The Red Sox have reached an agreement with free-agent catcher Kevin Plawecki, Robert Murray reports. It’s a major league contract, per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. Joel Sherman of the New York Post adds that it’s for one year. Plawecki, an ACES client, will earn $900K, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets.
The 28-year-old Plawecki seems likely to serve as the backup in Boston to starting catcher Christian Vazquez. However, Plawecki – once a 35th overall pick (2012) and a top 100 prospect of the Mets – hasn’t been especially effective in the majors since he debuted in 2015. Plawecki put up a .218/.308/.330 line in 804 plate appearances with the Mets from 2015-18 before they moved on from him last winter. The club traded Plawecki to the Indians almost exactly one year ago, on Jan. 6, 2019.
The Plawecki acquisition didn’t work out as hoped for the Indians, with whom he batted a dismal .222/.287/.342 across 174 PA as Roberto Perez‘s backup. On the other hand, Plawecki was a standout behind the plate, where he ranked near the top of the majors in Baseball Prospectus’ Fielding Runs Above Average metric.
WS BOUND BOYS!
So we took the guy that Sandy Leon replaces… lovely
Leon has been on the downturn for a while, Plawecki does exactly what a backup should do and that’s defense first. Upgrade defensively without a doubt.
Seriously? An upgrade defensively over one of the best framing catchers in baseball? This is a lateral move at best and likely a step down since even Cleveland deemed Leon the better option.
I don’t hate the move since the Sox ‘don’t have’ the money for Castro but it’s not a no doubt defensive upgrade.
They save about 2 million bucks here don’t they? And this guy hits 30 points higher LOL. A small Improvement in a couple important areas.
Again, good defensive catcher, and half the cost of Leon. Leon had one great offensive year, then fell off. Of course, Swihart could also have done that and for around the same cost and they got rid of him.
$$$ saved. Maybe they’ll next bring back pay toilets…I realize it’s one year but this is going to be brutal summer…
I knew he would catch on somewhere.
Me too, but I assumed it would be a minor league deal struck in late February.
So the Indians and Red Sox basically just swapped Leon and Plawecki
This was my thought.
But Plawecki makes a couple million less, which is important to one of the Sox’ goals this off-season
Let’s see if the difference matters at the end of the year. Won’t mind the savings if it goes towards bringing back Holt. Until he signs elsewhere I’m of the belief they have a deal but are waiting to first deal Price or some other big contract.
Haven’t you been paying attention ? Holt is gone, the Red Sox already signed his replacement. The thinking is Holt we’ll get a truckload of money and a couple year guarantee deal, though it hasn’t happened yet.
I am willing to bet that Holt IS brought back after the Sox clear $$$
Why…the Sox can find 10 guys around the league that can perform equally as well as Holt and also make a lot less than what he is asking for…..this love affair the Sox fans have with a guy like Holt is curious to say the least…..
First off I agree that we should not re-sign Holt as he is best suited as a super-sub not an everyday player. But the reason Sox fans love Holt and rightfully so is because of the FANTASTIC community work he does. I think Sox ownership knows the fans are upset with the TIGHTWAD approach this offseason and they know the fans LOVE Holt. Even after they dump some salary-likely Price and JBJ for only scrubs and cash relief they will still not have the $$$ to make any improvements but they likely WOULD have the $$$ to bring Holt back and they will do so at least PLACATE the fans.
Agreed Randy. I’ve been thinking this for some time. As to Rocky7, another typical comment from a guy who has to live in the past to enjoy Yankees’ championships. I’ve said it before that I like their club but they have to win it all before fans can celebrate. By the way a Rock, take your statement about Holt and plug in Aaron Hicks. Great glove and at times a powerful stick. Look though at his total history including time spent off the field and his yearly average numbers become pedestrian like. A lot of money and years tied up there.
Still a swap, regardless of the salary differential.
Have you seen Sandy Leon’s batting average? It’s an improvement at the plate as well.
Swap it is.
Question is who would you rather have and maybe I’m biased but I like the new guy better than Sandy Leon. Less money, better average, younger. Done.
Did you see Plawecki’s batting average? Six of one half a dozen of the other.
It is the ONLY goal
And the RS saved some $$..
Which is the goal this season.
2018 was a great year..
If we have to retool every so often and get to a WS every 5 years…I’m cool with that..
whatever. 2020 is shot and the FA market after 2020 is weak
It appears ownership just decided to do this one day like a bolt of lightning struck their conference room. People were talking in 2018 about this happening in 20 but we all expected a better 2019. My problem is why re-sign Sale when they did if this is the direction for 20? Did they sign him for 2021? The next time he pitches like a true ace in September will be his first time doing so.
At least you have a catcher Angels do not.
Growing up in NY a Mets Fan and now living 1 mile from Angel stadium I hoped the Angels would pick him up for his defense but sadly no.
I don’t know why the Angels are letting everyone including pitchers get signed?
Is this Vinny?
I’m thinking that Kevin Plawecki was not high on Eppler’s “gotta have” list.
True, though the Angels have not been rumored to be in hot pursuit of either Castro or Chirinos with very few realistic full-time C options available beyond that.
Pairing either Benboom or Stassi with a more well-rounded, four-to-five-days-per-week catcher could work. Going with just Benboom and Stassi makes much less sense.
They can always swing a trade with Baltimore for Pedro Severino if the FA market doesn’t work out for them.
Well, I stand corrected about the Angels and Castro. Stassi vs. Benboom decision forthcoming.
Plawecki shouldn’t be high on anyone’s list.
id rather have anyone than Stassi to be honest.
Chirinos, Castro, and Martin are all veteran, short term contract catchers who I think are higher on the list.
Until the inevitable….
A Hank Conger reunion
I didn’t even realize he was a free agent. The guy’s an excellent framer
All these excellent “framing catchers” better hone up on their other skills and hope that’s enough to stay in the bigs…..once MLB goes to a computer aided strike zone….no more stealing pitches once that happens!
We got Vikram!!!
Confidence…it’s the food of the wise man, but the liquor of the fool
Lol nice
Another Sandy Leon just cheaper and better defensively
He’s definitely not a better all-around defender than Leon
Plawecki has an arm good enough for me
If Sandy Leon wasn’t a good defensive catcher; he wouldn’t be employed by a ML club.
Stanley and that is why he was signed. CHEAPER.
I know
Yes I agree about Leon. He’s great for #2 behind Vasquez. I just hope he calls. Good game. I thought Sandy would end up with Porcello, guess not. This new one is a good addition.
Leon wasn’t a FA
Good move, always liked him.
Somebody like the Angels or Pirates should make a trade Miebrys Viloria from the Royals fr, no room with Perez coming back but he’s gonna be solid down the road
If you keep throwing feces at the wall, eventually it might stick.
Big weekend plans, I see.
that salary sounds about right.
Chaim’s doing what he was brought in to do. Shipped out a higher-priced catcher that was good on defense but lackluster on the bat and brought in a guy that’s essentially the same but over 1m less on the payroll. Considering Vaz is the primary catcher, their #2 guy isn’t a huge priority here so it’s a pretty smart move.
Good comment and well said….Bloom’s doing exactly what he’s supposed to do….no more of the Sox overpaying for fan favorites ( see Holt), past hero’s (see Pearce), and defense only players that can be replaced for less (Leon) when they don’t live up to what they earn….his job is to reduce payroll while not reducing skill on the ball club which is exactly what he seems to be doing…..
We’re Back Baby!!!!! Bloom is knocking it out of the park this off season. Dumpster Diving to save John Henry money . What a joke of an off season. A lot of Bridge Years My Friends!!
Plawecki was a standout behind the plate.
Now that the intentional walk is automatic, he won’t have to stand out behind the plate.
No there haven’t been any big signings but you knew there would not be much via Free Agency. All depends upon the trades and I’m sure there are at least a couple coming.
Look at the whole picture here. Essentially Bloom traded Leon who was projected at $2.8M for minor league right-hander Adenys Bautista and Plawecki who was projected to earn $1.5MM. In the end Leon signed for $2M and Plawecki is reported to sign for $900K.
So Bloom saved ~$1M on the backup catcher position AND got a minor league pitcher who may or may not work out as a reliever. That’s exactly what he should be trying to do as at the backup catcher position.
There will be nobody USEFUL coming back in these “trades” { I mean salary dumps} but they they will free up money to re-sign the immortal Brock Holt to placate RSN.
I tend to agree. Looks like a whole lot of shopping at the Dollar Store. I used to laugh at the Orioles for going there for their starting pitching. Now it’s happening to the Red Sox. I’m hoping that the bigger picture scenario is better.
Guys it’s only one year. Don’t panic.
Also he’s a backup catcher who is undoubtedly a better hitter than the backup catcher than my team (the Yankees) have, because even though Kyle Higashioka does have some pop, he hits below the Mendoza Line and can’t get on base for crap.
The grass is always greener. Most people in Cleveland didn’t understand why the Indians would choose Leon over Plawecki (now, people in Boston can’t understand why Boston has Plawecki over Leon). With the Indians focused on saving money, it looked like the two were very similar, except that Plawecki was a lot cheaper. I thought he did a great job as a backup last year. I don’t expect anything offensively out of the backup catcher’s role, so that didn’t factor into my evaluation at all. He did a great job defensively.
As a Tribe fan I would rather have Plawecki than Leon.
Plawecki was a much better defensive catcher than he was advertised as,and he has some pop.
Factor in the trade and difference in money it tilts even more to the Sox favor.
there’s nothing wrong with signing him over Leon…they are both back up catchers…
So far Chaim Bloom’s accomplishment is paying for about -2 WAR in players.