The Red Sox signed first baseman Mitch Moreland to a one-year, $5.5MM contract over the winter, passing on bigger names in the process, and it has worked out beautifully so far, observes Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal. Boston probably would have gone a more expensive route had it not been so close to the luxury-tax threshold, which may have also cost the team a first-round pick, writes MacPherson. To this point, Moreland has held his own relative to more expensive offseason signings such as Edwin Encarnacion, Mark Trumbo, Kendrys Morales, Jose Bautista and Carlos Beltran. Moreland, an ex-Ranger, has slashed .280/.373/.480 with nine home runs in his first 260 plate appearances with the Red Sox. What’s more, the 31-year-old has transferred his strong work in the field from Texas to Boston, having racked up three Defensive Runs Saved and notched a 2.4 UZR/150.
A couple more American League-related items…
- One of Moreland’s former teammates – free agent right-hander Colby Lewis – was unwilling to return to the Rangers on a minor league contract last offseason, and he explained why to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. “I didn’t want to fight for a position,” Lewis said. “Here I am, I have been here forever. I’ll be 38 this season, you want to make me fight for a spot? It was a bitter pill to swallow and still is. I always wanted to wear this uniform, this is where I wanted to be.” Lewis, a Ranger from 2002-04 and 2010-16 who pitched to a 3.71 ERA/4.81 FIP in 116 1/3 innings last year, isn’t ready to call it a career. However, it doesn’t seem as if he’ll take a minors deal anywhere. While Lewis contends he’s only five to six weeks away from being major league ready, it’s difficult to imagine anyone giving him a guaranteed contract.
- Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy’s wrist is “not good” after he took a 93 mph Lance Lynn fastball off it Sunday, manager Buck Showalter told reporters (via Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com). “We took an X-ray here, saw something that concerned us,” continued Showalter. “I know he’s got a scan in the morning and we’ll have a little more definitive idea there.” It’s likely Hardy will head to the disabled list, per Kubatko, meaning the Orioles would have two regular infielders on the DL (first baseman Chris Davis is the other). Ruben Tejada, Paul Janish and Luis Sardinas are the in-house options to fill in for Hardy, notes Kubatko, though Tejada’s the only one on Baltimore’s 40-man roster. The 34-year-old Hardy isn’t exactly an irreplaceable cog at this stage of his career, evidenced by his .211/.248/.308 batting line in 239 plate appearances. The only qualified hitter with a worse wRC+ than Hardy’s (43) is Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar (19).
Colby Lewis comes across as incredibly entitled here. You’re 38, coming off injury, and 2 of the last 3 seasons you actually could pitch in, you were below average.
Thinking you should walk back into a spot without showing you are good enough for it, is pretty weak.
The thing with Colby Lewis is that he soaked 320 innings and gave them 3.4 WAR (from B-Ref, 1.0+2.4) the last 2 seasons for a total of $10 million. If we value 1 WAR at $8 million, he saved them between 15 and 20 million dollars, at ages 35 and 36.
He “only” made $17.8 million in his career, basically the equivalent of 1 year of the qualifying offer. That’s not the Rangers fault, but it’s not like the guy was asking for multiple years at a huge average. Sounds like he just wanted a Major League deal. Having spent so many years in the organization, it wasn’t an outlandish ask.
I mean, it’s mostly Colby’s fault. I’m sure other clubs would have given him a contract (See: padres, reds and Miami) and he could give them quality innings
Perhaps he has himself confused with a pitcher who can stay on the field and produce.
Below average? Have you seen his 2016 numbers before the injury? He was practically an ace. ERA in the 2.80 range, 6-0 in fourteen starts, a (almost) perfect game. I know these are basic stats but he deserved a spot based on that performance.
Spoken like somebody who knows zilch about Colby Lewis. This guy has been incredibly loyal and a workhorse for the Rangers taking deals lower than other teams would have paid him. It isn’t too much to ask for the Rangers to have shown him some loyalty this season.
I disagree, Cam. Lewis is first quoted in the article that “My wife wants me to be retired but I don’t think you ever want to shut it down,” which seems to me a tacit acknowledgment of the writing that Lewis probably already sees on the wall regarding his career.
Given those comments, his age, the experience having just missed 2-1/2 months with a lat injury, Lewis may be just delaying the inevitable enough that he doesn’t have to admit there’s no more gas in the tank.
I’ll give Lewis the benefit of the doubt and assume as far back as spring training he was thinking but couldn’t say out loud a version of what Bronson Arroyo said today about his arm saying “Hey man, I’m not going to run this race for you anymore.”
Bosox didnt spend money at first because of Sam Travis as well, did not think he would be back 100 % so soon but a great option to have coming up.
So you’d rather just not play instead of fight for a spot? Okay, thanks for those nice games during the post-season years ago.
I think Moreland was supposed to be a platoon option but has exceeded all expectations so far in Boston, A+ Signing. We have Chris Carter.. He’s Adam Dunn without the walks.
Free Ryan Mountcastle!!!
from what? The kids in high-a ball.
He’s not expected to be a shortstop at the major league level.
Colby Lewis also thinks Josh Hamilton should be the left fielder and that Pudge Rodriguez should be the catcher. They did a lot. They are old. Why should they have to be good enough to play anymore?
Why wouldn’t Machado slide in at SS if Hardy is out as he has in the past?
The Orioles have better fill in options at SS than they do at third. Machado can make plays at 3B that not many others can.
I think rather than “not many others can” it could be “no one else does or has.”
Hardy’s value is on defense, he is considered the leader of the infield. The Orioles have enough offense that they can carry a weak bat.
Hi