TODAY: As expected, the Red Sox selected Littell’s contract and he is now part of their active roster. In corresponding moves, Ort was optioned to Triple-A and Adam Duvall was shifted to the 60-day injured list. Duvall was placed on the 10-day IL just under four weeks ago due to a fractured wrist, and since it will still be a couple of weeks before Duvall is even able to start swinging, his move to the 60-day IL opens up a 40-man roster spot for Boston.
MAY 5, 11:38pm: Littell’s contract with the Rangers contained an upward mobility clause requiring the Rangers to trade him or promote him to the majors if another club was willing to add him to the MLB roster, reports Alex Speier of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). The Red Sox expressed a willingness to do so, leading to the trade. While Littell was initially assigned to Triple-A Worcester, he’s expected to be formally promoted to the major league roster shortly.
5:30pm: The Red Sox have acquired right-hander Zack Littell from the Rangers, reports Kennedi Landry of MLB.com, with cash considerations going the other way. Littell wasn’t on the club’s 40-man roster, so no corresponding moves will be necessary.
Littell, 27, was with the Giants the past two years but was outrighted off their roster at the end of last season and elected free agency. He signed a minor league deal with the Rangers in the winter and had been pitching well in Triple-A. Through 12 innings for the Round Rock Express, he had a 2.25 ERA, striking out 33.3% of opponents against a tiny walk rate of 4.2%.
That’s a stronger performance than he’s managed in the big leagues recently. With San Francisco in 2021 and 2022, he tossed 106 innings with a 3.82 ERA, 23.1% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate. It seems the Red Sox were encouraged enough by the small sample improvements to take a shot on him, while the Rangers were seemingly content to let him go and pocket some cash.
Littell is out of options, meaning that he’d have to stick in the big leagues if he gets back there, or else be designated for assignment. But in the event he does back to the bigs and sticks, he could be retained for future seasons. He came into this season with three years and 67 days of service time, meaning he could get to the four-year mark in 2023 if called up soon. Even in that case, he’d have a couple more arb years before getting to the six-year mark and automatic free agency, though a delayed call-up could push that back.
The Sox have dealt with a handful of injuries to their relief corps this year, as Zack Kelly, Joely Rodríguez and Wyatt Mills are all on the injured list. Right-hander Kutter Crawford joined them today when the Sox put him on the IL with a left hamstring strain, recalling righty Kaleb Ort to take his place. Littell will give the club a bit of extra non-roster depth and try to work his way back to the majors.
Because Texas obviously doesn’t need bullpen help after blowing 2 6 run leads late in back to back games to the Cincinnati Reds… that 8 K/BB ratio and 2.25 ERA
And it’s awkward to be a member of the Giants when your name is Littell.
Cartrow – I appreciate your great humor, it’s making you one of my favorite posters!
No Mas! For the love of God no more Ort! Instead of cash they should have unloaded him to the Rangers.
Teams always know their players better than anyone else. but it seems slightly odd. Littell seems okay based on the past two years.
Umm…they just blew chunks again.
Hey Ranger, I found out who your stalker is. He calls himself the LegendayHarambe and he uses a Gorilla for an Avatar. he’s doing it to me now caliing himself 1536 instead of 26. He’s is too dumb to copy my clown Avatar right. I called him out on the Contreras article and now all the sudden this pops up. He probably has a ton of screen identities.
I was hoping the Ranger news today would be that Leclerc was sent to Round Rock.
I was hoping the Rangers news today would be that Leclerc was sent to the Red Sox!
Nice pick up for Red Sox. He’s an every-other-year guy and its an odd year.
Smart observation.
If only Farhan had been quicker on the phone, he could have brought Littell back as part of putting the band back together.
I know this is hyperbole; but I can’t remember a single time I felt good about him coming into a game for the Giants. Good luck Red Sox.
CCooper8920 – First, he can not be worse than Kaleb Ort who is like pouring gas on a fire. Second, the Red Sox have zero bullpen depth in AAA, so the bar is currently very low.
That’s about right. I think things will change once Whitlock, Joely and/or Paxton get healthy. But right now, Brasier has to be a target.
Brassiere shouldn’t even be on an MLB roster.
He won’t be soon enough.
And then you’ll just have mammaries.
Exactly right. He’s BP depth that can be stashed in AAA for now, only costs cash and doesn’t even require a 40-man roster move at the moment. Really nothing to dislike about this move.
In 2021 he appeared in 62 games with a 2.92 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP for the Giants, so if you never felt good about him coming in a game, that’s a you thing.
High Upside Guy
In before the other Red Sox complainers. I know it’s a small sample size, but what is our record right now? Wait, you didn’t hear me?
There’s Sox fans who just want attention by attacking Cora and Bloom and won’t accept any positives when and if they happen.
I’m not trying to be a glass half full kind of guy, just trying to be realistic here.
I mean, it’s not that small.
538 has them winning 85 games with a 43 percent chance at the playoffs. projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2023-mlb-predictions/
Oh, f me! I forgot to put in a wager when the under/over was 78.5. Oh well, I can still enjoy it.
I’m sure they had the Yankees much higher and they’re not playing up to expectations and have injuries.
I’d like to know how many of these early predictions fare well on average over every season because I don’t think they’re very good. In 2021, our percentage of making the playoffs got lower each day in September until we made it and came within two wins of a World Series. Every prediction prior had us not even making the postseason.
My point is that it’s a long season and the emerging teams that do well go completely under the radar. But it’s hard to rule anyone out right now and it’s hard to heavily rely on early predictions.
Just a couple of observations.
1-These websites that give playoff % (not including bookies) seldom have any idea what they are talking about.
2-Wagers on whether or mot a team will make the playoffs, WS, etc., are generally sucker bets because there is no counter-party. 100% of the wagers are on teams MAKING the playoffs, not on teams NOT making the playoffs. Every team is too low.
3-OTOH, since you can bet over or under 78.5, that numbers need to be extraordinarily precise.
Let’s shorten those posts, okay?
All the best!
The point of the website I linked wasn’t to say they “knew what they were talking about”
It’s a snapshot of what people think of the Red Sox chances that aren’t arguing on this board.
Bloom’s BFF – You glass is half full of bs. Watching and commenting on what you watch is what fans do. Homers only want to say positive things. Baseball fans evaluate what they see and comment. So HOMER if you somehow want to give Bloom or Cora credit for the good days happening right now be equally prepared to blame them when things turn around and they will several times during a 162 games season..
It’s great that so many players are playing over their heads. All Red Sox fans are thankful, even those that point out Cora and Bloom’s mistakes. We also know baseball a lot better than you do because we study the game rather than pick up our pom poms.
Teams go through hot streaks and cold streaks. This is an incredible unexpected hot streak since it’s happening against good teams. One thing was easily predictable in that Sale eventually would regain his form and be the old Sale. The risk was whether he could stay healthy.
Seeing Duran play like he is could not have been predicted but all Duran fans love it including me. We can look at Kiki’s track record over 10 years and say with this hot streak will come and equally large if not larger cold streak. That’s why after 10 years his lifetime average is below .240. Be prepared for when his eyes glass over and he hits .100 for two weeks. Devers is not even hot so that’s a big plus because he will get hot. Yoshida is playing well above his skill level so expect a regression to the mean but the good news is he is not over matched by MLB pitching. That means he has the potential to be a 115 to 130 OPS+ guy which is great news. $18MM is still a bit high but if he’s in the OPS+ range mentioned he’s not a disaster. Verdugo is off to a great start and will also regress to his mean. It’s fun to see him play like the guy Freidman sold Bloom but in the end, he’s still a slightly above league average player.
The pitching, especially Sale, looks much better than expected. Kluber was a waste but the young guns are rolling and that brightens the team’s future. If Whitlock goes to the pen, they may have one of the best pens in baseball.
So Mr. My Glass is Half Full, nobody holds it against you that you are a fan not a baseball person but stop criticizing the guys that know so much more than you about the game. We don’t need to agree with your opinion to be right. In fact, it’s only on the occasions that you agree with us that you are right!!
Also, the last thing you are is realistic!!! hahaha You are completely biased and not capable of baseball analysis due to the bias.
KD17;
Bloom’s BFF is on target.
Sooner or later it was going to happen. Bloom knows what he’s doing. This isn’t rotisserie league. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Yoshida was a terrific pickup. A poor boys Luis Arraez. Turner is a clutch dirt dog like like Pedroia and Youkilis were. Hernandez can’t play SS every day, they need to so something there – move him somewhere else at times. Wong is is a good handler of pitchers and slowly coming around – same as Varitek did. Devers remains one of the best hitters in MLB, and Duran has propelled that team – not only hitting, but closing the hole in CF….hope he continues.
The pitching remains a work in progress, but Bloom came from the Rays and he played a big part in their developing their own pitchers.
Sure, it’s early May. But I have suspicions that both the Orioles and Red Sox will finish ahead of the Jays and Yankees this year. I wrote late this past offseason that the Jays and Padres would surprise a lot of people this year. So far, so good.
Baseball is played on a field, not a spreadsheet. Some teams may not seem impressive, but they know how to win….and some teams that look good on paper don’t now how to win.
Samuel – Bloom has proven over and over he was just a guy in the room when the knowledgeable baseball people were discussing what to do in TB. He simply took credit for it because that’s the type of guy he is.
You have no insights into what he did in TB. Look at their track record since he left and our track record since he arrived. Their success blows away what Bloom has done. That confirms he wasn’t the brains just the guy taking credit.
If he’s a relative of yours I’m sorry. He could be because like Bloom you are drawing conclusions from a small sample size when you say Yoshida IS a terrific pickup because you fail to mention how much it cost Boston and the fact that he’s been both hot and cold since he joined the team. Nothing is set in stone with Yoshida and some of us have perspective enough to not prematurely judge what a foreigner will do in the future having no MLB experience.
Hernandez shouldn’t be on the team. His lifetime and Boston averages are nearly identical and both are roughly .240 which is unacceptable normally for a bad fielding infielder. Wong is a utility catcher that’s why Boston got him in the deal. Freidman wasn’t about to give up a decent catcher. The guy was 5th or 6th on their depth chart for a reason. It’s great that he’s hot right now but his past performances don’t suggest he will do well for an entire season. Heck, in the minors he only played 100 games 1 time and it was at Hi-A in 2018 five years ago. Since then his skills didn’t merit playing time. Desperation to prove some value out of the Mookie GIVEAWAY has gotten him a chance to play and so far after 24 whole games he’s doing better than anyone should have expected. Good for him but It’s not a season, it’s a small sample that can change in a heart beat. To put Wong and Varitek in the same sentence is sacrilegious. Lets just ignore that bit of insanity on your part.
For those of us who have been in the game for over half a century, we actually know that the game is played on the field it’s not just rhetoric like it is for you. Data on past performance explains what a player has achieved with his career up to that point in time. It’s not a guarantee it’s a trend that most often continues.
As far as teams knowing how to win, it’s just more rhetoric. The same team can have good fortune and bad fortune yet the same skill set. That’s what creates a winner one year and not the next. That’s why repeating is so difficult. This team doesn’t know how to win, they are winning thanks to lots of good fortune like in 2021 and key players stepping up. Devers and Sale are your two all-stars instead of the six they had when Bloom arrived. The rest are complimentary players who don’t have the consistent performances of a Devers. If enough players are hot like the utility guys playing for the Red Sox because Bloom didn’t invest in star players the team can win but they can’t sustain it without star players.
It’s funny I don’t remember you chirping when the team was below .500. All the contributors that you take cheap shots at did. They commented about the good and the bad. They didn’t hide and then pop out when the team goes on a win streak. They contribute daily with valid opinions about the good and the bad about the team.
It’s great that you are so self righteous but I’m struggling to understand why? Every team needs someone to hold the pom poms and I congratulate you on that role. When you want to talk real baseball instead of cheer leading write some comments that have documented opinions. Otherwise, just keep jumping up and down yelling go Bloom while we laugh at you..
@KD You can’t talk like that to Samuel, he will block you!!
KD17;
You’re comparing a teams performance that had come out of a long-term rebuild, was contending, and had a top ranked farm system – to a team that needed to get it’s payroll down, restock its farm system, and its performance.
You have no insights into what Bloom did in TB, or what he’s doing in Boston.
I’ve been watching MLB for over 65 years and have worked in large business for over 45. MLB is a business. Sustainable contention is the objective, and that takes years to set up.
I believe the Orioles have done remarkable job of rebuilding – the best since the Royals in 2011-13 and the Astros – that have been contending for 8 years and counting. I don’t believe the Red Sox will do that well….but they will do well.
KD doesnt understand how farm systems work. Isn’t TB’s success right now partially due to Bloom’s team building. I mean he was there 4 years ago. Since players take 5 or 6 years most of the time to develop, wouldnt he be responsible for several of the players who are performing now? And using that same premise, wouldnt the same apply to the Red Sox, in that they needed a few years for his GM style to work? He isnt a ‘buy a pennant’ guy, he’s a ‘home-grown talent guy’. Whats so hard to understand.
Bloom’s contribution to current Rays team:
2016 Draft Josh Lowe
2016 Draft Brandon Lowe
2017 Draft Taylor Walls
2017 Draft Drew Rasmussen
2018 Draft Shane McCalahan
2017 Int Signing Wander Franco
2018 Trade for Wandy Diaz
Players Acquired later, using players drafted/signed by Bloom:
Luke Raley, Randy Arozaine, Christian Betancourt, Isaac Peredas
*I didnt go through entire roster, only about the top 15, or so, contributors.
KD is a troll and needs to be ignored.
Hey Katie!
Shorten those posts, k?
All the best.
On and on and on and on…
Samuel – If Bloom was the brains in TB then why has TB been so successful in making deals since he left and the Red Sox have failed miserably since he arrived in Boston? That’s my insight into Bloom’s performance in TB. Nothing changed when he left and nothing improved in Boston when he arrived. Conclusion….. He had nothing to do with the TB success while he was in charge except take credit for it. Now he must take credit for the destruction he’s caused in Boston.
Your assessment of the Red Sox when Bloom arrived shows you are not on top of what is happening in Boston. The payroll DID NOT need to get down because DD wasn’t spending over the CAP. The previous mistakes prior to DD were costing the owners some money but they still were making over $300MM per year. There was no financial crisis. you are uninformed on the financial situation. Next the farm system DID NOT need to be restocked and it hasn’t been since he arrived. Both points you clearly have no clue about. The Red Sox farm system produced a lot of talent over the last 10 years. 4 all-stars were developed and let go by Bloom. 1 all-star is still present from the farm system. That’s called destruction of an organization. The farm system is still producing like it was and none of it is from Bloom. Duran is not a Bloom guy. Casas is not a Bloom guy. It’s a myth that Bloom has improved the farm system. It’s only higher rated because Mayer added so many points that it jumped in value but Mayer was a result of failure by Bloom. The fourth pick in the draft was an embarrassment to Red Sox fans. They should have been competing for another ring but instead their manager completely screwed the pitching staff in 2019 and when DD got fired they blew up the entire organization while it was in it’s prime and WS RING caliber. You don’t seem to be paying attention to what really has happened in TB or Boston.
One last point to clarify your misunderstanding of rebuilding. If you get the first pick in the draft enough years in a row your team should have a bright future. The fans, however, must suffer through the mismanagement of the club. The good clubs retool, the bad ones rebuild. Houston tanked to create the great team they have. The Orioles tanked and now they have had a run of failure like Houston’s so they should be the next great team as you mentioned. It’s got nothing to do with a great farm system, it’s got everything to do with tanking and getting top picks in several years in a row.
If you think that’s good baseball, I disagree with you. I think GMs who can retool rather than rebuild are the ones that service their fans’ needs the best. Boston won a RING with a team that was in it’s prime and because of the behavior of ownership it destroyed the chance for a sting of success and ended up with a five year plan that has produced nothing close to the original product. That’s bad business.
Bloom is as bad at his job as Devers is at defense. They are both the worst in baseball at their jobs, Bloom being a Head of Baseball Operations and Devers playing defense.
Sammy Sweetheart, take Blooms meat out your mouth.
Jurassic Carl;
Mute.
You thought it was a surprise those teams were going to be on a mid 90’s win pace? They were two teams expected to be in playoff contention, i don’t think theyre really considered surprises.
Oh dear, a whole lot of sniping and typing.
Can’t we all enjoy the winning streak?
Really, who cares what ANYBODY thinks of Bloom and Cora???
Just wait and see.
Heh heh heh… Bloom and Cora…
Sounds like a Laverne & Shirley reboot!
This is a great pickup. This is one of those pickups that goes unnoticed and Zittell does his job when he finally gets his call. You enter the season expecting to win 82 games and in September it ends the year 88 wins and with a wild card. How? Depth kept you stable when ya went through injuries. Chris Sale, he gave up 3 runs in 6 innings but the optimistic part of it was 10 k’s and 1 BB. That will get the job done.
He is looking more and more like vintage Sale. I’ve mentioned a few times, but if I were Bloom, I’d ask his agent what his number would be for another 1-2 years past his option year.
It could be something as simple as, if we pick up his 2025 option right now, he gives us a 2026 option at the same price.
In addition, no trade limitations for Sale if the Sox extend him.
Make offers for 5-year guarantees to Duran, Wong, and Houck. They have extended contracts for Devers Matsa, and Whitlock.
I seriously hope you aren’t comparing Yoshida to Arraez.
I will say, however, that I did expect Duran to come around when a lot of people just simply disregarded him completely.
“Yoshida was a terrific pickup. A poor boys Luis Arraez.”
Bloom’s BFF;
This is the problem I have with many of your posts.
I realize that it’s a way of life in social media to take what someone wrote, misrepresent it, and then rap, demean or insult the author for writing something they didn’t write.
If you’re going to continue to do that to me, please mute me. If you continue, I’ll mute you.
Thank you.
A mutual mute that isn’t moot?
Interesting.
How is he a poor boy’s Luis Arraez? I don’t get it. If you wat people to understand, provide context.
I’m not muting you as you don’t bother me as some others have. I may have easily misinterpreted what you said but there is little to no context.
The Rangers keep preaching to throw strikes and not walk anyone but they get rid of him? He could’ve taken Dunning’s place in the bullpen. Don’t know if he’s a long relief or short relief guy but they could’ve found a spot for him.
jacl:
Agree, there sounds like something is going on beyond his talent. Personality conflict or something else. But no reason for the Rangers to get rid of a 5 year vet, with a 0.917 Whip at Triple A, based on talent alone.
Get a Japanese pitcher that throws a gyro ball or frisbee ball or one of those goofy names.
Hey if it means we finally kick Brasier and/or Ort to the scrap heap, I love it!
Why we will still have Brasier is a major head scratcher.
I read that it is because the bosses likes that he ‘throws strikes’. Apparently it doesn’t matter to them that those ‘strikes’ usually find their way over the Green Monster.
15-6 over the last 21, against some of the toughest teams in baseball, and all you guys can talk about is Brasier. Lol.
Too bad Yu Chang got hurt, it would give you two subjects to talk about.
Brasier who helped the Red Sox win a WS and has a career WHIP of 1.25…. Oh the horror.
And he’s a nice guy don’t forget!!( perfect in save opportunities)
I could care less if the Red Sox cut him, but when people freak about him it shows who gets the big picture and who doesn’t. He;’s an affordable BP arm who has been competent for years.
Not this one so far, but I mean…its early May.
Dbh… only on balls put in play( which in his case is 99.9%)
all you guys can talk about is Brasier. Lol.
==========================
Sure. There will be some posters in here that would rather that we lose than the horror of having to acknowledge that we might have a good team. A lot of people hated Tito and Theo as well.
@RSmith I made a whole post here about their success. Go see it.
He was excellent in the World Series run. That was 5 years ago. He’s been trash ever since
He’s got to keep that FB high in the strike zone. Whenever he gets tagged for a gopher, it’s belt high.
Just be careful when you take him out of a game !
Seems like a no-lose pick up to me. Hope it works out really well. Our pen can really use some reinforcement right now. They’ve hauled some innings. Fingers crossed
DBH – Agreed, and if it eventually leads to Brasier going bye-bye then it’s icing on the cake.
Hey, look! A 4 run lead blown in late innings, including 3 in the 9th and 1 in the 10th – great work Chris Young!
Meanwhile, the Ranger bullpen blew another one last night.
Bloom’s team biotch slapped Dombrowski’s team last night. I give the Phillies one more year of putting up with his over-the-cap, no-farm system team, before they tell him to hit the road.
Bloom’s contribution to current Rays team:
2016 Draft Josh Lowe
2016 Draft Brandon Lowe
2017 Draft Taylor Walls
2017 Draft Drew Rasmussen
2018 Draft Shane McCalahan
2017 Int Signing Wander Franco
2018 Trade for Wandy Diaz
What exactly do the Red Sox currently have from those same 4 years of DD running the Red Sox???
Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford, Jarren Duran, Tristan Casas, Chris Murphy, Brandon Walter, Bryan Mata, Brayan Bello, and Cedanne Rafaela.
Youre forced to name minor league players. I just went through the top 15 on TB, I didnt even get into the Back 9 of the 26 man roster, or the half dozen traded away, let alone the minors.
I wouldnt trade Wander Franco for that entire group. Thx for helping me prove my point.
Chaim Bloom loves Kaleb Ort so very much, for absolutely no good reason.
Ban – In all fairness to Bloom, he has a reason …. Ort throws 101 MPH.
I don’t even bother trying to explain that anymore. What amazes me me is that so many people got upset when Darwinzon got cut, because they believed in his potential. But as I mentioned at the time, Ort threw a lot harder.
Happy 92nd birthday to number 24, the Say Hey Kid!