Red Sox infielder Marco Hernandez has hit very well this spring but has no obvious role with the team, so he could be traded, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald writes. The 24-year-old Hernandez has batted .405/.488/.730 in Spring Training, but he has little chance of breaking camp with the team because he’s a lefty hitter, like utilityman Brock Holt, and the team prefers a righty. Hernandez, who the Red Sox acquired prior to the 2015 season as a PTBNL in the Felix Doubront deal, batted .309/.343/.444 in Triple-A and .294/.357/.373 in 56 plate appearances while shuttling back and forth between the minors and Majors last year. “[T]his is an everyday player if you really start to break him down and look at what he’s capable of doing,” says manager John Farrell. “Yet he’s in a group that’s talented, that’s deep, so finding his place is ongoing.” Here’s more from the American League.
- Former slugger and current vice president of baseball operations Brady Anderson is a source of tension within the Orioles organization, writes FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal in a detailed feature that’s revealing about the ways players and coaches think about the roles of team front office members. Anderson’s duties with the club include coaching, working on the team’s strength and conditioning program and helping determine player transactions, meaning he has influence in a number of seemingly disparate areas. He’s also close with owner Peter Angelos. Former pitching coach Dave Wallace cites Anderson’s “total autonomy and really no accountability” as a problem for the Orioles, and both Wallace and former bullpen coach Dom Chiti (who are both now with the Braves) cite Anderson’s presence as reasons they left the organization. Former catcher Matt Wieters also describes Anderson’s blurring of the boundaries between executive and coach as an issue for the club. “Brady was a great player for a long time. He was a member of that clubhouse,” says Wieters. “At the same time, when you get into the season, the 25 guys in that clubhouse are who you want in that clubhouse.”
- The Mariners are no strangers to analytics, but they also value old-school approaches to player evaluation, MLB.com’s Doug Miller writes. Manager Scott Servais, for example, highlights veteran catcher Carlos Ruiz‘s work this spring with pitchers, including 23-year-old Max Povse, who spent the 2016 season at the Class A+ and Double-A levels but has thrived so far in camp. “Max Povse comes out after four innings [thinking], ‘Jeez, I never had to shake off a pitch tonight. Never had to think about it,'” says Servais. “You can’t measure it, but it’s there and it’s really important to a winning team.”
Interesting how Hernandez, another former Cub prospect, is looking like a big leaguer.
When you add up LeMaheiu, Archer etc etc they really did have the potential to be good, but their FO was a mess until Theo. Interesting how the parts were always there….
You could say just about every team could be really good if they never traded anyone
He’s good, but overrated.
It was under Theo that LeMahIEu, Archer, and Hernandez were traded.
Youre right! Guess Theo isn’t as good as we think he is!
Nah he’s pretty exceptional.
Not Archer. He was part of the deal for Garza and took place before Theo
I don’t get why there needs to be trade speculation on Hernandez, the fact that he can be optioned and stashed until injury inevitably occurs is such a strong advantage heading into this season. Whether it’s an outfielder or infielder getting hurt, Brock Holt can slide into any starting role and Hernandez can become the new “super utility” guy.
I wonder if they trade him for SP depth with all their injuries?
I don’t know that the kind of SP you would get in return for a utility player would be worth it….
If he can play 3rd, one would imagine they would hold onto him in the event that Sandoval 2015s… or 2016s again.
Brady Anderson is a great choice for a strength coach. Guy was built like the dude from 90210 and suddenly hit 50 HR one year. He knows how to get really strong really quickly.
A lot of guys in the 90s got really strong ,really quick. Wonder how they did that?
Protein powder
Cutting-edge diets featuring kale and kombucha.
Anderson was the poster boy for steroids. We already have a dysfunctional owner and FO, no reason to add insult to injury when the players are complaining about Anderson being in the clubhouse. Stay out Brady. You were a great player and you might be a fine coach, but unless you are part of the major league team’s coaching staff stay out of the clubhouse.
They might as well keep him. They could have him off the bench instead of Rutledge possibly but maybe not since that would give them 2 lefty utility options off the bench but having a guy like that and a guy like Merrero in the minors as depth isn’t a bad thing especially since injuries happen. And also who knows Panda could fail again meaning that Holt becomes the everyday 3rd baseman and Hernandez can be the lefty utility option off the bench. The kid is still young and his time is coming but it just isn’t here yet so I suggest keeping him would be the best idea