- Likewise, the Red Sox are facing significant uncertainty with southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez, as John Tomase of WEEI.com reports. He’s still experiencing knee soreness, with diminished velocity seemingly resulting, and will miss his next scheduled rehab start. Hopes had been that the youngster would be back in the majors by this point, but instead he’ll throw a bullpen session later this week while the team assesses next steps. Boston is understandably proceeding with caution, lest the knee problem worsen or lead to some other injury. Rodriguez’s current rehab stint has been halted, giving the organization the option of re-starting another 30-day clock, though that step has yet to be taken.
Red Sox Rumors
Dombrowski Impressed By Royals' Success
- It’s no surprise that any team would take some lessons from the Royals following their World Series victory, as even the big-market Red Sox have observed K.C.’s model for success, Dave Dombrowski tells Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald. While Dombrowski noted some distinct differences between the two franchises, he praised the Royals’ mentality, player development and (most specifically) their bullpen construction. Silverman points out that the acquisitions of Craig Kimbrel and Carson Smith were perhaps the most direct way in which the Sox have tried to emulate the Royals’ blueprint, though Boston needed a bullpen upgrade in general following a rough 2015 for the relief corps.
- In other AL East news from earlier today, the Orioles placed Jimmy Paredes on waivers, the Red Sox designated Sean O’Sullivan for assignment and we explored several more items out of Boston in an edition of Red Sox Notes.
Red Sox Designate Sean O’Sullivan For Assignment
The Red Sox have designated right-hander Sean O’Sullivan for assignment, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald was among those to report (Twitter link).
Before the Red Sox designated him, the 28-year-old O’Sullivan made his second major league start of the year Sunday. In a 10-9 win over Houston, O’Sullivan threw 4 1/3 ugly innings, allowing five earned runs on six hits – including two home runs – along with three strikeouts and two walks. O’Sullivan’s first start, in Boston’s 13-5 victory over Oakland this past Tuesday, was a more successful outing. He still surrendered 12 hits and four earned runs in six innings, however. All told, O’Sullivan threw 11 1/3 innings for the Red Sox prior to today and compiled an unsightly 7.94 ERA.
In parts of seven big league seasons, O’Sullivan has racked up 309 1/3 career major league frames and pitched to a 5.96 ERA. His struggles have come thanks in part to a lack of strikeouts, as O’Sullivan has averaged just 4.34 per nine innings.
Red Sox Notes: Ortiz, Buchholz, Front Office
The latest from Boston:
- This is supposed to be designated hitter David Ortiz’s final season, but given his remarkable production, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe believes the Red Sox – namely owner John Henry, chairman Tom Werner and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski – must do everything in their power to convince the potential future Hall of Famer to return as a 41-year-old in 2017. The Sox should be prepared to offer $20MM-plus million to Ortiz, who’s playing this year on a $10MM club option that could reach $16MM with incentives, writes Cafardo. Although Ortiz has been an excellent hitter for the lion’s share of his career, no one expected him to slash .320/.405/.695 with 10 home runs in the first 148 plate appearances of his farewell campaign. He remains far and away the best offensive player Boston has, which is no small feat considering its lineup’s outstanding production as a whole.
- Ortiz may be indispensable, but the opposite is true in regards to right-hander Clay Buchholz, offers Cafardo. Buchholz’s stuff and his past moments of brilliance could appeal to teams looking to land a starter, per Cafardo. “He’d be on anyone’s list to acquire if he were made available,” an American League scout told Cafardo on Saturday, when Buchholz allowed five runs in six innings against the Astros and saw his ERA rise to 6.11. The 31-year-old was terrific as recently as last season, though, as he spun 113 1/3 frames of 3.26 ERA/2.68 FIP/3.30 xFIP ball to accompany an 8.5 K/9 and 1.83 BB/9. An acquiring team would have the chance to retain Buchholz next year on a $13.5MM club option.
- Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald provided a look at how the Red Sox’s front office is operating in its first full season under Dombrowski. The former general manager of the Expos, Marlins and Tigers is thought of as an old-school executive, as Drellich notes, but Dombrowski says Boston’s front office is “very innovative.” That innovation can be found in two areas – Sox Science and Sport Science – according to Drellich. The former focuses on numbers, while the latter is concerned with off-field endeavors and deals with the training and medical fields. “Medical is becoming a huge area that teams are invested in, all the way around, however you slice the medical part of it,” said GM Mike Hazen, who added that the club is “doing a lot of things that are looking to help maximize the performance of our player.” Dombrowski acknowledged that the franchise’s financial clout has a sizable impact on its ability to assemble a deep, forward-thinking front office. “Here, you can put the major league payroll (high) and still do the other things. And I think that really is a difference, and an enjoyable difference,” he told Drellich.
Red Sox Well-Prepared For Deadline
- The Red Sox will be better-prepared for the trade deadline than their divisional competition, with a farm system that rates as significantly better than those of the Orioles or Blue Jays.
MLB Investigating Red Sox’ International Signings
8:12pm: Via Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald, while the league has spoken to the players in question, the Red Sox themselves have yet to be questioned due to the fact that MLB is currently “right in the middle” of the investigation. Interestingly, Drellich reports that there was pre-existing evidence against the Sox that led to the league’s investigation, citing a source that references a “specific fact pattern” that was detected. The players themselves wouldn’t be punished even if the league is able to determine that the Red Sox utilized package agreements to circumvent the signing restrictions, per Drellich’s source. Furthermore, Drellich spoke to multiple sources that refuted allegations of threatening the players whilst questioning them, as the players themselves aren’t the target and do not stand to be punished.
Proving allegations of this nature is a highly difficult task, he continues, as the worth of each player is entirely subjective, and paper trails aren’t easily found. “It’s just a difficult thing to prove without cooperation,” one source told Drellich, which could serve to explain the reasoning behind the league’s decision to first question the players themselves.
Any punishment for the Sox would be the first of its kind, as to this point, only warnings have been issued when it comes to matters of international bonus pools. Drellich adds that any disciplinary measures that are taken by the league would carry over even if the international signing system is revamped in the upcoming wave of collective bargaining negotiations.
11:23am: Major League Baseball is investigating the Red Sox in relation to the team’s 2015-16 international signings, Ben Badler of Baseball America reports. In particular, the league is said to be looking into the club’s actions in Venezuela.
Boston entered the current July 2 signing period with a prohibition on any bonuses of over $300K, a penalty that stems from the club’s prior-year investments (including, most notably, Yoan Moncada) and will carry over for one more signing season. Nevertheless, Badler explains, the organization was able to land several highly-rated international talents for somewhat surprisingly low bonuses.
The investigation is looking into the tactics that the organization may have used in procuring certain signings, including players such as Albert Guaimaro, Simon Muzziotti, Antonio Pinero, and Eduardo Torrealba — all of whom landed bonuses of exactly $300K. These players reportedly shared trainers with several other Red Sox signees, leading to concern that they may have been signed to “package” deals in an effort to evade the signing restrictions.
Badler recently detailed that practice in a piece at BA, though it did not cite Boston in particular and dealt primarily with the Cuban market. Per his more recent report, though, only the Red Sox are being investigated by the league at this time.
Interestingly, as Badler notes, the use of package arrangements is widespread and long-established. Moreover, it doesn’t appear to violate any specific MLB rules and all of the contracts in question have previously been approved by the league. There are, of course, other possible incentives (beyond bonus pool evasion) for teams and trainers to arrange non-value-based payouts between certain players. In particular, trainers often have different “stakes” in different players’ eventual bonuses.
Several players reportedly acknowledged some kind of package arrangement in their signings, a source tells Badler. But it remains unclear precisely what the repercussions could be if that is indeed what the league’s investigation shows.
It seems fair to note, too, that there are in theory different ways in which packaging could occur, which might well be viewed differently. Traditional packaging that mutually benefits a trainer and team certainly raises ethical questions, but may not be of concern to the league at this juncture. Post-signing asset shifting to $300K signees from trainers or other players, on the other hand, could conceivably be more worrisome from the perspective of competitive advantage. As things stand, though, this is all hypothetical.
Questions are also raised as to MLB’s tactics in interviewing players, with sources telling Badler of various high-pressure techniques on the teenagers. A league source responded, saying that players are obligated to cooperate but that the investigators did not threaten them with suspensions to secure cooperation.
You’ll certainly want to read Badler’s entire piece for more details on the investigation and the rest of the story.
Red Sox Still Taking It Slow With Eduardo Rodriguez
- Eduardo Rodriguez needs to make “at minimum” one more rehab start in the minor leagues, Red Sox manager John Farrell tells Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald. As such, Rodriguez will not be activated from the disabled list this week and is likely to stay with Triple-A Pawtucket for the time being. Rodriguez is OK with the decision, Mastrodonato writes, as his velocity has been topping out at just 93 mph after reaching as high as 98 mph. The Sox have had Rodriguez go through strength testing, and Farrell says that the lefty is still building arm strength, though Rodriguez himself tells WEEI’s Rob Bradford that he made some strides in tonight’s bullpen session. “I could push more with my back leg, and it felt pretty good,” he says. “That’s what I needed to work on, using my lower half. So that’s what I tried to do today in the bullpen, and it went well.”
AL Notes: Gallardo, Ausmus, Hill
Orioles righty Yovani Gallardo will have a “light catch” over the weekend, Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun reports on Twitter. Gallardo hit the DL on April 23rd but is only now apparently set to test out his bothersome shoulder. Even if he’s able to begin progressing back toward the mound, his timetable remains uncertain. And beyond that, Gallardo still will face questions about his ability to remain effective while exhibiting a rather significant velocity decline that apparently preceded his injury.
Here are a few more notes from the American League:
- Tigers manager Brad Ausmus acknowledges that he is “in the crosshairs” with his team struggling, writes MLive.com’s Aaron McMann. “I knew when I took this job, I was probably going to get fired before I walked away from it,” said Ausmus. “Not this job in particular, but just managing in general. How many managers walk away from a job?” The Tigers are off to a fairly disappointing 14-16 start and suffered through a disastrous bullpen meltdown on Sunday, when Mark Lowe and Justin Wilson combined to serve up seven runs in the eighth inning. Ausmus said he hasn’t heard anything either way from owner Mike Ilitch or GM Al Avila in terms of his job security.
- Rich Hill has been one of the best stories in the league this season with the A’s, but the Red Sox made an effort to keep around following his September renaissance last season, according to WEEI.com’s John Tomase. Boston offered Hill a one-year, Major League deal on the heels of his four brilliant starts down the stretch, but the money didn’t match up to Oakland’s $6MM, per Tomase’s sources. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski wouldn’t get into any specific details, unsurprisingly, but he did acknowledge that his team made Hill what it felt to be a competitive offer. “We gave him what we felt was a solid offer,” said Dombrowski. “They did better. It’s always easier in hindsight. It’s a situation where we did like him enough to offer him a nice deal, we thought. Oakland really stepped up, and you tip your cap.”
Red Sox Sign Nate Freiman
- The Red Sox have signed former A’s first baseman Nate Freiman to a minor league deal and assigned him to Double-A Portland, according to an announcement from the independent Atlantic League. Freiman, 29, has been playing for the Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks and hitting quite well through a small six-game sample (8-for-21, two homers, one double, two walks). Freiman showed good pop and handled left-handed pitching well for the 2013-14 A’s (.279/.326/.470 in 233 PAs), but his production evaporated at the Triple-A level last season when he hit just .220/.279/.321 in 305 PAs.
Blake Swihart's Trade Value Still High
- If the Braves decide to make a change at manager, Cafardo suggests that Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo would be a good fit for the rebuilding club due to Lovullo’s experience in dealing with younger players. Lovullo posted a winning record while serving as Boston’s interim manager last year and received quite a bit of credit for helping end 2015 on a positive note after the disastrous first few months of the Sox season.
- One AL general manager thinks the Red Sox would be willing to include Blake Swihart in a trade package for “a No. 2 type pitcher.” Though Swihart has struggled defensively behind the plate and has been demoted to Triple-A, the former top prospect still has a lot of trade value. Swihart’s hitting potential makes him a bigger trade target than fellow Boston catcher Christian Vazquez for most teams, as Vazquez is a much better defender but is a question mark at the plate.
- It has become clear that the Red Sox made the right choice in choosing Jackie Bradley Jr. over Jacoby Ellsbury, Cafardo opines. Bradley is starting to show signs that he can be a consistent big league hitter and he’s always displayed an outstanding glove, while Ellsbury has battled injuries and declining performance since signing a seven-year/$153MM deal with the Yankees in the 2013-14 offseason.
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