Article: Red Sox Stay Busy, Get Lefty Jovani Morán for Mickey Gasper

[Nick John]

'Twas the night before Christmas, and Craig Breslow was busy acquiring yet another pitcher who recently had Tommy John surgery.

It may be the holidays but the Red Sox are staying busy. On Christmas Eve, a day after signing Walker Buehler to a one-year, $21-million contract and the same day that the Patrick Sandoval signing became official, the Sox made a move to bring in more pitching depth. Mickey Gasper is headed off to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for 27-year-old lefty Jovani Morán. The move, which opens a 40-man roster spot for the Red Sox, sees the team move on from catcher/first baseman Mickey Gasper.

A New England native, Gasper was a feel-good story after the Sox picked him in the minor league Rule 5 draft from the Yankees. He started the season in Double-A Portland and made it all the way up to Boston for a cup of coffee. During his time in Portland and Worcester, Gasper played in 92 games, slashing an outstanding .328/.440/.531 with 12 home runs and 58 RBI. The switch hitter appeared in 13 games for the Red Sox, but he went 0-for-18 with four walks, including one in his first big league at-bat. With the signing of Buehler, it was only a matter of time before the Red Sox made a corresponding move to clear up a spot on the 40-man roster, and Gasper was the odd man out.

Morán appeared in 79 games for the Twins across three seasons, but he missed the entire 2024 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in November 2023. Yes, the Red Sox have acquired yet another player who is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, making it clear that this is very much a trend. In 2022, he made 31 relief appearances and ran a sublime 2.21 ERA and 1.78 FIP. However, in 2023, he made 43 relief appearances with a 5.31 ERA in 42 1/3 innings pitched and got sent down to Triple A in August. He doesn't throw particularly hard, even for a lefty, and he walks far too many batters, largely because he doesn't earn enough chases. However, if you look under the hood, it's not hard to see why the Red Sox are interested in him.

Morán had a 3.82 FIP in 2023, meaning that he likely faced some very bad batted ball luck. He also ran an absurdly high 37% whiff rate and an absurdly low 27.5% hard-hit rate. With his potent swing-and-miss stuff, the ability to either hit the zone more often or figure out a way to tempt batters outside the strike zone would allow Morán to cut down on the walks and improve upon what he does best: missing bas and inducing weak contact. Over his career, he has 123 strikeouts and just three home runs in 91 innings.

Morán should be ready early into the 2025 season. He’ll look to be relief depth for the Red Sox though will start the season behind the likes of Aroldis Chapman, Justin Wilson, Brennan Bernardino and Chris Murphy on the depth chart. Following the trade, the Red Sox 40-man roster now sits at 39 players, as the team has yet to officially announce the Buehler signing.

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[smokedogg1982]

I think Craig did a great job getting something for nothing with this trade. I assumed Gasper would be dfa'd to make room for Beuhler. Legend has it Gasper's parents are still sitting in Fenway Park waiting for him to get that first hit.

[Bellhorn04]

2 hours ago, smokedogg1982 said:

I think Craig did a great job getting something for nothing with this trade. I assumed Gasper would be dfa'd to make room for Beuhler. Legend has it Gasper's parents are still sitting in Fenway Park waiting for him to get that first hit.

And after posting an OPS of 1.062 for Worcester.  Tough game. 

[Larry Cook]

Fulmer, Campbell, adams, mills, mata, and now moran!  none on the 40 man roster!  Seems bres-slow sees a need for depth in the bullpen in 2025! 

[Bellhorn04]

Just now, Larry Cook said:

Fulmer, Campbell, adams, mills, mata, and now moran!  none on the 40 man roster!  Seems bres-slow sees a need for depth in the bullpen in 2025! 

Can't say he isn't stocking up on bodies that pitch...

[moonslav59]

30 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

Fulmer, Campbell, adams, mills, mata, and now moran!  none on the 40 man roster!  Seems bres-slow sees a need for depth in the bullpen in 2025! 

As long as they don't take up a 40 man roster slot, I'm fine with signing these guys that overlap, so that every year, one or two get healthy enough to make a run at joining the 40. The good thing is, we don't add the guy to the 40, until we need him on the 26.

A guy like Sandoval, Hendriks and Paxton need or needed a 40 man slot. We can't/couldn't add them to the 60 Day IL, until the season starts, so they kind of create a brief, yet significant roster crunch situation.

Wow, what a list of TJS pitchers!

[notin]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

As long as they don't take up a 40 man roster slot, I'm fine with signing these guys that overlap, so that every year, one or two get healthy enough to make a run at joining the 40. The good thing is, we don't add the guy to the 40, until we need him on the 26.

A guy like Sandoval, Hendriks and Paxton need or needed a 40 man slot. We can't/couldn't add them to the 60 Day IL, until the season starts, so they kind of create a brief, yet significant roster crunch situation.

Wow, what a list of TJS pitchers!

The 40 man slot occupied by Sandoval may already be filled.  Once he’s eligible to move to h to he 60 day IL, someone like Morán, Fulmer or Adam’s probably gets added in his place…

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, notin said:

The 40 man slot occupied by Sandoval may already be filled.  Once he’s eligible to move to h to he 60 day IL, someone like Morán, Fulmer or Adam’s probably gets added in his place…

Isn't Moran out until next year?

We may add Campbell or Anthony after opening day and the 60 Day IL addition(s.)

[mvp 78]

18 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

As long as they don't take up a 40 man roster slot, I'm fine with signing these guys that overlap, so that every year, one or two get healthy enough to make a run at joining the 40. The good thing is, we don't add the guy to the 40, until we need him on the 26.

A guy like Sandoval, Hendriks and Paxton need or needed a 40 man slot. We can't/couldn't add them to the 60 Day IL, until the season starts, so they kind of create a brief, yet significant roster crunch situation.

Wow, what a list of TJS pitchers!

We all saw how the bullpen fared down the stretch last season. Maybe the additional arms can help fix that? 

[moonslav59]

6 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

We all saw how the bullpen fared down the stretch last season. Maybe the additional arms can help fix that? 

More arms can't hurt, especially if they hold some promise.

I'm actually more than okay with our 9-18 pen arms and okay with our 6-9 rotation depth. We've spent a while building up our roster depth from the bottom and into the farm. I felt like this was the winter to build quality at the top of the rotation and the pen. Moving everyone down a notch would further strengthen the middle and bottom of the depth charts.

Crochet was a necessary addition and did just that. Houck is now our #2, and Bello, Gio and Crawford look better in the 3-5 slots than 2-4. Criswell, Fitts, Priester, Fulmer and Dobbins look like better 6-10 starter depth than we've had in a long time. Some have big questions, but 2-3 should be fine, this year.

I don't view Chapman or Hendriks as a closer, so we still need that slot filled, this winter, but at least they were not additions to upgrade our 7 & 8 slots, like Wilson was. They should slot in the 2-4 rang,e nicely, along with Slaten and Whitlock. I don't like these 4 as 1-4's, but they are not awful. Maybe one can step up and be a decent closer. My hope is we get a great one. After our top 4, it gets a little dicey, but we do have the numbers. I just hope we don't have to cycle through 10 guys to settle on a working 5-8.

Right now, it looks like the 5-8 slots might start with Guerrero, Winckowski, Wilson and maybe Adams or Bernardino. The AAA depth looks decent, to me:

Penrod, Kelly, Weissert, I Campbell, Bernardino, Mata, Mills & Shugart

Some AA depth (Sandlin, Early, Wehunt, Hoppe, troye) could rise quickly, or a minor league SP'er could fill a pen slot, well.

If we added a Scott, Hoffman or Helsley, I'd really like our pen and its depth.

 

[mvp 78]

54 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I don't view Chapman or Hendriks as a closer, so we still need that slot filled, this winter, but at least they were not additions to upgrade our 7 & 8 slots, like Wilson was. They should slot in the 2-4 rang,e nicely, along with Slaten and Whitlock. I don't like these 4 as 1-4's, but they are not awful. Maybe one can step up and be a decent closer. My hope is we get a great one. After our top 4, it gets a little dicey, but we do have the numbers. I just hope we don't have to cycle through 10 guys to settle on a working 5-8.

Would be very surprised if they acquired a closer this offseason. I think they may get some more arms, but the closer is probably already on the staff. 

[moonslav59]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Would be very surprised if they acquired a closer this offseason. I think they may get some more arms, but the closer is probably already on the staff. 

I'll be shocked, if we do. I am pretty certain they think Hendriks and Chapman can both fill the role. I like Slaten and a healthy Whitlock as our 8th inning men, and maybe one could eventually be a decent closer, but IMO, if we got an excellent closer, these 4 would be a very nice set-up crew for the 7th, 8th and 9th innings.