Jose Peraza was linked to the Orioles, Indians, and two other unknown teams this offseason, though Peraza tells Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe that he heard from eight or nine clubs while on the open market. Peraza chose to sign with the Red Sox because of their recent success (“It’s a great place to play baseball if you want to win a championship“) and the opportunity they presented for regular second base work. “Second base is my most comfortable position. I played a lot of second base in the minors. I know I can help this team playing there,” Peraza said. He saw quite a bit of second base action over his four seasons in Cincinnati, though the Reds gave Peraza more time as a shortstop (almost exclusively so in 2018) and also used him as an outfielder. Peraza might get some utility action with the Sox but will likely see the most action as Boston’s first-choice option at the keystone.
More from around the baseball world…
- The title of Keith Law’s latest piece for The Athletic (subscription required) says it all: “How do you prepare for the draft when there are no games to watch?” Law speaks to several sources from teams and the league itself about how the 2020 amateur draft will be impacted by the COVID-19 shutdown, as universities and high schools have already halted their seasons. Some of the draft’s top prospects, therefore, will have had little or no chance to play in front of scouts in weeks or even at all by the time the draft rolls around on June 12. Pushing the draft back altogether could be an option, and other ideas suggested include holding prospect combines or “thrown-together tournaments” (in the words of one GM) so evaluators could look at the players in both workout and game scenarios. There is no perfect solution to solve such a major interruption in the usual pre-draft process, of course, though Law suggests that Major League Baseball should “work with amateur institutions to waive the typical restrictions on amateur players. Nobody’s eligibility should be at stake here, not in these extraordinary circumstances.”
- The Cardinals “will not make any [transactions] until we have more clarity on what the future holds,” president of baseball operations John Mozeliak told Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. This means everything from roster cuts, minor league assignments, releases, or any other moves that would have been expected within the next week had Spring Training progressed as per usual. Despite some speculation on the subject, the league didn’t issue an official freeze on roster moves while the next steps are figured out during this shutdown period, even though some veterans on minor league contracts are approaching the opt-out dates in their contracts. A couple of teams have made some minor league re-assignments in the interim, while the Nationals made the most notable move in releasing Hunter Strickland and David Hernandez.
- “The longer the delay lasts, the longer it will take for the pitchers to reset, to rebuild,” ESPN.com’s Buster Olney writes about a timeline for the “second Spring Training” that will be required should the season get back on track. The latest reports suggest that late May or early June could be earliest date for a new Opening Day, and should the season be delayed until closer to mid-summer, “some staffers believe something close to a month…will be required to get the pitchers up to speed.” This is yet another complication facing the league and the MLBPA over the coming weeks or months as they try to work out what will be a heavily-reduced schedule.
If there’s a season, the stats between Peraza and Holt might be the most interesting race the Sox are in this year. Of course I hope I’m wrong but this year whenever it start depends on the health of Chris Sale, which is not a good sign (neither was choosing Peraza over Holt – please no posts about getting over it already as until the action begins what other off field story is there?).
Well the u are contradicting yourself because you want to say holt is better than peraza but you want people to wait and see how the season goes maybe just maybe he’s better than Holt
Not contradicting myself, just recognizing what can’t be changed. Expecting verification but as a Sox fam, praying for Bloom to have been right.
I’m not over losing the Brockstar, I will not forgive them for allowing him to go. He was important to the fans and team. Changing so my etching just to change it makes no sense to me. This guy prolly has more power, but Holt was clutch. I hope none of his fans “get over it”, we are faithful.
Sorry for typos, what I meant changing just to change makes no sense
Agreed Holt was clutch. No way for Peraza to do more on or off the field. Only explanations that fit are Bloom misread Holt’s market or he thinks Holt will fall off a cliff going forward. Neither makes sense to me as once Mookie was traded, Holt was still available and could have been had without affecting the tax limit. Also his off field attributes would have kept him important to the team even if he got injured or played poorly (clubhouse leader, community efforts, etc.).
Jesus you guys are never gonna get over this tragedy of the aged bench player signing elsewhere are you?
The more Holt played, either he became injured or he was exposed playing too much. And as a utility player, he played a lot because of Pedroia’s injury history the last few years. Peraza was acquired by Bloom because he knows that Pedroia is finished and he thought Peraza was an upgrade over Holt. We all should see whenever the season may start. I liked Holt myself. But I don’t think the guy was a real “clubhouse leader.” The regulars seemed to like him and found him amusing. Good luck Brock and thanks for your effort..
Exactly. Holt is worthless.
Peraza at least is a pinch runner.
Either way it’s funny to see what Red Sox fans have been reduced to.
Worthless? Aren’t you looking for the word useless? Either way, you’re incorrect. Another hot take gone wrong there H.
LOL at the clueless responses. Holt has not been the only one to get injured during a long season and produced big time when it mattered most. Moreover, he is far from old. It’s not like he was looking for five or more years. The Sox still have the ability to win if they get pitching and Peraza has not shown he can perform on a big stage. Not his fault but why not go for the known instead of the unknown? It’s not like Peraza will make an all star game…oh wait Holt did that too. I realize that means nothing but to me it was a no brained. The team should have signed Holt and then traded Peraza. If he had limited or no trade value, what then does that really say about him?
No brainer,
Brock was so badly injured in the beginning of his career he became a bench player, he was clutch! I will always be his fan, n no I won’t get over it, I’m over Mookie n Price, it hadta be done, this was change for the sake of changing. MADE NO SENSE!
Looie/dewey:
You ask why not go for the known instead of the unknown in peraza/holt?
Here’s why: look, chaim/boston aren’t *exactly* throwing in the towel. However, this offseason they sort of acknowleged this was going to be a retooling/transition year where they valued ceiling over floor by actions if not exactly words.
That means when dealing with an aging vet like holt, who wasn’t going to be a long term signing anyways, chaim would choose the potential upside he saw/hoped for *if* peraza ever lives up to his amateur scouting (doubtful).
This is rays “buy low” baseball, which is the model Henry hired him for. You let go of a useful but replaceable piece to gamble on making a strike with a riskier signing. Make enough gambles, one will come up a winner. Other guys can get into philanthropy. With a 26th roster spot, other guys can combine to be the Swiss army knife.
We just agree to disagree. If the team had cap space or traded for a young star on a long term deal, I could understand. But Peraza and Holt signed for two years each at a negligible difference in money. Peraza is not likely to become a stud this season and why not then give the fans what they wanted? Holt made sense off the field and even more sense on it to most fans. I fully expected Holt to be brought back and believed they just needed to get the Betts/Price deal done first. Boy was I wrong.
Get over it Brother. Brock is a great guy but he’s GONE. Incessantly posting about him is lame.
Looks the the MLB owners will be making less profit this year.
Profit might be down but margins might be up. The hunger for sports is building. Ratings might be highest ever.
Plus, with the extra time off, some old favorites might be getting more Vince McMahon vitamins and getting ready for some insane performances.
Go Dodgers!
One of the things I like to point out is that April mid-week games are far less valuable than late-May mid-week games. When I use to chop up season ticket plans with my friends, the last game chosen was always that first Tuesday game in April, I think, for a team like the NYY, every game after Memorial Day will be close to a sellout.
Right. That’s especially amplified for the cold weather teams. Freezing cold beginning of the year night games in the regular season isn’t a huge draw—For fairly obvious reasons.
Hrmm… other stories?
“Astros reckoning in the batters box and in front of fans is postponed”
“Yankees and other traditionally strong second half teams’ playoff hopes lessen with delay” (for one they’re always a strong 2nd half team, then when/how they try to pull away; for two, it’s less likely the suspension is over with time to make an impact.)
“How will teams handle the single trade deadline with such a short sample, or, will mlb move it?”
“How will revenue sharing teams handle lower revenue sharing if games are cancelled?” (Fewer games = lesser revenues = lesser payments = lesser redistribution, yet, all indications are salaries will remain the same)
As much of a holt fan as i am, and i agree with the thoughts re: not bringing him back, any of the above id probably rather read
No.
I would venture to say it is a near certainty that the trade deadline will be modified.
As far as the Yankees comment, the most interesting part IMO is what this does to Domingo German. He was slated to be back after 63 games. That now looks like it’ll be 50-60% of the season even with an optimistic return date. That would seem to put even more pressure on Cashman getting an arm sometime in the near future.
Johnny, it does, but, it doesnt pit pressure for a trade.
The rotation issues now make NY a LOT more attractive for bounceback/fringe vets on minor deals with opt outs coming up.
Will you see the better types without a clear path where they signed opting out at this point, hoping to audition for NY? What’s the downside to doing so, hoping somewhere else picks them back up for spring training 2.0?
If I were one of those arms, I’d exercise my opt out after talking to my agent. If he feels there’s potential interest in NY, I don’t have much to lose.
Likewise, I’d expect cashman to scrub the wires to find those guys, and maybe even hint that he’d be open at this point to adding a few vets on minor league deals once the new ST opens when asked about plans in light of that suspension push back and the arm injuries.
I’m not really sure it’s the minor league signee type arms that the Yanks really need. It would not hurt to bulk up their depth at that spot but they have some options for the back half. Severino is a top of the rotation guy. Paxton is a #2/3 and they’re going to be without them in a short season. (Partial for Pax)
In a longer season they might’ve been okay rolling the dice with Happ/Loaisiga/Monty. However, with things cut down, the Yankees may feel more pressure to add a #2/3 type to get them through.
That kind of makes sense. But on the flip side, I don’t think cashman would be willing to pay the price.
With a shorter season, be it days and/or games, you can’t help but have a shorter trade deadline. So your list of sellers are either the handful of basement scrubs nobody dealt with all offseason – be it lack of talent or excessive price – or, a team who feels in a shorter dash they’ve got a shot at least at a wild card.
Prices have probably gotten even higher with that expected lack of sellers.
Then, you’ve got payroll issues. I’d expect NY doesn’t want a comp to David price – a guy servicable as a 3 with a shot at 2 potential, but a few years bad contract making him expendable. I don’t see anyone ‘helping’ the deep pocket yankees by eating money absent a GOOD prospect haul.
Finally, I don’t really see many teams being too deeply in on the mlb ready guys NY wants to lose, especially the need for depth last year (and this ST so far) bring to mind.
But I think it’s a good story to watch and isn’t being written about.
Cashman has paid for players before. He has the system to put together a package like he did for Sonny Gray. My bet is that team who decides the prices are too tantalizing to pass up is the Texas Rangers. Dealing a rental like Minor or a guy with 2 years like Kluber is going to be too enticing to pass up as long as they’re 5+ games back.
That price on Minor certainly wouldn’t be exorbitant but it’ll take a significant prospect. NY has guys like Deivi Garcia, Luis Gil etc…..That also doesn’t mortgage the future for the Yanks. Close to MLB ready pieces will hold plenty of value to a team like Texas who is on the cusp of a playoff contender but not quite there.
I really hope the Rangers pitchers are staying around the same area doing workouts, throwing programs, and reviewing plenty of footage so that they will be one step ahead of everybody else when the season comes around. (Granted I bet most team’s players are trying to stay around each other whether that be at their houses or at smaller facilities.)
BTW: I would put about 1 in 5 odds on the Rangers making the playoffs this season. Cause last season they were 10 games above .500 in late July, with just Minor and Lynn ever pitching any good games. Hopefully Isiah Kiner-Falefa does as well in the season as he as done in spring, and he can add a huge middle of the order punch to that lineup.
I certainly don’t like the Rangers for the playoffs this year. Indians/Twins, Rays/Yanks, Athletics/Astros all look like more complete teams. Only 5 of those 6 gets to make the postseason. Your odds are about right though.
They are in the White Sox/Angels/Rangers tier. I believe that’s below the playoff cutoff though. Your sentence about hoping that Kiner-Falefa provides a middle of the order punch pretty much sums it up. The Rangers don’t have quite enough to make it happen.
Yeah, but Kiner-Falefa really looks changed. He looks great. He has been working with Michael Young over the offseason and now has a better swing path giving him more extra base hits. He had like a .400 average and a 1.100 ops over like 34 abs in spring.
It’s spring training…
not any more
this has to be good for the angels rotation to get back to health. but everyone not just athletes, has to be vigilant against this deadly pandemic.
Still hearing MLB expects to be back in some type of spring training before the end of April but I would guess it would not have any fans in the stands.
Other than at the plate, in the dugout, and clubhouse, baseball players are seldom closer than 6 feet from each other which is the criteria for space the CDC has given at meetings..
8 weeks from today is May 10th and if the 1st games are played around then,they can still get in 130-140 games with just a short extension of the season into October.
Other than where the players are for the majority of their day at work—they aren’t breaking CDC guidelines! it should be no problem!
Before we even think about the transfer of the hard surface—the baseball!
the CDC issued a “suggstion,” and things could very well clear up within half that time. i dont see leagues waiting 8 weeks if its clear they don’t have to.
Unicorns could “very well” fall from the sky.
im hardly an optimist about this, but to outright assume that there couldnt be any new developments by then is silly.
Even an optimist should know that Baseball isn’t returning in 4 weeks. If you’re paying any attention to how this thing spreads—there’s absolutely no chance that you’re playing a baseball game in 4 weeks. There’s not going to be some sort of miraculous cure or stagnation in 4 weeks. Even if they created a vaccine as I type this post—it couldn’t reach the market in 4 weeks. Which is why I said It’s as likely as the unicorn dropping from the sky. Because quite frankly if you’re expecting baseball to return in a month—that’s pretty crazy.
Where are you hearing this?
It’s Koamalu. Making stuff up and then claiming that some insider personally told it to him is kinda just what he does.
I would think most pitchers are still getting in their work right now. Whether it’s a pitch count bullpen session or sim games etc. Spring Training was pretty far along when they stopped, those that kept up with their routine will be ready when it’s time to resume play.
id imagine they could keep thowing short sim games every 5 days in the interim and may not even need ramp up time in actual game action when things get going again. Keuchel showed last year that such a thing isnt impossible.
What’s really interesting about this whole thing is assuming it’s a shortened season, say 100-120 games, it brings many more teams into it. A number of teams fade and drop off at that 100-120 game mark. This could be one of the most overall competitive seasons we’ve seen in years.
That will be helped by the lack of trade deadline activity unless they substantially move the date.
Possibly. Or the early games don’t get treated as insignificant in a short season. We might see 4th inning hooks for starting pitchers early on.
Tired of the speculation on when things will start… and tired of all the time MLB has taken with there investigation… no excuse guys, and this should have been over with drama queens!
If you are tired with the speculation, just tell us when the coronoavirus will be gone, and then everything else falls into place.
IRT Holt, I liked him, but my guess is that Bloom thinks that Peraza’s 2018 is repeatable.
it is. All he needs is steady playing time and he’ll put up 170-200 hits a year. Once he gets rolling he churns out gap hits like crazy.
Joe I would love it if he flourished in Boston, but to me it’s making a change just to change, when Brockstar was already a star among the fans.
IRT Law’s piece, maybe it is time for MLB to develop their own combine. It’ll never match the NFL, but it might draw enough ratings to pay for the event.
Keith Law presided over some of the worst drafts in Blue Jays history. Still unclear how he’s an authoritarian on young talent.
It’d be cool to see a MLB combine. Obviously wouldn’t be as big of a hit as the NFL’s considering you aren’t going to see these guys for years. But it’s definitely an idea to kick the can on. Whether or not they’d be able to approve one? (If necessary—not sure how they’d go about creating it) Before June 10th is another question
I like to watch people making conjectures about something that we have never been through before. You’re just going to have to wait and see.
But the Neanderthal chest pounders can’t deal with that reality. So I guess we’ll have a 115.4 game season starting at 2:37:11 PM on May 27th with absolute certainty. As the chest pounders would say, “This thing is way overblown.”
And so it goes. No shortage of stupidity.
Peraza is a horrible hitter at any position that isn’t SS. Well he’s killed it while in LF, but 93 ABs isn’t much of a sample size.
His OPS is under .600 while playing 2B, .730 while at SS
He’s a mediocre hitter with a ok glove.
why does it matter how he hits while playing a certain position? there is no correlation between the two.
It’s hard to hit playing shortstop because the pitcher is throwing the ball towards the catcher.