Center fielder Roemon Fields went undrafted out of college and spent the summer of 2013 working in a mall and delivering mail, but a former coach’s invitation to play in the World Baseball Challenge led to him being signed by the Blue Jays, Shi Davidi writes for Baseball America (subscription-only). Roemon’s brother Anthony urged him to play. “He kept telling me, ’Just go,’ and I kept telling him, ’I think I’m done with baseball. I gave it a try in college,'” says Fields. “I hadn’t hit in months, hadn’t thrown, went out there and I guess played pretty good.” Now that Fields is in the Jays’ system, it’s unclear whether he’s a prospect, but if he does get to the big leagues, it will probably be due in large part to his speed — he stole a remarkable 48 bases in 328 plate appearances in short-season Vancouver last year, leading the Jays to promote him all the way up to Class A+ Dunedin this season. Here’s more from around the American League.
- GM Ben Cherington says the Red Sox want to draft and develop more players like the versatile and effective Brock Holt, Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald writes. “There are guys who are good players and talented but have a harder time staying productive if they’re moving around in the field a lot and there are other guys who seem able to do it, and Holt’s one of those guys, clearly,” says Cherington. “(Holt’s skillset) has always been important, but with the challenges everyone faces of keeping teams and players healthy through a season and getting through the grind, those guys are becoming more and more important.” Cherington notes that it’s crucial to get players rest, so players who can man several positions while hitting reasonably well are especially valuable. The Red Sox are considering the possibility of drafting a player this June, likely after the first round, who they might develop with the goal of turning into the next Holt. So far this season, Holt has played second base, shortstop, third base, left field and center field while getting 14 hits in his first 33 at bats.
- The Rangers likely represent Josh Hamilton’s last clear chance of reestablishing himself in the big leagues, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes. The Rangers appear likely to be getting Hamilton at such a steep discount that he can be a good value for them even if he’s just a bench player. Meanwhile, though, they’ll also have to try to help him as he battles addiction issues that have now caused problems at several points in his career.
I wish I could see holt pitch today
imagine he just guns it in there at 95 mph.
except you know the Sox didn’t actually draft or do much of the early developing of Holt.
Much like the Cubs’ Rizzo.
They have drafted/signed talent like that before. Carlos Asuaje, Yamico Navarro, Menesis (forget 1st name) and Reed Gragnani. I’d just like for the Sox to keep the faith with Gragnani and Asuaje long enough and protect them when the time comes. Both have shown the ability to play a half dozen positions and hit/field well.
dont know too much about the Sox system but ill take your word for it. I like the idea though, always nice to have one player that can do that.
Nope they didn’t draft him. But they did turn him into a supersub. He played 2 positions in the Pirates Organization and 7 in the majors with the red Sox last season.
he only played SS and 2B consistently in the minors for the Pirates, for the sox he play SS, 2B, and 3B. Needless to say, the Red Sox didn’t develop his ability to play every position, he always had it. Credit them for acquiring him though, hes been killing it
If a team brings in a pitcher and teaches him a splitter and he becomes a better pitcher for it…. didn’t they develop that pitcher? Holt never played LF, RF, or CF. He was taught those skills with the Sox.
They gave him a shot and had the faith in him. They also taught him those positions. They didn’t just send him out there with a first baseman’s glove and tell him to have at it. He’s a special player, but no one does this by themselves. The Red Sox have a great coaches in Brian Butterfield and Arnie Beyeler that have helped Holt along the way. So yes it’s development.
lol as a jays fan, glad to have butterfield gone
You may be the only Jays fan then. Most were pretty upset. I’m thrilled with how he’s helped Bogaerts. he came into the league with some huge holes in his defensive game and looks pretty good now.
Brock Holt is so much fun to watch. I love players with his attitude: he really just wants to play, so he’ll play anywhere xD
What a nice story about Fields, hope he makes it soon someday
Holt is some sort of wizard.
Unless rosters expand to 27 players or more, teams will really need to start developing guys who can do what Holt(or Josh Harrison) does. These 12 and 13-man pitching staffs are really limiting bench spots. There have been points in the last few years in which AL teams have had 3-man benches: backup catcher, utility infielder, fourth outfielder. This certainly limits pinch-hitting and some other strategies that might be beneficial to a team. If rosters don’t expand then the Holt-type player will be on every roster.
between five man rotations and pitch counts, 12 man pitching staffs have become necessary. but owners aren’t probably all that willing to go to 27 man rosters because of extra expenses. managers have to be creative and versatile players are mandatory.
I agree, but I’d prefer to see less bullpen specialization and more bench options. The left-handed pinch-hitter – the Lenny Harris/john vanderwal/john mabry type has basically disappeared, and those guys were useful. And pinch-runners are extinct, as are pure defensive replacements. I liked that kind of baseball. I don’t think the expense of a couple extra players, with baseball revenue higher than ever, should amount to much for the owners, although of course they would fight it. The managers would love it, though, I think, to have extra options.
bullpen specialization is a big problem with the time of games, too. teams making the RHP-LHP changes 2-3 times an inning from 7th inning on just makes the game longer. technology made this possible with all the spreadsheets that show a batter like Matt Adams hits less than 200 vs LHP.,….and that explains why a guy like Randy Choate has pitched in over 600 games and has less than 400 innings. Randy is the devil on LHB but righties hit him pretty well. Casey Stengal didn’t have those sorts of breakdowns. They could only play hunches and rely on their experience.
Javier Lopez and Mark Rzepcynski are other examples. Lopez pitched in 65 games last season with 36 innings.
I think rosters will stay 25, but I think there may be a time where we see 2-3 inactive spots. Of course, those would just go to the starters who pitched the last 2 games.
All the more amazing when one remembers, or looks back to when Earl Weaver used to like to carry just 8 pitchers on some of his teams and that COUNTED his starters. That way he could pinch hit multiple times for light weight hitting SS/C positions he had manned by all glovers, like Mark Belanger and Rick Dempsey for years.
Why else would Jim Palmer rack up so many CG’s? He had to complete them, thin BP’s on Weaver’s teams. A no nonsense manager.
Earl one year (1971) had 4 pitches who each won 20, had 70 complete games and 1081 innings out of 1415 innings played that year. No pure relief pitcher pitched in more than 35 games or pitched more than 40 innings. And here’s another fact….it’s not like Weaver burned his starters out. All except McNally pitched quite a few years after that season and McNally had about three decent seasons after that.
Drafting swiss-army knife players is a great idea, but needs two things to make it work on a broader scale. First, you need a player with the athleticism to do it. Second, you need a player with the willingness. The big money in MLB goes to the regulars, not to the 250-300 AB guys, no matter what their value.
I don’t think it’s a matter of willingness. If these guys were very good at a single position, they would be regulars getting 600 AB’s a season. If they’re not willing to be a utility player, then they’re going to wind up in the minors and a MLB paycheck and living conditions are a lot better than in the minors.
This is just the Red Sox adopting things the Rays and A’s already do on a larger pay scale again.
Makes no sense from Red Sox. You don’t draft a player to not be good enough to win a position and stick, with a downside of not being worth a damn anywhere. Draft the best available talent, and learn he isn’t good enough to win a spot, then groom him to be mediocre everywhere and be league average or worse with the bat.
I’m assuming he meant later in the draft. Either way the Sox seem to like taking chances on guys who can both pitch and be position player.
Sox pitching stinks ,,,we put our team on the offense mode knowing the defence is giving up 5- 7 runs a game ,,Our GM must think you can win a championship that way he’s NUTS ,,,What I do know is we made investments w/ players that are in our minors with huge contracts I’m scratching my head and saying to myself do we really need another outfielder or infielder NO we need pitching and a bullpen and it’s time to trade Napoli and put holt at 1 st base ,,,
Yeah trade napoli for something and put holt and craig in a first platoon