Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia has landed back on the disabled list due to what is being described as left knee inflammation, as Evan Drellich of the Boston Globe was among those to tweet (separate links). The move is retroactive to May 30th.
It’s clearly a concerning development for the Red Sox, who waited patiently during the first quarter of the season for Pedroia to return to the field after undergoing offseason surgery to address a cartilage issue in the same knee. Pedroia collected just one hit and two walks in 13 plate appearances in his brief time between DL stints, and no timetable has been given thus far for his return.
Pedroia’s initial activation from the DL resulted in the recent DFA of Hanley Ramirez, whom Boston just released. Clearly, Boston did not expect Pedroia to reaggravate his knee so soon, and thus the removal of Ramirez from the roster now seems like a questionable decision. That’s particularly true considering Swihart is hitting just .163/.250/.186 on the season, and is looking more and more like a strain on the club’s roster.
One has to wonder about the long-term ramifications of Pedroia’s knee issues as well. Long a productive member of the Red Sox infield, Pedroia is now 34 and coming off an injury-shortened 2017 campaign that saw him post his lowest fWAR total since his rookie season. For the time being, it seems likely that Brock Holt and Eduardo Nunez will see reps at the keystone. The club has also recalled Sam Travis to boost its depth for the time being.
bruh
He just cannot stay healthy.
Yeah, and that fact is only made worse when you consider BOS owes him $40M (not including 2018) through 2021. That’s a painful reality.
He’s done way more for the Sox than they’re paying him for. And he really isn’t that expensive
There seems to be a record number of guys coming off the DL and going right back on this year.
Lmao Got rid of Hanley for 6 days of Dustin.
No, to save $22 mil on a player who hadn’t produced in 3+ seasons on the team.
Still paying him
I think the $22 million saved shows up next year when the Sox don’t have to pay him.
No. That was simply an option if he accumulated 497. Instead, theu keep messing with Swihart.
It was a vesting option, not that you understand what that is.
Paying this years wages. 19 was an option that went away with his release. Even if they would decide to resign him that option is no longer an option!
Yeah JD this year, but not next year…… and that’s the point
Didn’t save any money. Ate all of it.
Kept the $22 million option from vesting
They saved all the money from next year . He could’ve got enough at bats
and it would’ve kicked in for over $20 million! So sure they saved money!
Bring back Hanley..
How about bringing back David Ortiz or Manny Ramirez?
Bring back Jody Reed and Mike Greenwell.
Could we dig up Ted Williams? Might need to reattach his head first, but still…
it’s funny because he actually is Frozen in cryogenic liquid lol..at least his head is
Mike Greenwell! Loved banging doubles off the Monstah with him in Triple Play 97!
Dustin is old. These things happen as one ages.
Yo remember when Cora fought for Swihart to stay on the roster even though he’s ass
Ok have Leon and Vazquez bat .200 for the rest of the season…swihart is a proven better hitter than both of them
A better hitter but Swihart can’t catch. Poor defender at home plate.
Has anyone noticed the pass balls the last few nights… and how many balls Wright has throw that have gotten away? Pay attention gentleman cause catching the knuckle ball is where Sweihart got his bad rap…just saying
I believe the defense of those two are highly overrated
What happened to all the Sox fans who wanted to package those two with Travis to get Realmuto?
Hahahaha
Really hoping this doesn’t turn into another Davd Wright situation.
With Pedroia, it’s generally something different each time. Thumb tendon tear, broken bone in his foot. Wright has had I “think” basically the same issue since the beginning with his problems. This last injury for pedroia wasn’t even on him, that was machado who took him out and caused the injury, anybody could have been there and possibly gotten hurt on the play last season.
The contract also hasn’t been bad which was brought up earlier in this section. imagine some guy.. Cano for example who hammered seattle for 200m plus and 10y if pedroia had wanted to play hard and try to get close to market value any of the times he signed an extension? Most he’ll ever get in a season is 15m. That’s peanuts for someone who has put up his numbers combined with his glove.
Not saying this would ever happen, but can the Red Sox re-sign Ramirez at the pro-rated league minimum even though they’re still paying his full 2018 salary?
Theoretically as a free agent he could sign with anyone. Salary would remain the same for this year with no option. Realistically doubtful. Union would also not be happy about the precedent it would set.
That’s what I figured. BOS bringing him back would be bad all the way around. Even if he recaptured his peak production Hanley would not bust his hump for the team that killed his vesting option.
It hurts but regardless of who he plays for, next year options hinge on how he performs the rest of the year.
Meant next year invites, not to be confused with the now non-existent $22M option.
Should call up Jantzen Witte from Double-A. Doing a great job down there. He might do well as an infield bench player and not much risk if you have to DFA him.
I really think if Peddy can’t stay healthy he’ll retire. He’s been a fave player n it will be sad. All that fluffing bout Hanley now seems like a really poor move. I just hope DD doesn’t throw Cora under the bus again cuz it’s his decision not Cora’s. It’s very upsetting cuz this will be a lost yr, cuz they need pitching!
He’s not gonna just retire
and give up all that money . Plus he’s way too competitive to do that !
On second thought, if might not be able to. I think he has the option of electing to go to Pawtucket where his contract would stay in effect if he was called up. Probably the same thing in the end because he would know upfront his ABs would not trigger the option. All this is “fun nonsense” as it isn’t happening.
I think the modern media environment has conditioned us to think these kinds of situations are strange or whatever – the truth is that almost all baseball players throughout history have had their careers ended or curtailed because of injury. This isn’t new. Playing an elite athletic sport half the year is never easy for anyone..
Time to face reality. Dustin is a lot like David Wright. Similar numbers except Wright hit more for power. Both broken down. Time to move aside.
Slide Mookie into second base when he comes back. I believe that was his original position in minors. Stick Swihart corner outfield. As I also remember, Dustin gave the Sox some hometown deal when he inked the contract. Seems like the Sox have money falling out of their ass so what’s more millions?
David Wright similar numbers? Don’t recall him being ROTY or MVP. How many WS rings does he have? Similar in clubhouse value but that’s it. Also Mookie is not going to 2B. They have better options than playing Swihart more. Lin in the minors has shown more MLB ability. To me, the playing of Swihart now is more of a longshot attempt to bring his trade value up.
So Mookie has a bad right lat after the game on Saturday and a week later goes on the DL with a left abdominal pain. Can you be farther off in your initial feedback to the public? I’d like to think that Mookie should have been the healthiest superstar in the league considering how many times Cora sat him in April. Cora the people person needs to learn how to manage the team. He lost several ‘mookie games’ in April and now a mystery DL stint means more lost ‘mookie games’. Considering we have been playing back-ups most of the year it’s a miracle we have done this well. I guess it’s because we had Mookie and JD and Benny providing more production than most teams have. Can’t leave out Moreland and Bogaerts when he’s been healthy.
Can this team win with three great hitting OFs, an above average SS and 1B, makeshift 2Bs and a rookie who belongs at AAA at 3B plus two catchers who have averages that when added together might make for a star catcher but individually straddle the mendoza line? An one catcher thinks he’s in little league and sets up a foot off the plate because he thinks guys like Sale need that to get the ball inside? Seriously?
The pitching staff is now five “oh I hope he does well tonight pitchers” and the bullpen is a bunch of guys we remember failing over the years but have done well for the most part this year and our stud Kimbrel. How many holes in the line-up does that summary depict? Finishing within 10 games of the Yankees will be hard unless somebody takes some initiative and moves Devers for a 3B that can field and hit. Trade what you have to get a catcher who knows how to call a game, set-up behind the plate and can hit. And kick Nunez in the butt to start hustling and playing with confidence and stop looking like he’s 10 years older than he is.
Do we need Hanley? No. Do we need Hanley’s money off the books? Yes. Do we need a 3B? Yes Do we need an inspired Nunez? Yes. Do we need SPs? No. We need Wright to start between Price and Sale. We need Procello to pitch like a good 4th starter and we need our #5 starter to compete evenly with other #5 starters. Our bullpen needs to pitch like they have most of this year. So can someone with the Red Sox please fix these issues? Thank you.
“Do we need Hanley’s money off the books? Yes.” Well Hanley’s money is on the books for the rest of the year. “our stud Kimbrel” hasn’t exactly been pitching like a stud. “Trade what you have to get a catcher” How are they gonna acquire a catcher like that with being way over the tax threshold and a farm Don has depleted.
Agree in parts to both of the above. Devers needs to develop without pressure. With recent injuries, such will only increase. Wright seems to be healthy and the starting staff has been inconsistent so giving him a shot seems to be a no brainer. Also, give Leon more time consistently. Again, the playing of Sweihart to me seems like a desperate attempt to increase his presently nil/low trade value. Not likely getting any stud back due to approaching tax ceiling but they also can’t deplenish their farm any more. Better to trade Sweihart if possible for low level players with options and pray you hit the lottery.
Guys the tax threshold is important ever three years to be under it, because the percentage jumps way up if you don’t… now we stayed under it last year and have to return to it by 2021. That being said Mookie will prolly bring 20 mil in arb next year, so you see the option Years are running out on our young players, and Hanley’s money for next year is very important…. would be very surprised if you see Porcello or Pomerantz reupped. Gotta cut where you can!
Agree. Both pitchers on good days can be lights out but even Sale this year hasn’t felt like a consistent #1. On the tax front, isn’t there also a ceiling they can’t cross for fear of losing draft picks in addition to financial penalties?
Hey KD—do you need a pitcher to take Price’s place when his elbow blows out and he goes on the DL with season ending surgery?
Yes
Calm down kids—it’s not my jinx. He’s had a bad elbow and they’ve babied Price, however the mileage meter is rolling an around the ASG will be the final event.
Hey Mikeyank 50/50 who blows out there elbow first Price or Tankaka I’ll say Tanaka.
With Pedroia and Betts on the DL, you would think that their respective replacements would be Nunez and Holt.
Tonight, Nunez is playing 2B, no surprise. Who’s playing right field tonight? Swihart (batting .163), while Holt (batting .310) sits on the bench.
Unless there’s something wrong with Holt, who’s hit .300 lifetime against Verlander, then there’s something wrong with Cora’s lineup management.
Well, I hope Swihart gets his first career hit(s) off Verlander tonight.
I think they are trying to showcase Swihart for a trade.
Steve, BINGO you hammered a pet peeve of mine. Cora is not a manager who knows how to set line-ups. He rests guys incorrectly to keep his clubhouse happy because he’s a person pleaser not a MLB manager. Great guy, Love him just hate him as a manager. He’s a better coach than manager. Holt should be playing. Swihart is taking up a roster spot and will never have value so cut him like Hanley even if it saves no money. Why lose games because you want a third rate minor leaguer for Swihart when you finally dump him.
MikeyYank55, I agree that a different top of the rotation guy would have been better than Price for the Money. He is a trade worthy commodity too bad we can’t get a guy like Verlander to be at the top of the rotation with Sale. Oh yeah, we could have last summer but passed on both Verlander and JD. I guess the Houston GM must be a little better at his job. When Price under performed we could have shipped him to LA for a guy like Buehler!! Can you imagine a staff with Sale, Verlander, Buehler instead of Sale, Price and Porcello! We would beat the Yankees with that staff. Now, whether it’s the Yankees, Houston or even Cleveland, I have no confidence our staff can prevent runs enough to allow our above average offense to outscore them.
Tell me, is anyone feeling good about Price going against Verlander today? Or Porcello going against ANY Houston pitcher? I struggle to watch. I expect two or three homers by Houston and without Betts we’ll be lucky to get a HR from JD and Benny so the odds of winning are small. That could have been fixed had DD done his job and grabbed Verlander last season. The threshold discussion should happen off seson because there is time to wheel and deal then to get things under control.
Suarez is paid $2.5M this year. Isn’t that what we need at a few positions so we can afford our superstars? We should be able to stay under the cap with 2 high paid SP, two high paid OF and one high paid infielder and surround them with young guys or cheap guys. Oh and 1 high paid closer. Moreland is a tremendous value considering his gold glove defense and solid hitting. Nunez was an ideal 2B last year when he was highly motivated. Devers could have been ideal if he could hit and field but like Middleton we were willing to declare him the next coming after a very small sample. Now he has been exposed for his lack of range, inconsistent arm, poor baseball acumen in approaching where to throw or how to approach a ball and his inability to not swing at anything close. He has hero syndrome and keeps thinking about homering off Chapman and how good it felt and he can’t help but do it every time he comes up. With a true monster hitter like JD batting in front of him he has felt even more pressure to compete with him because last year he saw himself as the power hitter on the team. He needs to be sent down or traded. If he could go down and kill it in the minors like Guerrero then maybe we could trade him for a guy with true skills in the field and at bat. To me, Suarez for Devers would be a great trade for both teams. Heck we could throw in Swihart to seal the deal!!
LA would never have taken Price. The Reds would never make that trade.
The season is over as I watch the Evil Empire slugging to the finish line!
thegreatcerealfamine – Interesting comment do you have an reasons why a team like LA who needs pitching wouldn’t have made the deal in the off season sending a top prospect for a top 10 ranked pitcher? Also, do you have a reason why the Reds who are in the middle of rebuilding would not take a Prospect who was highly rated and rushed to the majors for a 26 year old and a superstar utility guy like Swihart? Your reply was a bit vague and I’d like to disagree with you but I have no idea why you thought neither deal would have happened.
The Dodgers are gasping to stay under the luxury threshold and Price’s salary would put them over, plus their FO has shown not to take on long term contracts for pitchers at that age. The Reds have a top 3B prospect in the pipeline Nick Senzel and would have no room for someone like Devers, who’ll probably have to move to 1B in the future because of his size and lack of defensive range, the Reds have Votto anchoring first for quite sometime. I’d say the Reds are below being in the middle of a rebuild due to poor management from the previous GM.
You are absolutely wrong about Devers and his defensive range he is surprisingly agile and has good range. Almost all of his errors are of the lapse in judgement type mostly throwing errors. Also have you noticed since Hanley’s been gone no errors because Moreland is competent at 1st base. I watch nearly all Red Sox games and I can assure you Randy’s isn’t the problem with Devers.
“Range”