- Right-hander Nick Pivetta will make his Red Sox debut Tuesday with a start against the Orioles, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia relays. Pivetta, whom the Red Sox acquired from the Phillies last month in the teams’ trade centering on relievers Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree, pitched to a 5.50 ERA/4.64 FIP in 396 1/3 innings from 2017-20.
Red Sox Rumors
Minor MLB Transactions: 09/19/20
Today’s minor moves:
- The Red Sox have selected the contract of outfielder César Puello. Right-hander Zack Godley has been placed on the 45-day injured list, while infielder Yairo Muñoz went on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to September 18) with a lower back strain. The 29-year-old Puello only has 186 MLB plate appearances to his name, but he’s built a strong track record in Triple-A. In parts of five seasons at the minors’ highest level, Puello has put up a .292/.391/.446 line.
Red Sox Chairman: “We Expect To Be Competitive Next Year”
On the heels of what team chairman Tom Werner described as “a very disappointing season,” Werner said the Red Sox are planning for a return to form in 2021. In an interview on NESN’s Gameday Live show yesterday (hat tip to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo), Werner noted that the Sox were hampered by multiple injuries this season, though “we’re not going to make any excuses. The only thing I’ll say is that there were a number of bright spots this year. We’re already attacking the challenges and we expect to be competitive next year.”
The Red Sox are 19-33, a record that puts them in last place in the AL East and 28th of 30 teams (ahead of only the Pirates and Rangers) in winning percentage. Injuries were indeed a factor as Werner mentioned, most notably Chris Sale being lost to Tommy John surgery and Eduardo Rodriguez missing the entire season after developing myocarditis stemming from a bout of COVID-19. While the pitching staff never recovered from the loss of those key arms, there were also issues on the position player side, as the likes of J.D. Martinez and Andrew Benintendi underachieved at the plate.
With the postseason out of reach early, the Red Sox did some selling at the deadline, trading such players as Mitch Moreland, Brandon Workman, Heath Hembree, and Kevin Pillar. However, the fact that Boston didn’t move any true long-term assets was the first hint that the club wasn’t planning any sort of big overhaul.
“We don’t want this to be a long rebuilding process….We’ve got a lot of assets and, as everybody knows, we spend and we’re not a small-market team,” Werner said. “We’re going to be back next year.”
After two years of luxury tax payments, the Red Sox got their payroll under the tax threshold in 2020, thus resetting their penalty limit to zero and allowing the team to surpass the 2021 threshold ($210MM) if necessary with only a minimal penalty fee. Of course, last year’s hiring of former Rays executive Chaim Bloom as chief baseball officer indicates that the Sox are likely planning a more efficient approach to spending that would keep them from regularly crossing the tax line, even if Boston will surely still have one of the sport’s higher payrolls.
Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Alex Verdugo, and promising rookie Bobby Dalbec are bolstering a lineup that is still quite productive, though “there’s no secret to the fact that pitching wins pennants for you….It’s going to start with pitching,” Werner said. Rodriguez and Nathan Eovaldi project as Boston’s top two starters next year, Martin Perez seems like a good candidate to return on a $6.25MM club option for 2021, and Sale is on track to return in June or July given the usual Tommy John recovery timeframe. It seems very likely that the Red Sox will augment this group with at least one new pitcher, though it is yet to be known if Bloom will aim to make a big splash or if he will score on a lower-cost acquisition.
Rockies, Red Sox Complete Kevin Pillar Trade
The Rockies announced that they have sent right-hander Jacob Wallace to the Red Sox to complete the trade the teams made on Aug. 31 involving outfielder Kevin Pillar.
The 22-year-old Wallace, a third-round pick of the Rockies in 2019, debuted in low-A ball last season and pitched to a stingy 1.29 ERA/2.94 FIP with 12.43 K/9 and 3.86 BB/9 in 21 innings. Since then, Baseball America (No. 19), MLB.com (No. 20) and FanGraphs (No. 21) have placed Wallace among Colorado’s top 25 prospects. BA writes that Wallace is “the prototypical power reliever with a mid-90s fastball and a plus slider” who could quickly make his way to the majors and turn into a back-end reliever.
Wallace seems like a good return for Pillar, a pending free agent who performed decently for a non-contending Boston team before the trade. Pillar has struggled as a member of the Rockies, though, as he has batted just .255/.296/.373 in 54 plate appearances. The Rockies had designs on a playoff berth when they acquired Pillar, but they have floundered since then and now find themselves with a 22-27 record.
Red Sox Notes: Pivetta, Prospects, E-Rod, Yorke
Nick Pivetta will likely get a look late in the season with the Red Sox, but the team has kept its newly acquired right-hander at the alternate training site long enough to delay his path to free agency by a year, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe observes. Pivetta entered the year at two years, 94 days of MLB service, needing 78 more days to reach the three-year plateau. With each individual day of the 2020 season accounting for roughly 2.77 days of service time in this year’s prorated schedule, he’d have needed 29 days to get there. That won’t be possible based on his current trajectory, as Pivetta just started in a simulated game yesterday, meaning he won’t be an option to join the Boston rotation until next week.
It could all be a moot point if Pivetta doesn’t solidify himself in the big leagues, of course. The right-hander showed flashes of his potential at times with the Phillies and is able to miss bats in bunches. Consistency has eluded him, however, and the Phils flipped him to Boston in last month’s trade for Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree. Pivetta can now be controlled through the 2024 season, but he’ll need to improve upon the 5.23 ERA and 4.64 FIP he’s posted over the past three seasons.
More on the Red Sox…
- Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom spoke with Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald about player development and the decision to leave prospects like Tanner Houck down at the alternate site for much of the season — even as the big league roster saw continued struggles from journeymen who likely aren’t part of the long-term plan. Bloom cited a “big picture” approach to roster construction multiple times, suggesting that even if a prospect at the alternate site is a better option than someone on the MLB roster, that prospect’s development may not yet be finished. The remaining schedule is limited at this point, of course, but Bloom did indicate that additional young talent could yet get a look in the Majors. “There is one guy in particular I can think of that we’ve been building towards hopefully getting him an opportunity before the end of the year,” Bloom said without delving into specifics. (Speculate away, Sox fans!)
- Lefty Eduardo Rodriguez, who did not pitch in 2020 after developing myocarditis as an after-effect of his bout with Covid-19, is in Boston for another wave of testing, manager Ron Roenicke told reporters today (link via MLB.com’s Ian Browne). The team has yet to determine how he’ll build up for his expected 2021 return. The club still doesn’t have a clear picture of when Rodriguez can resume baseball activities, though Roenicke expressed hope that he’ll be able to begin a strength program “within the next couple months.” The Sox might have to limit Rodriguez’s workload next year, pitching coach Dave Bush acknowledged. “For a guy like Eduardo Rodriguez, 200 innings last year and zero this year, we’re still figuring out exactly what we can expect from him next year and what’s a reasonable amount so he can pitch and be part of the rotation,” said Bush.
- The Red Sox announced this morning that they’ve added 2020 first-rounder Nick Yorke to their 60-man player pool. The 18-year-old infielder obviously won’t be a consideration for the big leagues this season, but he’ll spend the final couple weeks of the season getting some development work in with the team’s staff. Right-hander Colten Brewer, who is on the 45-day injured list and already known to be done for the year due to a finger injury on his pitching hand, was removed from Boston’s player pool.
Red Sox Release Jonathan Lucroy
The Red Sox have released catcher Jonathan Lucroy, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com tweets. He had been part of their 60-man player pool.
Lucroy, whom the Red Sox signed to a minor league contract over the winter, made one appearance for the team earlier this season. The 34-year-old has now appeared in the majors in 11 consecutive seasons, but the two-time All-Star’s shine has come off over the past few campaigns.
Once rightly regarded as an elite two-way catcher with the Brewers, Lucroy’s production at the plate has cratered since 2017. Likewise, while Lucroy used to be an elite framer, he has experienced difficulty in that regard during the past few years. He’ll likely try for another contract with a new team – one worse than the Red Sox behind the plate. Their top two backstops, Christian Vazquez and Kevin Plawecki, have performed well this year.
Red Sox Promote Tanner Houck
SEPT. 15: The Houck promotion is official. In corresponding moves, the Red Sox moved lefty Kyle Hart to the 45-day IL and placed RHP Andrew Triggs on the 10-day IL with right radial nerve irritation.
SEPT. 13: The Red Sox are planning to promote pitching prospect Tanner Houck to make his MLB debut on Tuesday against the Marlins, per various reporters (including Jen McCaffrey of the Athletic). Ian Browne of MLB.com first reported that a Houck call-up was likely. He will need to be added to the 40-man roster before the promotion can become official.
Boston’s 2017 first-round pick (24th overall) out of the University of Missouri, Houck needed to be added to the 40-man this winter regardless in order to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. There’s little to lose for the out-of-contention Red Sox in getting an abbreviated look at Houck in the season’s final couple weeks.
The 24-year-old has seen his stock dip somewhat since draft day, although he’s still regarded as one of the club’s best short-term pitching prospects. Houck places among Boston’s top fifteen farmhands in the estimation of Keith Law of the Athletic (10th), MLB Pipeline (10th), Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen (11th) and Baseball America (13th). There’s some division among prospect rankers whether Houck will be able to effectively work through opposing lineups multiple times (particularly those heavy on left-handed batters), although the Red Sox will surely give Houck a shot as a starter initially.
Boston’s rotation, without Chris Sale and Eduardo Rodriguez all year, has been atrocious. Red Sox starters have a league-worst 6.18 FIP, and only the Tigers’ rotation has mustered a worse ERA (6.64) than Boston’s 6.25. Nathan Eovaldi has been passable, but there haven’t been many bright spots behind him. That offers Houck plenty of opportunity to stick in the Sox rotation in 2021 and beyond should he prove capable.
Red Sox Activate Nathan Eovaldi, Option Matt Hall
The Red Sox have reinstated Nathan Eovaldi in time to make the start tonight, per a team release. In the corresponding move, lefty Matt Hall was optioned to the team’s alternate training site.
Eovaldi hit the injured list at the very tail end of August. He made 6 starts on the year after earning the Opening Day start for the first time in his career. He went 2-2 with a 4.98 ERA/4.62 FIP across 34 1/3 innings with a strong 5.5 K/BB. Manager Ron Roenicke plans for Eovaldi to go just a couple of innings in tonight’s start as he works his way back from a calf strain, per Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe (via Twitter).
Hall’s season went back bad to worse last night as he absorbed the loss to the Rays after surrendering 4 runs in 2 1/3 innings. The 27-year-old southpaw has a 18.69 ERA on the season after yielding 18 earned runs in 8 2/3 innings across four appearances (1 start). The Red Sox acquired Hall this past January from the Tigers for 25-year-old minor-league catcher Jhon Nunez. Hall has provided valuable innings for the depleted Red Sox at the expense of his personal numbers. The Missouri native’s career ERA has risen to 11.48 while he’s fallen 0.9 rWAR further in the hole (-1.9 rWAR for his career).
Red Sox Select Domingo Tapia
The Red Sox have selected right-hander Domingo Tapia’s contract, Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe tweets. They also placed southpaw Josh Taylor on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to Sept. 8, with left shoulder tendinitis and shifted righty Colten Brewer to the 45-day IL. Brewer’s season is now over.
The 29-year-old Tapia began his professional career as a member of the Mets, with whom he was a decently ranked prospect on multiple occasions (Baseball America placed him in the team’s top 20 three times). But Tapia didn’t get past the Double-A level with the Mets through 2016, his final season with the organization, and topped out in Triple-A ball with the Reds from 2017-18. He spent all of last year with the Red Sox’s Triple-A affiliate, posting a 5.18 ERA/5.31 FIP with 7.09 K/9 and 4.36 BB/9 in 66 innings.
The Red Sox were counting on Taylor to fill an important role in their bullpen when this season began, but his year has been a nightmare. While Taylor had a very good rookie season last year, his 2020 was a delayed as a result of a positive coronavirus test. Taylor debuted Aug. 17, but he has since surrendered eight earned runs on seven hits and five walks (with seven strikeouts) in 7 1/3 innings.
Red Sox Roster Moves
The Boston Red Sox have selected the contract of Christian Arroyo ahead of today’s doubleheader, per Chris Cotillo of Masslive.com (via Twitter). Deivy Grullon, recently claimed off waivers from the Phillies, will also join the club at their 29th man. In addition, Matt Hall has been optioned to the team’s alternative site, and Andrew Benintendi was transferred to the 45-day injured list. His season his likely over.
Hall, 27, made the Opening Day roster, and given the way Boston has needed to cycle through pitchers this season, he may not be done at the major league level this year. He needn’t do much to improve on his current numbers, however: Hall made 3 appearances including 1 start, surrendering a woeful 14 earned runs across 6 1/3 innings. Hall has an 11.23 career ERA across parts of three seasons with the Tigers and Red Sox.
Arroyo takes Hall’s place on the active roster, and he’ll get at least one start at second base today. The much-traveled infielder has suited up for the Giants, Rays, and Indians in his career, though he made just one defensive appearance for the Indians earlier this season. His greatest major-league success came with the Rays in 2018 when he slashed .264/.339/.396 over 20 games, but the versatile infielder has not yet demonstrated an ability to slug. Second base has been a bit of a dead zone for the Red Sox this season, however, so he’ll get a chance to compete with Jose Peraza, Michael Chavis, Yairo Muñoz, Tzu-Wei Lin, and Jonathan Araúz for keystone at-bats. Chavis, for his part, will start in left field today for the first time in his career.
Today should be a good day for Grullon, who not only returns to the majors, but does so against the team that recently designated him for assignment. The Triple-A All-Star will start the second game of today’s doubleheader behind the plate against his former team, per Cotillo. Presumably, he’ll be returned to the team’s alternate site at the end of the doubleheader, though he could easily return to the active roster at some point.
Benintendi fans will be less spirited by the news that he will miss the rest of the season. Boston’s left fielder played in just 14 games, slashing .103/.314/.128 without a home run in 52 plate appearances. A strained right rib cage sent Benintendi to the injured list. He has one more year on his current contract worth $6.6MM before facing a third year of arbitration. He is scheduled to be a free agent prior to the 2023 season.
