, Larry Cook said:

Yes, my bad, I should have said quality depth 

I think our #9-18 pen depth may be better than most teams. If we add 2 solid pen arms, thereby pushing others down 2 slots, our 9-18 would look top 8-10, to me.

Our issue is our top 2-3 pen arms.

[mvp 78]

On 11/27/2024 at 8:53 PM, Larry Cook said:

Some depth in the bullpen might be more helpful 

I'm sure this will be addressed multiple times this offseason. I would say that Penrod, Booser, Weissert, Campbell, Mills, Kelly and Mata all potentially starting in AAA provides a ton of depth they usually don't have at relief. Maybe even Wikelman is pushed to the pen and really starts to shove? If they add one really great reliever and two solid guys, it's a very strong bullpen.

[Larry Cook]

Two quality bullpen arms would enhance our bullpen tremendously. 
but one has to be a lefty and the other a righty 
Helsey would be a great addition from the right side. 
 

[Hugh2]

19 hours ago, Larry Cook said:

Yes, my bad, I should have said quality depth 

Good clarification, I'm with you there.  I actually think the pitching depth in AAA is shaping up to look pretty good next year.  What the Sox lack is high end MLB talent.  They can use a handful of pitchers, in the rotation and in the bullpen. 

[Larry Cook]

8 hours ago, Hugh2 said:

Good clarification, I'm with you there.  I actually think the pitching depth in AAA is shaping up to look pretty good next year.  What the Sox lack is high end MLB talent.  They can use a handful of pitchers, in the rotation and in the bullpen. 

I think we need a number 1 and a number 2 for the rotation and two quality relievers. One lefty and one righty 

[moonslav59]

13 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

I'm sure this will be addressed multiple times this offseason. I would say that Penrod, Booser, Weissert, Campbell, Mills, Kelly and Mata all potentially starting in AAA provides a ton of depth they usually don't have at relief. Maybe even Wikelman is pushed to the pen and really starts to shove? If they add one really great reliever and two solid guys, it's a very strong bullpen.

This is a point I have been making, too.  Even if we add no RP'ers, this winter, which would be malpractice, our depth beyond the 8 on the big club is decent to maybe above league average. For once, pen depth looks to not be an issue.  Top pen quality is.

If we add two from Scott, Hoffman, Holmes and Esteves, I'd then say our pen depth might rate top 10 in MLB, maybe higher.

Scott & Holmes would be  a solid 1-2 punch.

Slaten, Whitlock & Hendriks are fine 7th and 8th inning options.

(If we add 2 SP'ers, as well, we can plug Crawford into the long man role)

Criswell, Fitts, Winckowski can be the 2-3 inning guys in close games (1-2 will be in AAA.)

Wilson or Bernardino will be the lefty

Guerrero, Fulmer, Penrod, Kelly, Weissert, I Campbell, Mata, Booser, Shugart or AAA SP'ers like Dobbins, Fitts, Criswell or Priester could also fill a pen role, if we get this deep.

I count 21 names, here for 8 slots.

Maybe 3-4 are long shots and 3-4 will stay as SP'ers, but that should still come to 16 for 8 slots.

 

[Larry Cook]

10 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

This is a point I have been making, too.  Even if we add no RP'ers, this winter, which would be malpractice, our depth beyond the 8 on the big club is decent to maybe above league average. For once, pen depth looks to not be an issue.  Top pen quality is.

If we add two from Scott, Hoffman, Holmes and Esteves, I'd then say our pen depth might rate top 10 in MLB, maybe higher.

Scott & Holmes would be  a solid 1-2 punch.

Slaten, Whitlock & Hendriks are fine 7th and 8th inning options.

(If we add 2 SP'ers, as well, we can plug Crawford into the long man role)

Criswell, Fitts, Winckowski can be the 2-3 inning guys in close games (1-2 will be in AAA.)

Wilson or Bernardino will be the lefty

Guerrero, Fulmer, Penrod, Kelly, Weissert, I Campbell, Mata, Booser, Shugart or AAA SP'ers like Dobbins, Fitts, Criswell or Priester could also fill a pen role, if we get this deep.

I count 21 names, here for 8 slots.

Maybe 3-4 are long shots and 3-4 will stay as SP'ers, but that should still come to 16 for 8 slots.

 

Of the 21, all but scott, Hendricks, Holmes, slaten and Whitlock are fringe type pitchers that teams try to upgrade 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

1 hour ago, Larry Cook said:

Of the 21, all but scott, Hendricks, Holmes, slaten and Whitlock are fringe type pitchers that teams try to upgrade 

Ya, when your bullpen loses two guys who were the main men in the 8th and 9th innings, that doesn't leave any kind of quality depth for the relief corps (and no, I didn't accidentally leave off the "e"...).

But lost in all the hype among Hall of Famer hitter and Game One starters is the key to most champions' postseasons... pop culture hint: their dog is white with a 101 black spots.

[FredLynn]

On 11/28/2024 at 2:04 PM, Larry Cook said:

Yes, my bad, I should have said quality depth 

What are you worried about? We just added Zavala and Eaton!!! Our season looks so much brighter now! 🙄

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, Larry Cook said:

Of the 21, all but scott, Hendricks, Holmes, slaten and Whitlock are fringe type pitchers that teams try to upgrade 

You make a good point. None of those listed, outside the top 5 look to be high leverage RP'ers, but as pen depth or low to moderate leverage RP'ers, having 16 decent or promising guys to fill 3 slots is the definition of depth. As with the vast majority of RP'ers in MLB, they are largely hit or miss. Of course, it's better to have 8 guys you can count on in moderate to high leverage situations, and then have another 5-7 like those on my list, but I do see some serious hopes in over 3 of the remaining 16.

Winckowski: He is one of only 165 pitchers in MLB with over 150 IP from 2023. He places 27th in ERA-, a stat I have always valued pretty highly. He is much lower in other stats, but does have a 3.98 SIERA. He could be a decent 2-3 IP guy in our pen.

Guerrero: He is listed above Hendriks on soxprospects.com, and his value is almost all speculative. They say, " He has some of the best raw stuff of any relief arm in the system."

Penrod: I have not been as high on him as others, but he throws hard and could do well.

Bernardino was looking like the gem in the rough we hoped Bloom would have found more of. He throws lefty and had a very nice 2023 season for us. (3.20 ERA in 51 IP. He had a .708 OPSA and was great on the road (.557.) This year, his H/A splits flipped (.939 away and .600 home.) In his first 30 IP of 2024, he had a 1.19 ERA and .564 OPSA. Those first 80 IP with the Sox were close to great. His last 21 IP seems to have taken away all the hope: 8.27 ERA and .971 OPSA.

Justin Wilson (LHP) and Michael Fulmer both have histories of being really good, but they both have struggled or been hurt, lately. Fulmer might have the better shot at looking good in '25.

Zach Kelly showed some signs of looking good, but had BB issues.

Booser was likely a flash in the pan.

To me, I think one of these guys has a good chance at being pretty good in '25: I Campbell, Weissert or Mata, but here is where we might have the best chance at finding a very good 6th man in the pen: If we add 2 SP'ers, it would be Crawford or Bello. If not, it could be Criswell, Fitts, Priester or Dobbins out of the AAA rotation. Hell, we could rob two from there.

It might take some trial and error, and I'm not sure we can afford too many errors, before we settle on the 6-8th slot pen guys, but I think that won't be an issue. However, this assumes we add 2 quality pen arms or one plus two SP'ers, and relatively good health for the whole staff.

Adding 2 quality SP'ers and 2 of the top 4 pen arms plus another good pen arm would be ideal, but if we sign Soto, I'm not sure how much will be left to spend on 4-5 quality arms. (We could trade for 1 or two, and probably would.)

[Larry Cook]

I imagine our baseball analytics department has profiles on all pitchers (pro and minor leagues) it will be interesting to see who bres-slow targets this offseason for the bullpen. 
his first signing was a bit of a head scratcher