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Red Sox Select Contract Of Justin Haley

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The Red Sox announced Friday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Justin Haley from Triple-A Pawtucket and optioned lefty Jalen Beeks back to Pawtucket in his place. Boston’s 40-man roster is now up to 39 players.

While this will mark the Red Sox debut for Haley, whom the club selected in the sixth round of the 2012 draft, it won’t be his MLB debut. Haley was selected by the Twins in the 2016 Rule 5 Draft and broke camp in Minnesota last year, but he was ultimately designated for assignment and returned to the Sox after posting a 6.00 ERA over 18 innings as a seldom-used long reliever.

Things have gone much better for the now-26-year-old Haley in Triple-A, where he owns a career 3.28 ERA with 7.3 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9 in 203 1/3 innings. That production is right in line with his marks so far in 2018: a 3.18 ERA, 8.3 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and a 44 percent ground-ball rate in 56 2/3 innings out of the Pawtucket rotation.

The 24-year-old Beeks, meanwhile, will head back to Triple-A for continued development. He was called upon to make a spot start last night against the Tigers and was ambushed for five runs in his first Major League inning, though he settled down and allowed just one run over the next three innings. While it wasn’t a great debut, Beeks should still have ample opportunity to factor into Boston’s long-term plans. The former 12th-rounder owns a 3.38 ERA with 10.5 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 in 152 Triple-A innings.

Red Sox Lacking In Minor League Trade Chips?

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Hanley Ramirez is getting interest from “multiple teams” since officially becoming a free agent, the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo tweets.  It isn’t any surprise that the veteran slugger is drawing some attention, particularly since he’d be available at a prorated minimum salary while the Red Sox cover the approximately $14.5MM remaining on Ramirez’s contract.  Considering the low price tag, any number of teams could have interest — consider that the Orioles, who are already loaded with first base/DH candidates, have already been linked to Ramirez.  It was only weeks ago that Ramirez was one of the league’s hottest hitters (posting a .330/.400/.474 slash line over 110 plate appearances in March and April) before he fell into a deep slump that led to his release from the Sox.

  • Also from Cafardo’s piece, he notes that tomorrow’s amateur draft carries particular import for a Red Sox farm system that has been thinned out by trades in recent years.  Between those losses, Jay Groome’s Tommy John surgery and Michael Chavis’ PED suspension, Boston doesn’t seem to have enough young trade chips to make a splash at the deadline.  “Let me put it this way, there isn’t anyone in their farm system that a team would say, ’I have to have that guy.’ Not saying they don’t have anything to make a deal, but they don’t have enough to make a major deal,” one AL scout tells Cafardo.  Of course, it remains to see if the Sox will necessarily be looking for a blockbuster upgrade given that the roster is already in very good shape and cruising towards a postseason berth.

Red Sox Links: Pedroia, Swihart, Hanley

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Some news and notes out of Boston…

  • Dustin Pedroia’s return from left knee surgery lasted just three games before the Red Sox second baseman returned to the disabled list with inflammation in that same knee.  Speaking with reporters (including the Boston Herald’s Jason Mastrodonato) about the latest injury, Pedroia noted that he was feeling discomfort in a different part of the knee than the area that was operated on back in October.  He is scheduled to meet with the doctor who performed the original surgery on Tuesday “and see what he has to say. It could be just normal or scar tissue or something, but that’s it.”  Pedroia didn’t feel he came back from his first DL stint too quickly, or that he or the team did “anything wrong” during his rehab process to incur this new issue.  The current absence is somewhat being viewed as part of the overall recovery from last fall’s surgery and the knee problems that had bothered Pedroia for some time.  “It just might take a little time,” Pedroia said.  “Last year, if I didn’t have surgery, it wasn’t going to get any better. It’s going to get better. So, just stinks going through it.”
  • Blake Swihart’s first start at catcher this season is likely to come this week, Red Sox manager Alex Cora told the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo and other media.  Swihart has been behind the plate twice this season as a sub, though he has yet to actually start at catcher since April 2016 due to injuries and trials at different positions, due to concerns about Swihart’s defensive capability as a backstop.  Opposing scouts are greatly interested in whether Swihart can handle catching, Cafardo writes, and showcasing Swihart behind the plate would help the Sox in their efforts to trade the former top prospect.  There’s even a possibility that Swihart could stick in Boston in regular catching duty, as Christian Vazquez and Sandy Leon have provided little offense this season.
  • The Red Sox have already been quite public with their reasons for releasing Hanley Ramirez, though in a video report for FOX Sports, Ken Rosenthal adds that the some with the club felt that Ramirez’s departure would allow for new voices to take a leadership role in the clubhouse.  Rosenthal mentioned J.D. Martinez as a potential veteran leader, particularly as he is the most experienced member of the position player roster with Pedroia out of action.

Cafardo: Red Sox "Have Been Watching" Kelvin Herrera

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  • Boston’s among the teams keeping an eye on Royals closer Kelvin Herrera, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. If acquired, the 28-year-old would return to a setup role with the Red Sox, thanks to the presence of closer Craig Kimbrel, and would further bolster a late-game mix that also includes Joe Kelly and Matt Barnes. Herrera, who’s in his last year of team control and making $7.94MM, has allowed just two earned runs and hasn’t issued a walk in 22 2/3 innings this season.

Red Sox Place Dustin Pedroia on 10-day DL

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Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia has landed back on the disabled list due to what is being described as left knee inflammation, as Evan Drellich of the Boston Globe was among those to tweet (separate links). The move is retroactive to May 30th.

It’s clearly a concerning development for the Red Sox, who waited patiently during the first quarter of the season for Pedroia to return to the field after undergoing offseason surgery to address a cartilage issue in the same knee. Pedroia collected just one hit and two walks in 13 plate appearances in his brief time between DL stints, and no timetable has been given thus far for his return.

Pedroia’s initial activation from the DL resulted in the recent DFA of Hanley Ramirez, whom Boston just released. Clearly, Boston did not expect Pedroia to reaggravate his knee so soon, and thus the removal of Ramirez from the roster now seems like a questionable decision. That’s particularly true considering Swihart is hitting just .163/.250/.186 on the season, and is looking more and more like a strain on the club’s roster.

One has to wonder about the long-term ramifications of Pedroia’s knee issues as well. Long a productive member of the Red Sox infield, Pedroia is now 34 and coming off an injury-shortened 2017 campaign that saw him post his lowest fWAR total since his rookie season. For the time being, it seems likely that Brock Holt and Eduardo Nunez will see reps at the keystone. The club has also recalled Sam Travis to boost its depth for the time being.

Red Sox Place Mookie Betts On 10-Day DL

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The Red Sox have placed star outfielder Mookie Betts on the 10-day DL, the team announced. He has been diagnosed with a left abdominal strain.

Boston had been hoping to avoid this outcome. Betts last played on May 26th, but the move can only be made retroactive to the 29th. That same consideration explains why the team made the placement today: the club will be shorthanded tonight anyway — by two players, in fact, with Dustin Pedroia also in a holding pattern — but this way Betts can return one day sooner.

Clearly, then, there’s going to be another hitter on the way tomorrow. Alex Speier of the Boston Globe tweets that Sam Travis has been pulled from the lineup at Triple-A, which certainly suggests that he will be tabbed to function as a bench bat.

Needless to say, there won’t be any replacing Betts, who has been on an otherworldly tear all season long. He’s sporting a monster .359/.437/.750 slash with 17 home runs, 13 steals, and 24 walks against just 25 strikeouts through 213 trips to the plate thus far in 2018.

While the Sox need everything they can get from their star outfielder, as the division race is shaping up to be a season-long epic, they are surely also mindful of avoiding any complications from what seemed initially to be a fairly minor injury. Hopefully, that’s still the case, but Betts will now be given as much time as he needs to rest and heal up without any concerns as to whether the team will be down a man in a given game.

Red Sox Release Hanley Ramirez

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June 1: The Red Sox formally announced that Ramirez cleared waivers and has been released. He is now a free agent.

May 30: The Red Sox have requested release waivers on first baseman/designated hitter Hanley Ramirez, whom they designated for assignment late last week, reports Rob Bradford of WEEI.com (via Twitter). He’ll likely clear those waivers in 48 hours and become a free agent who can sign with a new club for the pro-rated portion of the league minimum.

The move to release Ramirez comes as no surprise. While Boston surely explored trade possibilities for Ramirez, the slugger had more than $15MM remaining on his 2018 salary at the time of his DFA, and his contract also contains a $22MM vesting option that would trigger if he received another 302 plate appearances. Any team acquiring him via either trade or waivers would also be on the hook for that salary and the potential vesting option, both of which are highly unappealing for potential suitors.

However, once Ramirez is released by the Red Sox, those provisions will fade away. He’ll still be owed the balance of this season’s $22MM salary, but the Red Sox will be on the hook for that sum (minus the pro-rated league minimum he’d be paid by another club). The vesting option, meanwhile, is tied to the contract from which he is about to be released and will not apply when he signs a new contract with a new club.

Ramirez, 34, looked resurgent early in the season, raking at a .330/.400/.474 clip in the month of April as he distanced himself from last year’s shoulder troubles. However, Ramirez’s bat has gone ice cold in recent weeks; his Red Sox tenure ended in an 0-for-21 freefall, and he’s posted a putrid .163/.200/.300 batting line since May 1, which has more than offset his strong April showing. By measure of OPS+ (88) and wRC+ (90), his overall offensive output on the season rates worse than that of a league-average hitter.

All that said, a player with Ramirez’s raw ability and track record will surely attract interest from teams in need of help at first base/DH or a corner bat off the bench. He’ll soon have the chance to listen to offers from interested parties before ultimately selecting a new team. Speculatively speaking, it seems likely that a 34-year-old with postseason experience will prefer the opportunity to latch on with a contending club.

Red Sox Notes: Hanley, Kelly

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As Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reported last night, Hanley Ramirez is going through release waivers at the moment, which makes it likely that he’ll clear and become a free agent tomorrow afternoon. Red Sox skipper Alex Cora appeared on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM this week to discuss the team’s decision to cut ties with Ramirez in one of the highest-profile DFAs in recent memory (Twitter link, with audio). Per Cora, the decision came down to one of roster flexibility and a desire to get Mitch Moreland’s left-handed bat and superior glove into the lineup with more regularity.

“We’ve been talking about when Pedroia comes back since February,” said the Red Sox’ skipper. “We had different scenarios, different options, and at the end, I talked about being flexible as far as versatility — being able to maneuver the last part of the game with pinch-hitters, pinch-runners, defensive replacements and being able to match up with the opposition. It’s nothing against the player, because Hanley is a good player. He was going through a slump. That’s part of it. Everybody goes through it. … I did feel as an organization, our roster was going to be a little bit tight with him not playing every day.”

  • Bradford spoke with setup man Joe Kelly about the manner in which the right-hander has now fully embraced his role as a reliever. Kelly wasn’t exactly keen on the idea of moving to the bullpen earlier in his career and had preferred to remain in the rotation, but he’s thriving in and enjoying his role as a late-inning weapon for the Red Sox. Kelly, a free agent at season’s end, said he wouldn’t reject the idea if a club approached him about returning to the rotation this offseason, but it doesn’t sound as if that’ll be a priority for him, either. “I like the job I’m in right now,” he said. “I kind of like the thrill, the adrenaline rush.” Kelly and Bradford also discuss the different mindsets that come with pitching in different roles, his move from the outfield to the mound during his amateur days, and his stress-free approach to his impending free agency in a candid interview that’s well worth a full read.

Red Sox Sign Adam Lind To Minor League Deal

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The Red Sox have agreed to a minor league contract with veteran first baseman Adam Lind, reports Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston (Twitter links). The ISE Baseball client was recently released by the Yankees. Drellich notes that president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has confirmed the agreement to him, though the club has not yet issued a more formal announcement of the signing.

Lind is coming off a strong season with the Nationals, having raked at a.303/.362/.512 clip and clubbed 14 homers in 301 plate appearances. The 34-year-old has posted an OPS+ of 123 or better in four of the past five seasons — an ugly 2016 in Seattle being the lone exception — and batted a combined .282/.348/.473 through 2142 plate appearances in that time. He’s totaled 94 plate appearances between the Yankees’ Class-A and Triple-A affiliates this season, slashing a combined .302/.362/.477 with three homers in that time.

The addition of Lind will give the Red Sox some additional depth at first base and designated hitter following the surprising DFA and seemingly likely release of Hanley Ramirez. He’s a bit redundant with Mitch Moreland — a hitter who comes with similar platoon issues and a much better glove at first base, though. Lind, after all, has a disastrous .217/.263/.329 slash against left-handed pitchers over the course of 12-year MLB career. He’s been mostly limited to first base, though the Nats did trot him out to left field for 197 innings last season. That marked his first work on the outfield grass since 2010, and he unsurprisingly did not rate well there in the estimation of defensive metrics.

Red Sox Facing Luxury Tax Concerns In 2019

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  • Even after designating Hanley Ramirez for assignment and sidestepping his potential $22MM salary for 2019, Rosenthal notes that next year’s Red Sox could still be approaching the maximum penalty limit for surpassing the luxury tax threshold.  If the Sox were more than $40MM over next year’s $206MM tax threshold, they would face up to a 90 percent tax on the overages and their top pick in the 2019 draft would drop by ten positions.  Boston already has over $137MM committed next season towards seven players, plus Pablo Sandoval and Rusney Castillo.  Beyond that $137MM already on the books, Chris Sale’s $13.5MM club option is a no-brainer to be exercised, Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts are on pace for huge arbitration raises, and key players like Craig Kimbrel and Drew Pomeranz are free agents.
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