mvp 78

@AdamMcCalvy The Brewers have signed righty Robert Stock to a Minor League contract with an invitation to big-league camp. He pitched in South Korea last year after appearing in the Majors for the Padres, Red Sox, Cubs and Mets from 2018-21. The only good 2020 reliever.

The combination of trading their best MLB players and development.

Don't stare too hard.

Quite a fall for that guy.

IDK, I guess I'm just not a long term Springs believer. We'll have to see how it goes. Seems like Rays get guys to pop for a year or two then they fall off the map. I think Springs won't be worth the 10M when the contract reaches that amount.

https://www.milb.com/player/skylar-arias-670404 The Red Sox signed left-hander Skylar Arias to a minor-league contract for the 2023 season, per the club’s transaction’s log. He will be assigned to Double-A Portland and he awaits his spring training date assignment. Arias comes to organization drawing comparisons to another big time left-hander in Chris Sale. While playing at Tallahassee Community College, his coaches compared his delivery to that of Sale’s. “I think it’s pretty cool. To be compared to someone who’s had success at the highest level for such a long time,” said Arias. “That’s kind of been my comparison for awhile now. I don’t see it but maybe the arm slot and we both throw weird.” The new Red Sox minor leaguer offers a three pitches in his repertoire, a low-90s fastball, low 80s slider and low-to-mid 80s changeup according to Baseball America. “He has an unusual four-seam fastball that’s heavy with side spin, but lacks hop, moving almost like a sinker from a flat vertical approach angle. This allows the pitch to play above his below-average velocity. “His slider is far and away his go-to swing-and-miss offering, with a whiff rate above 50 percent despite accounting for a quarter of his usage. From a shape perspective his changeup may be his most intriguing pitch. It sits 82 mph with average velocity separation from his fastball. He does an excellent job of killing the lift on the pitch, which gives it plenty of tumble. It also has hellacious run,” wrote Baseball America back in December 2021. Arias comes to his third organization after spending parts of seven seasons in Cleveland and the White Sox system. The Florida native is excited about his new opportunity with the Red Sox organization and is prepping for spring training. “Right now I’m still waiting on a report date to spring training. The offseason has been going very well and I’m ready to get going with an awesome organization,” said Arias. “This game can be very challenging and you have to learn to enjoy the ups and downs and learn from it. I’m very excited to meet my new teammates and coaching staff.”

Seems like a fair compromise to me!

He's getting in soon. Just a matter of time.

Springs is 32.8 even with the new deal?

I have a sneaking suspicion that Adalberto will be a favorite of my kids if he ever healthy as his name sounds an awful lot like "Alaberto" which is how my daughter used to incorrectly pronounce one of her favorite restaurants when she was younger. However, there's a good chance my kids will never see him on the tv.

I agree on all accounts. Rose has done his time and should be in.

But still earned a hold. It was Paplebon that lost it by giving up 3 in the next inning.

We knew he was injured because he went on the 15 day IL with hip inflammation and it was reported that it happened while he was working out. It was first mentioned in June that he had "hip tightness" and he quickly went on the IL. They reduced his workload dramatically. The surgery he had in September was on the same hip. How was it a different injury?

I can't believe they babied him last year by injuring him.

He had direct first hand knowledge of the prospect and first hand knowledge of Springs and Mazza. Bloom had the upper hand in the trade and seemed to blow it.

I disagree that Andriese is a bad move. Garrett Whitlock, Boston Red Sox “The [changeup] I throw now, I started messing around with during Tommy John recovery. I had my fastball and slider, and I knew that I was going to need the third pitch if I was going to still be a starter. Obviously, this was before coming to the Red Sox. When I got to spring training, Matt Andriese helped me a lot with it — things like how to throw it and how to really use it in counts. “I’d had a changeup before, but it was never really that good. It was always too hard. Then I saw the video of Pedro Martinez talking to Dan Plesac about why his changeup had been too hard: he’d been using two dominant fingers to throw it. So he slid the ball over a little bit, and used two non-dominant fingers. That kind of deadened it a little bit, so during TJ rehab, that’s what I did. I moved it over to my ring finger and my pinky. Then I played catch with it every day and developed a feel for it. “[Andriese] said that pretty much everyone will tell you, ‘Throw it the same way as your fastball, throw it the same way as your fastball,’ but that’s not really how he visualizes it. He visualizes it as like, ‘Throw it like a well-completed pitch, but always focus on pronation.’ He said to focus on making sure you get the ring finger through the ball, to really get that spin you’re looking for. That’s kind of what I focus on, making sure I’m getting that ring finger through the ball. Everyone naturally pronates, so as long as your hand is on top, you’re going to naturally pronate through the ball. “I’m looking for more of that three o’clock, nine o’clock — that sideways spin — but I have no idea what the spin rate is on it. I’m just trying to miss barrels. I’ll go to our analytics guys to see how it grades out, and they tell me that the grades are good, so as long as they’re happy with it, and it’s getting outs… that’s all I’m worried about.” Without Andriese, Whitlock may not have a changeup.

For 4M? It's a good gamble. Last year's $$$ is just a sunk cost.

Seen people mention Chafin. Sheffield's low k rate doesn't seem all that enticing as a reliever.

Whitlock is coming off an injury plagued season and hasn't been a fulltime starting pitcher in a while. His most ever IP is 120 back in 2018 and hasn't thrown 80 since. Bello threw 150+ last season. My guess is Whitlock is on an innings limit this year more so than Bello.

Perez seems to be a good defensive first catcher. Probably the ideal 3rd catcher on the depth chart. Good pop times and framing.

@ChrisCotillo Red Sox are still considering catching additions and are in talks with free agent Roberto Perez, a source says. Perez was limited to 21 games in PIT last year after 8 years in Cleveland. Sox have Reese McGuire, Connor Wong, Jorge Alfaro in the mix already.

Bloom has made some really bad and/or weird decisions with the roster. I support the direction of the team, but the moves have been not good. If this year leaves us with the same amount of hope as last season, he needs to pack his bags. He's very replaceable and they can continue to stay the course on building the farm and just not having a nitwit at the top. I've listed the dumb things Bloom has done, I don't think Springs is in the top 10. However, it was weird that they dumped Springs and Mazza at the time. Springs had some ups and downs in 2020, but NESN talked him up as a late inning reliever throughout 2020. The Sox liked his k rate and some of his spin rates. The underlying metrics were decent. While he had a 7.08 ERA, his xFIP was 3.70. There were lots of signs that he'd be better in the future. Mazza was relatively reliable in 2020 as a backend starter and the bottom of the 40 man roster was pathetic enough that there were far worse players that could have been DFA'd. Ronaldo Hernandez hasn't been very good since coming over in the deal and the guys they could have cleared from the 40 man at the time included Ryan Weber, Austin Brice and Colten Brewer. Sometimes you just need to trust the original evaluation?

The longer what goes on? Springs was traded years ago and nobody really gave a s*** then. Nobody really batted an eye in 2021. It wasn't until 2022 that posters started complaining about it.

https://www.eagletribune.com/sports/the-next-robinson-cano-red-sox-prospect-valdez-boasts-similar-profile-as-his-idol/article_8b20aaa2-9bf4-11ed-8d0d-17ea55a8902d.html “I believe I’m ready,” Valdez said through a translator. “Whether it’s up the middle or in the outfield, regardless of where it is I want to impact the game and pay off for the organization.” Originally signed by the Houston Astros as an international free agent in 2016, Valdez broke out following the pandemic as one of the most formidable hitters in the Astros organization. He’s posted back-to-back seasons with more than 26 home runs, 90 RBI and an .860 OPS in the minors, and last year he set career highs with 28 homers, 107 RBI and a .918 OPS while spending two thirds of the season at Triple-A. “Last year in the short stint in Worcester we saw a guy who can play a bunch of different positions, drive the ball to all fields, really exciting bat speed, power, a guy who can impact the baseball and impact the game,” said Red Sox director of player development Brian Abraham. “Someone who is an exciting player that can do a bunch of different things throughout the game.” The knock on Valdez is that he doesn’t really have a defensive position. He was originally signed as a second baseman but has been used all over the field as the Astros and Red Sox have tried to find his best long-term home. He also hits righties much better than lefties, which could limit him to a platoon role if that doesn’t improve. “Consistency at the plate, putting the bat on the ball, putting the ball in play, because when he impacts the baseball he hits the ball hard,” Abraham said. “Being able to do that on an every day basis, that’s what big leaguers do. When he’s able to get to that point I know he’ll be ready for that call, but still some work to do but I know he’s excited for it.” Valdez will likely start the season at Triple-A, but given Christian Arroyo and Mondesi’s extensive injury histories there is a good bet he’ll get an opportunity at some point. Knowing that, Valdez says he’s spent the offseason working on the holes in his game so that when the time comes he’ll be ready to take full advantage of his shot. “I want to be a complete player. Whether it’s on defense, running the bases, whatever ways I can help impact the game,” Valdez said. “Hopefully, god willing, the fruits of my hard work will pay off when I reach Fenway next year.”

Klubs +30 INN