The Red Sox have acquired outfielder Delino DeShields Jr. from the Rangers in exchange for cash, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports (via Twitter). While the July 30 trade deadline has passed, DeShields is eligible to be traded by virtue of the fact that he’s on a minor league contract and has not been on a Major League roster so far in 2021. It’s the second post-deadline trade of a notable name who’d been on a minor league deal all season; the Brewers picked up righty John Axford from the Blue Jays in exchange for cash earlier in the week.
DeShields, who’ll turn 29 in less than two weeks, will bring the Sox plenty of speed and provide some outfield depth. He’s had a solid season in Triple-A, batting .263/.392/.368 with five homers, nine doubles, a triple and 16 stolen bases (in 18 attempts). The former No. 8 overall draft pick has walked at a gaudy 16.4 percent clip and fanned in 20.3 percent of his 368 trips to the plate so far in Triple-A this year.
Of course, DeShields has quite a bit of big league experience under his belt as well. He was the most frequently used option in center field for the Rangers from 2015-19 and spent the 2020 season in Cleveland after being shipped to the Indians as part of the Rangers’ ill-fated Corey Kluber acquisition. DeShields had a promising debut campaign as a 22-year-old back in 2015, but his bat never came around as hoped. He’s played in 576 big league games and tallied more than 2000 plate appearances, but the resulting .246/.326/.340 output has been 21 to 24 percent worse than league-average in that time, by measure of wRC+ and OPS+, respectively.
Boston has been giving the bulk of the at-bats in center field to top prospect Jarren Duran, but he’s struggled through his first 53 big league plate appearances, hitting at a .180/.208/.360 clip with a 37.7 percent strikeout rate. Even if the Sox decide they want to give Duran some more time in Triple-A, however, that doesn’t mean DeShields will immediately be called upon. Enrique Hernandez could certainly shift back to center field, and the Sox could also play Alex Verdugo there. With Kyle Schwarber nearing a return from the injured list, he’d be an option in left field should the Red Sox want to temporarily slide Verdugo over; he’s played 225 innings in center already in 2021.
Still, DeShields gives Boston some experienced depth. Perhaps more importantly, he’ll be an interesting option to come up when rosters expand to 28 players in September. It’s commonplace for contending clubs to acquire fleet-footed depth options who can serve as pinch-runners and defensive replacements for the final stretch of the season, although that tactic’s prevalence could drop now that September roster expansion has been considerably reduced. We’ve also seen teams employ dedicated pinch-runners and defensive replacements into the postseason, however, and DeShields will give the Sox an option to consider in that role.
so Kaz isnt trade eligible because he played for the Gaints already? bummer.
Correct. Kazmir was outrighted off the Major League roster, and outrighted players aren’t eligible to be traded.
If they were, clubs could just outright any player on a big league deal who was too expensive for another team to claim, then work out trades once that player cleared waivers.
Some players could (and surely would) simply elect free agency if they have the service time to keep their remaining salary, but for those who remained in the organization, it’d basically just be a recreation of the August trade period that the league was seeking to eliminate in the first place.
Thanks Steve. Great explanation.
Thanks, Steve. Things have changed, and you cleared it up for everyone. Thanks again.
So anyone else fit the Axford / DeShields Jr. criteria? On minors deals with MLB experience who might be traded?
Oh filthy rich had few
Neftali Feliz
Greg Bird
Andrew Albers
Dodgers have a few intriguing players.
Matt Davidson is having a good year for the AAA OKC Dodgers but doesn’t have a place in the big league team. A team needing 1B help could take a flier on him. Kevin Quakenbush has an 0.31 ERA as OKCs closer but has struggled in his brief big league career, and the Dodgers seem determined not to bring him up. Pretty much any veterans signed to MiLB deals could theoretically get some interest.
However, players DFA’d can be traded I think. So you can DFA a player too expensive for anyone to claim and work out a trade b/c they are too expensive to be claimed so no risk of loosing them.
Eh… can’t hurt. It’s only money so it’s fine by me.
Oh no please never bring him up
He’s batting cleanup in your lineup tonight.
Lol the only team he’s good enough to bat cleanup for is our single A team
Thank god for Odor! Can’t believe I just said that. We never wanted DeShields.
Gotta hang on to the prospects.
An odd acquisition at this stage. Maybe the speed-off-the-bench option for the postseason? If they make the postseason.
It’s funny. They haven’t been out of a playoff spot since the 2nd week of the season and there’s still people saying “if”. Unreal
I am old enough to remember the 1964 Phillies and 1978 BoSox. And on Sept. 1, 2011 — Sox had the best record in MLB and a 9 game lead in the AL East.. So yes it’s always if until you clinch.
There are 4 teams in the AL East that could realistically make the playoffs. So yeah “if”
@qbass The 2011 Rays say hello! I believe they called it a ” historic collapse”
Collapses happen.See Yankees first-half ’21.
Yeah doubt there will be a 2nd half collapse for the Yankees. Glad to see the Rays going through this now. It’s definitely well deserved.
What exactly are the Rays going through? They’ve won 5 of 7 and swept the division leading team…. Yankees are dead
Yankees are not dead. We’ll see who will be playing in October. It must be really exciting when your favorite team has 0 championships? Please go back to sleep.
How many were you alive for? And how exciting is it when you have to buy them? Enjoying stanton?
At this point, Yankees have a good shot at passing the Sox out. We clearly missed out on the deadline and it’s scary to think our season rests on the heels of Martin Perez. If we make the postseason, we are easily a first round exit.
It’s not funny. Remember 2011?
You have got to admit tho… It’s getting dicier & Dicier by the day in my opinion… It’s not so much that I’m pissed they didn’t try pulling off some Dombrowski type move, but I can come up with more then a handful of moves where they could have offered better & more appealing offers then many of the teams we’re battling with gave up to improve.. & they are moved that wouldn’t have dinged up our farm with any severity really at all… They just didn’t want to pay the money… & Thats what really irritates me with it all..
I don’t understand why folks think speed off the bench matters in the post season. If speed is the only asset a player brings the chances of the player getting to use that skill in an important spot during a seven game series is astronomically tiny. Makes no sense to use up a spot in the 26 man for something that is statistically unlikely to have any effect whatsoever. What are the chances that a pinch runner affects the outcome of a game?
youtube.com/watch?v=iMiPQLZD7wc
It’s like telling someone you wanna quit your job and play the lottery. They say, “do you understand how unlikely that is to work?” And you respond by showing them a video clip of someone else winning the lottery. It does nothing to change the fact that the probability of that plan working is minuscule and it is a dumb plan.
Lol if your gonna show him the potential impact, then REEEAALLY SHOOWWW HIMM…!!!
youtu.be/EMEylcp7E7s
Dave Roberts has entered the chat…
A lot of folks here don’t seem to get the difference between something being incredibly unlikely and it being impossible. You are arguing against the latter point, which has nothing to do with what I’m saying.
It’s more likely that boston misses the playoffs than DeShields making a difference by stealing a couple bases. I took stats, too, back in the day lol.
Im not particularly the biggest fan of D.D., the player nor the addition for that matter, I do think your negating a huge portion or factor of a would be called up.. Or just putting far to much emphasis on the Speed & “Potential Steal opportunities”… While I’m sure its relevant & factoring into their decision, but your leaving out the fact that he’s a plus fielder… & one with political versatility to boot… So especially when you factor In that we have multiple positions with uncertainty, & now could potentially see the likes of JD,& Schwarber in the field on any given day if the bats are going.. Obviously in National Parks, or a world series hypothetically, it’s be nice to know you that speed/defensive option in your back pocket if your Cora… So the late game heroic steal idea, while not likely.. Is at least possible.. Where it otherwise would not have been no?
Um … remember Dave Roberts clutch steal?
Anecdotal evidence. We’re talking probability, not possibility. Every response here is missing that crucial point. I’m not saying it’s never happened. Plus, you’d have to establish that the player Roberts replaced would not have scored. My point is going over a lot of heads here. Pointing out that it has happened does not change the fact that the probability of it is tiny.
So in over 100 years of baseball you come up with exactly one example. You don’t seem to understand the point in discussion.
There are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of examples where speed made the difference and won a game or a series over the 120 years of baseball as we know it
I totally understand what you are saying, Cosmo2. Why others don’t is baffling. The exception is NOT the rule.
Let’s see your math on how you determined this probability?
Exceptions ARE the rule, as there’s always exceptions.
What a stupid comment.
You make very cogent points but you’re ignoring DDS’ excellent defense. He’s not just a pinch runner but an excellent outfielder, and every team needs a versatile late-inning defensive replacement.
That’s exactly what I thought when I read it
You think Chaim doesn’t know that? Yet here we are.
Red Sox don’t win 2004 WS, without Dave Roberts speed off the bench.
When you put a runner at second base in extra innings it sure does.
Good speed depth. Could play a Dave Roberts — Quinton Berry type role in the playoffs.
Agreed.
Herb Washington ……..
Verdugo days numbered
Lol. Would make the Mookie trade all over again if the circumstances were the same.
1. Mookie did not want to stay and forced a trade.
2. AV has many years of control and is a solid outfielder who is happy to be in Boston.
3. Jeter Downed from most reports will be ready to soon help.
4. Wong looked better than I expected when he came up although he seems small to be a catcher.
It’s amazing the hate they got for that deal. Any other team would be praised endlessly but since it’s the Red Sox and “omg they can never sell!!!1”, it’s a bad move.
I agree Dewey. The only thing I would add is that the 2d best offer was SD and would have required the Sox to take Meyers bad contract.
I mean Wil Myers might have a decently bad contract but he was still worth 3 oWAR over the last 2 seasons. A career 111OPS+. He’d help more than hurt.
I’d take a cheaper Verdugo over that any day.
Dumb comment
Jokes exist, look in a mirror for a good example
They need pitching….. how’s he going to help….
Rizzo already went to the yanks!
That hurt. Forget that he’s killing the ball. He was that hot shot minor leaguer who was traded and lived up to his hype. Wanted him in a Sox uniform playing first.
Anytime you get down on a trade made between the Sox and the padres, just remember the name Anderson Espinoza.
He will serve them well in the playoffs.
When you’re battling the best pitchers every run counts and he will help with getting into scoring position.
Not to belabor the point but the chances of a pinch runner taking an extra base that the player replaced wouldn’t, scoring because of the extra base, and then that run being the difference in a victory, are so tiny that it makes no sense to carry a player for only that purpose.
Not to belabor the point, but 🙂
youtube.com/watch?v=iMiPQLZD7wc
C’mon, Nuanced, you understand how probability works and what anecdotal evidence is worth. That one play is out of how many? What are the percentages that it’s duplicated in a given seven game series? That does nothing to lessen my point. The fact that it’s possible doesn’t change the fact that it is astronomically unlikely.
I do understand probability, and Astros are PROBABLY the team that best employs probabilities, but winning is not ENTIRELY about cold probabilities.
Winning is also about being ready to take advantage of the unlikely.
Preparing oneself for the unlikely at the expense of the more likely is never a good plan. If there weren’t limited roster spots your idea would be relevant. But spots are limited and the plan is one of lower probability of success than other options.
Yet five different GM’s picked up Quentin Berry for the playoffs. Det 2012, and Bos 2013 made it to the WS. Balt 2014., Cubs 2015 and Mil 2017 all playoff teams. Not to mention Roberts 2004.
So I say to all of you who doubt the value of speed in reserve, what are your credentials that make you qualified to rip seven different GMs for having a vision of speed could == success..
Cosmo2
If there weren’t limited roster spots your idea would be relevant. But spots are limited
=====================================
Playoff rosters are constructed differently. You don’t carry a #5 SP, and likely don’t carry a Rios or Robles, or Davis, etc. The chances of a SB by a PR is higher than your #5 or your #7/8 BP options making any positive contributions.
Under current rules there are two kickers: 1. After each round you can re-set the roster without limit; and 2. RP’s have to work to three batters.
Once a team knows the R/L make up of the opposition starters and relievers they may decide to carry a different extra player to give them better R/L match ups. Think Cody Ross or Steve Pearce as recent examples.
You don’t sound like you don’t watch a lot of tight playoff games
You don’t sound like you understand probability vs anecdotal observation.
Your “probability” is nothing more than observation.
You are using the term anecdotal evidence incorrectly. Roberts’ stolen base is not anecdotal— it happened, we all saw it. Forget about who was on the bench, who else on the roster would’ve stolen that base?
Let’s see your math space cowboy.
It really depends on how your roster is constructed. For the Yankees in a late and tight postseason game, I wouldn’t hesitate to put in an elite runner for Sanchez, Stanton, Urshela, Rizzo, or even Gallo (who is above avg.).
It is a slim, but baseball is a game of numbers. You never get anything that improves your chances 100%. The entire game revolves around obtaining 1% advantages.
When the RS picked up Berry in 2013, he stole one base in each of the three series. There is value in that.
Well we all know that cash is as good as money
I’ll take Norm Cash over Don Money.
Aflac!
If you get hurt and miss work, it won’t hurt to miss work.
I don’t think the playoffs are a given at this point.. Another speedy outfielder is a luxury, this team needs pitching. The strong offense got us this far, not the pitching staff. Winning games 11-9 will not make it in the playoffs
Chris Sale coming back to his old form is not guaranteed. Pitching and error free defense wins in the playoffs, sadly this team is not prepared. They missed an opportunity not signing Anthony Rizzo, a true first baseman. Cole Hamels would have been a better pickup than another outfielder
First, you say Sale returning to his old form is not guaranteed. Then you advocate for signing Hamels, who hasn’t pitched this year and hasn’t been his old self in quite a while. You’re being negative just to be negative.
By the way, Rizzo had to be traded for. They couldn’t have just signed him.
As for DeShields, he’s a minor league depth piece who can come in handy should anyone get hurt. I wish the Dodgers had him instead of the likes of Luke Raley, Zach Reks, and the recently-departed J.D. Peters.
DJ not JD (and I agree)
Agree
Houck and Sale?? Plus Seabold is finally healthy and had 10 K’s at AAA last night.
Houck lasted 4 innings last time. He’s got to do better than that.
I can see DeShields being called upon in September as a pinch-runner/defensive replacement
All this is for now in minor league depth. No guarantee he’s called up at all, but since they recently lost Marcus Wilson to a waiver claim, the Sox are light on major-league ready OFs in the minors so this makes a lot of sense, especially since he’s not taking up a spot on the 40 man roster. He’s a low cost, low risk insurance policy.
Tigers 1-0 0n a homer given up by Perez.
Perez has reached the level of his competency
Perez was a terrible signing, plain and simple.
Hopefully he lasts more than an inning unlike the other August trade
Duran is just the latest version of Billy Hamilton. A fast, great glove outfielder who can’t hit.
Duran is going to be a very good MLB player. Everyone struggles in their first call up. He just needs time to adjust and he’ll be a perennial .280 hitter with power and elite speed.
Who knows for sure. Remember Lars Anderson?
Boston is trying to get some walks in that lineup. Duran is about to be sat this means. If ya watched the Sox the last 6 games, they swing at the first pitch way too often and Tampa took advantage of it.
I have one thing to say ..Dave Roberts
I signed up for this to say I’m impressed with the knowledge and enthusiasm about baseball the commenters here have. I’ve been reading the back and forth with interest. This is so much in contrast with Facebook comments. I like the probability vs possibility argument.
Sox are coming undone.
Sox may regret not getting another starter at the deadline. Sale coming back is huge and Houck has been decent. Hopefully last night turned a corner for ERod. Perez and Richards are brutal and the league seems to have caught up with Pivetta. Why Daniel Gossett or Raynel Espinal haven’t gotten a chance is beyond me
The press likes to rag on the rotation, and they’ve been weak, but the real story is the lack of offense. We’ve scored 23 runs in the last 9 games (2.56 RPG). No one has enough pitching to overcome that.
Our softball pitchers Perez, Richards, and Pivetta put the offense in a hole every night early.
They need to release Richards and Perez already. Pivetta is very shakey as well.
Pivetta is falling back to norms rather than batters catching up to him.
Hey Bloom the Trade Deadline was last Friday July 30 not this week. Bloom picked up a pitcher DeLeon with an 8.35 ERA. Nice going Bloom!!!! Great pickup!!!!’ He should be a major help to this team in the stretch drive. At least he has a lower ERA than Perez, Richard, and Pivetta
I’m not seeing a DeLeon in the majors since 1995. Care to supply some additional info on Mr. DeLeon?
Drafted in 2015 by Dodgers. Acquired by Rays in 2017, was their #3 prospect and #28 on MLB Pipeline. Torn UCL in March 2018 and TJS. Nothing good since then.
Okay, I searched without leaving the space after the De. So AL34 is whining about ,minor league depth/project.
You cannot make chicken salad out of chicken feathers . Garbage is garbage! BTW another great outing by Perez today. What did he go over inning plus? Perez and Richards kill the bullpen. Release them already and bring up starters from Triple AAA. They could not do any worse.
There is no harm in rehab projects. IMO, anyone with a 10K/9 Strikeout rate could be redeemed.
I remember de Leon’s prospecthood. As a minor leaguer, he was reasonably expected to become what, say, Jack Flaherty or Aaron Nola has become. If he were fixable now, this would be an enormous get, but his development was going sideways even before the injury and surgery (hence the trade from the Dodgers), and there’s been enough time since then that a productive career is not a likely outcome. I still think taking a chance on him in the minors at virtually no cost is justified.
Boston should have traded for Merrill Kelly.
Rays win Yanks second oakland wild card sox go home. Id perfer sox not yanks but (or neither) but you can see it coming