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Red Sox Designate Steve Selsky, Could Be On Verge Of Acquiring Outfielder

By Steve Adams | August 23, 2017 at 5:18pm CDT

The Red Sox will designate first baseman/outfielder Steve Selsky, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). Rosenthal adds that the Red Sox may be on the verge of a trade, but president of baseball ops Dave Dombrowski refused comment on the matter.

Notably, the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo tweeted recently that the Sox “appear” to be on the verge of adding someone via trade or waiver claim, so Selsky’s DFA would clear a 40-man roster spot to facilitate such a move. Rosenthal tweets that the move is “likely” for an outfielder.

[Related: Last Week’s Top 25 August Trade Candidates]

Selsky, 28, received just nine plate appearances with the Red Sox this offseason and has struggled through Triple-A as well. Despite a strong track record at that level in the Reds organization prior to the 2017 season, Selsky has posted a disappointing .215/.270/.360 batting line with 11 homers and 10 doubles through 322 plate appearances. That’s a far cry from the solid .280/.353/.469 that he slashed in Triple-A last year as well as the strong .314/.340/.471 line he posted through 54 PAs in his Major League debut with Cincinnati in 2016.

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Boston Red Sox Transactions Steve Selsky

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Red Sox Place Jackie Bradley Jr. On 10-Day DL

By Jeff Todd | August 23, 2017 at 5:08pm CDT

5:08pm: Tests on Bradley’s thumb indicated that he does not have any tears or fractures in his thumb, but it still looks like he’ll miss more than the 10-day minimum due to this injury (Twitter links from Britton). Bradley will wear a splint on his hand for around a week, and he’ll need some time to get back up to speed once the splint is removed.

1:38pm: The Red Sox have placed outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. on the 10-day DL, per a club announcement (via Tim Britton of the Providence Journal; Twitter links). He has been diagnosed with a left thumb sprain, per the team.

Bradley was injured on a play at the plate last night, leading to fears that he may have suffered a significant injury. With MRI results still yet to be revealed, at least publicly, the severity of the damage is not yet known. Boston will obviously hope that Bradley can bounce back relatively quickly, with a division lead to protect and less than six weeks until the start of the postseason.

The Sox have recalled infielder Deven Marrero to take the open roster spot. He will likely function as a utility option, perhaps freeing Brock Holt to share time in left field with Chris Young. It seems reasonable to anticipate that Andrew Benintendi will shift over to center while Bradley is down. While right fielder Mookie Betts is also capable of playing up the middle, Benintendi has seen more time there in recent years.

Thus far in 2017, Bradley has taken a slight step back at the plate but continued to function as a quality regular. He’s running a .262/.343/.432 slash with 14 home runs through 440 plate appearances. Though Bradley is reaching base and making hard contact as frequently as ever, his .170 isolated slugging mark sits well shy of the rates he carried in the prior two seasons (.219 in 2016; .249 in a shorter sample in 2015). Of course, he remains a quality defender and baserunner as well as a key part of the Red Sox roster.

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Boston Red Sox Jackie Bradley Jr.

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Injury Notes: Wood, Bellinger, Price, Gallo, Correa, DeSclafani

By Steve Adams | August 22, 2017 at 5:54pm CDT

The Dodgers have placed both Alex Wood and Cody Bellinger on the DL, the team announced Tuesday. Wood is once again dealing with inflammation in his SC (sternoclavicular) joint, though the breakout southpaw is targeting a return for the first weekend of September against the Padres. As for Bellinger, he’s been slowed recently by a right ankle sprain that has been called mild in nature, but he’s already been out of the lineup for two games, allowing the Dodgers to backdate the move by two days. That’d put Bellinger on track to be eligible to return from the DL as soon as next Wednesday. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters today that top prospect Walker Buehler and rehabbing ace Clayton Kershaw are not candidates to start for the Dodgers in place of Wood this weekend (all Twitter links via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register). Rather, a bullpen game started by Ross Stripling seems the likeliest course. In corresponding roster moves for Wood and Bellinger, the Dodgers have recalled righties Brock Stewart and Josh Ravin.

More injury news from around the game…

  • The Red Sox are no closer to determining a return date for left-hander David Price, manager John Farrell said in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM today (Twitter link that includes audio). Farrell said it’s still too early to consider bringing Price back in a bullpen capacity, as he’s yet to progress to throwing off a mound. Once he’s able to do that, the Red Sox will be able to gauge a conceivable timeline and weigh their options. Evan Drellich of CSN New England tweets that Price has thrown from 90 feet on flat ground and is slated to throw again tomorrow. It’s now been exactly one month since Price’s last start, as the former Cy Young winner has been battling inflammation in his left elbow.
  • Joey Gallo has been placed on the 7-day concussion disabled list, the Rangers announced today. Gallo suffered a nondisplaced nasal fracture in a recent collision with teammate Matt Bush (who landed on the 10-day DL as a result) and has also been dealing with concussion-like symptoms. Texas had hoped that he could avoid the DL, but he’ll now be sidelined until at least next Tuesday as a result of today’s move. Gallo was on an otherworldly power binge at the time of his injury, having launched 10 homers in his past 18 games (73 plate appearances) in the month of August. Infielder Phil Gosselin is up from Triple-A Round Rock to take Gallo’s roster spot.
  • Carlos Correa told reporters today that while he’s not yet certain exactly when he’ll embark on a minor league rehab assignment, he thinks he’ll need about a week’s worth of at-bats in the minors before he’s ready to return (Twitter link via Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle). Correa cited a target of 20 to 30 at-bats before he’d be back up to speed. It’s been just under five weeks since the Astros announced that Correa would miss six to eight weeks with a torn thumb ligament.
  • Reds right-hander Anthony DeSclafani received a second opinion on his injured right elbow, per Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer. After an initial MRI revealed that there was no ligament damage in his ailing right elbow, DeSclafani sent his scans to Dr. Keith Meister for a second look, and Meister confirmed as much. DeSclafani is on a throwing program and hopes to ramp up quicker than usual to “really be able to test the ligament and get back on the mound,” but Buchanan notes that time could be starting to run out for DeSclafani to take the mound in a Reds uniform this season. DeSclafani has not pitched for the Reds this season due to a sprained UCL in his right elbow and this latest bout of inflammation.
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Injury Notes: Astros, Kershaw, Price, Richards, Nats, Rays

By Connor Byrne | August 20, 2017 at 3:29pm CDT

Astros superstar shortstop Carlos Correa is progressing toward a return from the torn left thumb ligament he suffered July 18. Correa will take batting practice on the field Tuesday for the first time since succumbing to the injury, and he could then embark on a rehab assignment, manager A.J. Hinch told reporters, including Ben DuBose of MLB.com. Teammate Lance McCullers, who has been on the shelf for three weeks with back discomfort, threw a three-inning simulated game Sunday, but there’s no timetable for the right-hander’s return. Hinch informed Mark Berman of FOX 26 (via Twitter) and other reporters that McCullers will need to make multiple rehab appearances before coming back.

More injury updates from around the majors:

  • Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw is likely to rejoin their rotation Sept. 1, relays Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register (Twitter links). Kershaw, who’s rehabbing from a late-July back injury, will throw a three-inning sim game in Pittsburgh on Monday, manager Dave Roberts announced. If all goes well, he’ll make a rehab start at either the Double-A or Triple-A level next weekend (Twitter link via Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times).
  • Arm stiffness has prevented Red Sox left-hander David Price from throwing since Tuesday, and that’s unlikely to change anytime soon, according to Jen McCaffrey of MassLive.com. Price has dealt with forearm problems off and on since spring training, though Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told MLB Network Radio on Sunday that he’s “hopeful” the hurler will be a factor again this season (Twitter link). Time’s running out, however, as McCaffrey notes.
  • The Angels are targeting a September return for righty Garrett Richards, who will face live hitters Sunday for the first time since he made his lone start of the year on April 5, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register writes. Biceps nerve irritation has sidelined Richards, who missed nearly all of last season with elbow troubles. With roster expansion forthcoming, manager Mike Scioscia suggested that the Angels won’t need to stretch Richards out fully in order for him to rejoin the playoff hopefuls’ rotation. “I don’t think it’s realistic to get Garrett stretched out to the 75-, 90-, 100-pitch range, but I do see a scenario if he gets to 60 pitches, we might use him to come to our rotation and see how far he gets because we’ll have plenty of pitching to follow up at that point,” Scioscia said.
  • Along with the previously reported Jayson Werth, Nationals shortstop Trea Turner will start a Triple-A rehab assignment Monday, per Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com. Both players have been out since June (Werth went to the DL on June 5, Turner on June 30), and they’re slated to return next week, according to Zuckerman. Turner’s lengthy DL stint came as a result of a broken right wrist.
  • The Rays placed righty Jacob Faria on the 10-day DL on Sunday with a left abdominal strain, clearing roster space for just-claimed outfielder Cesar Puello.  Faria revealed that he has battled the injury over his past several starts, though he doesn’t believe it’ll be a long-term problem or even a season-ending issue, Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times reports (Twitter link). Prior to the DL stint, the 24-year-old Faria was amid a quality rookie season with a 3.32 ERA and 8.81 K/9 against 3.32 BB/9 across 78 2/3 innings.
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MLBTR Mailbag: Lowrie, Bruce, Giants, Controllable Starters

By Jeff Todd | August 19, 2017 at 8:24am CDT

Thanks as always for your questions! If yours wasn’t selected this week, you can always pose it in one of our weekly chats: Steve Adams at 2pm CST on Tuesdays, Jason Martinez at 6:30pm CST on Wednesdays, and yours truly at 2pm CST on Thursdays.

Here are this week’s questions and answers:

Why is it so hard for the A’s to move Jed Lowrie? — Rene H.

Well, there has been a bit of a game of musical chairs in the second/third base market. The Red Sox went with Eduardo Nunez. The Nationals grabbed Howie Kendrick, who can also play outfield. The Brewers ended up with Neil Walker in August. Those deals filled some of the main needs out there, though there are at least a few teams that could still make a move. The Angels stand out; the Indians have looked in this area; and the Blue Jays could be a dark horse if they make a run.

But let’s suppose a few organizations are indeed still poking around on Lowrie. Those same teams will also have other options to consider. Ian Kinsler is now off the market after his waiver claim was revoked by the Tigers. But Brandon Phillips and Zack Cozart are both pending free agents who could move. Yangervis Solarte may not clear waivers, but could be claimed and pursued. And Asdrubal Cabrera also represents a possibility.

Cabrera, like Lowrie, comes with a club option for 2018. In Lowrie’s case, it’s just a $6MM cost to keep him (against a $1MM buyout). He has surely played well enough to make that a decent asset to move over the winter. And perhaps Oakland isn’t all that anxious to press Franklin Barreto into everyday duty in the majors just yet. After all, he’s only 21, didn’t hit much in his brief debut, and has encountered a rising strikeout rate at Triple-A. Lowrie could help stabilize the infield the rest of the way or even in 2018, or he could still be flipped if a decent offer comes along.

How do you guys see the [free-agent] market for Jay Bruce developing? I have a hard time believing that a 30/31-year-old who has six seasons where he OPSed over .800 would have trouble locking down a fourth year at a $13MM AAV. — Alex W.

As Alex helpfully pointed out in his email, there are indeed quite a few corner outfielders that have landed free-agent contracts in that range. Recent deals that could work as comparables run from Nick Markakis (4/$44MM) and Josh Reddick (4/$52MM) up to Nick Swisher (4/$56MM) and Curtis Granderson (4/$60MM). Bruce is a plausible candidate to land in that general realm.

I do think Bruce is flying under the radar a bit, given the obvious appeal of his quality offensive output this year — .267/.334/.541 with 32 homers. It doesn’t hurt that he has turned things on thus far since going to the Indians, has finally reversed the abysmal defensive metrics, and is regarded as a top-shelf professional. The two lost seasons of 2014 and 2015 are hard to ignore entirely, and he has never hit lefties nearly so much as righties, but he has returned to his prior trajectory since and has been average at the plate when facing southpaws this season. Plus, there won’t be any draft compensation to contend with.

But where exactly he falls, and whether he gets a fourth year or instead takes a higher AAV over three, will depend upon market forces. J.D. Martinez and Justin Upton (if he opts out) would be the two top corner outfielders, but both are righty bats that would require very significant contracts. Granderson and Melky Cabrera will present alternatives for teams seeking lefty pop, but neither has quite Bruce’s present power and both are much older. All things considered, Bruce should be fairly well positioned.

I’m wondering if the Giants’ plan to re-tool, rather than rebuild, has a reasonable chance of success. Does SF have only two or three spots, like one outfielder and two pitchers, that will make the difference in being competitive? Or will the re-tooling need to involve more spots on the roster, like two outfielders, maybe an infielder (third base), and three or four pitchers? And are there players available in free-agency for them to do that? — Tim D.

Let’s start with the presumption that Johnny Cueto opts into the remainder of his deal. That would fill one of the rotation slots but also keeps a lot of cash on the books — over $150MM total already for 2018, with more than $100MM promised in each of the next two seasons. And the club will also have to consider what it’ll cost to keep Madison Bumgarner around past 2019.

Looking over the roster — see the current depth chart here — the Giants will face questions in a variety of areas. Third base is unresolved, the team needs at least one starting outfielder (a center-field-capable player would perhaps be preferred, bumping Denard Span to left), and several bench/platoon roles are open to question. The team will likely at least look into adding a starter, though it could choose instead to go with Matt Moore along with Ty Blach or another less-established pitcher to line up behind Cueto, Bumgarner, and Jeff Samardzija. Bullpens can always be improved, though the Giants can hope for a bounceback from Mark Melancon and continued performance from reclamation hit Sam Dyson in the late innings.

On the whole, then, perhaps a more dramatic roster overhaul isn’t really needed. Assuming the club is willing to spend up to, but not past, the $180MM-ish payroll it carried entering the current season, that leaves some room to add. But the long-term commitments and 2017 downturns certainly also speak in favor of exercising some caution. I’d expect a focus on striking shorter-term deals with veterans.

Possibilities at third could include Pablo Sandoval, Todd Frazier, and Yunel Escobar, or the Giants could go bigger and chase the still-youthful Mike Moustakas. In the outfield, Lorenzo Cain would be the top center-field target, though he’ll be entering his age-32 season and won’t be cheap. There are some interesting alternatives, including Carlos Gomez, Jon Jay, and Jarrod Dyson. It’s also possible the Giants could chase Bruce or another corner piece while adding a player like Austin Jackson to platoon with Span in center. And as ever, there are lots of different pitchers available at different price points should they look to add there.

Ultimately, there ought to be decent value available in the price range the Giants will be shopping. Whether that’ll work out or not … well, that’s dependent upon quite a few other factors and is tough to predict at this point.

Which young, controllable starters (like Chris Archer, for example) will potentially be available via trade this upcoming offseason? –Matt H.

Archer is certainly a good example of a guy who could be available and who’ll be asked about quite a lot. Depending upon how things end up for the Rays this year — currently, it’s not trending in the right direction — they may be more or less inclined to undertake a more dramatic move such as dealing the staff ace.

Generally, though, I’d expect the pickings to be slim. Several teams that sit in the bottom of the standings and have young arms don’t seem likely to move them. For instance, I don’t really expect the Mets (Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz, etc.), Blue Jays (Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez), or Phillies (Aaron Nola, Jerad Eickhoff, Vince Velasquez) to be looking to deal young starters.

There are a few other names to watch, though. Michael Fulmer of the Tigers would figure to draw some of the most fervent interest, and Detroit has to be thinking creatively entering an offseason full of questions. The Pirates could decide that now’s the time to move Gerrit Cole, though he’ll only have two years of control remaining so may not really meet the parameters. Julio Teheran of the Braves will surely again be a topic of speculation, at least, and the Marlins will have to consider cashing in Dan Straily.

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Angels Claim Noe Ramirez

By Steve Adams | August 18, 2017 at 1:39pm CDT

The Angels announced on Friday that they’ve claimed right-handed reliever Noe Ramirez off waivers from the Red Sox and optioned him to Triple-A Salt Lake. Ramirez, 27, was designated for assignment yesterday. The claim represents a potential homecoming for Ramirez, who is from the L.A. area and played his college ball at Cal State Fullerton.

Ramirez totaled 4 2/3 innings in two appearances with Boston this season and has posted a combined 4.99 ERA in 30 2/3 frames across the past three seasons with the Red Sox. In that time, he’s averaged 9.4 K/9, 4.7 BB/9 and 2.64 HR/9 with a 36.4 percent ground-ball rate.

Ramirez has a history of missing bats and posting solid ERA marks in Triple-A (9.9 K/9, 2.60 ERA in 135 innings there), but he’s averaged just under 90 mph on his fastball as a big leaguer. He’s in his final option year, so the Angels can send him to Triple-A for the time being but would need to carry him on the 40-man roster all winter and put him on the Opening Day roster next year if they wish to avoid exposing him to waivers after the end of the current season.

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Red Sox Designate Noe Ramirez For Assignment

By Steve Adams | August 17, 2017 at 12:38pm CDT

The Red Sox announced on Thursday that they’ve designated right-handed reliever Noe Ramirez for assignment. Ramirez’s roster spot will go to lefty Roenis Elias, who has been activated from the 60-day disabled list and optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket.

Ramirez, 27, totaled 4 2/3 innings in two appearances with Boston this season and has posted a combined 4.99 ERA in 30 2/3 frames across the past three seasons with the Red Sox. In that time, he’s averaged 9.4 K/9, 4.7 BB/9 and 2.64 HR/9 with a 36.4 percent ground-ball rate. Ramirez has a history of missing bats and posting solid ERA marks in Triple-A (9.9 K/9, 2.60 ERA in 135 innings there), but he’s averaged just under 90 mph on his fastball as a big leaguer. He does have one option year remaining, so a club in need of ’pen help could take a shot on his minor league track record and keep him beyond the current season without needing to risk waiver placement.

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Boston Red Sox Transactions Noe Ramirez Roenis Elias

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Red Sox Place Dustin Pedroia On 10-Day DL

By charliewilmoth | August 12, 2017 at 10:27am CDT

The Red Sox have announced they’ve placed second baseman Dustin Pedroia on the 10-day DL with left knee inflammation. To take his place on the active roster, they’ve recalled lefty Robby Scott from Triple-A Pawtucket.

This is the second time in the past two weeks the Red Sox have placed Pedroia on the DL with knee inflammation. He returned from the DL last week but played just one day before the injury sidelined him again. The 33-year-old has batted .303/.378/.406 in 388 plate appearances this season. The newly acquired Eduardo Nunez generally played second base during Pedroia’s last DL stint, with Rafael Devers at third, and that appears likely to be the Red Sox’ approach again this time.

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Carlton Fisk: Sox Changed, Thanks To Postal Snafu

By brettballantini | August 11, 2017 at 9:46pm CDT

Even in this modern era, with MLBTR tracking the prospects of any conceivable free agent and setting a clock to the service time of every top prospect this side of Sidd Finch, the story still astounds:

A future Hall-of-Famer freed by … postal laxity?

Thirty-six years ago, the biggest gaffe in baseball postmarking history—a case made for Contract Law 101—freed Carlton Fisk from the Red Sox. Boston GM/owner Haywood Sullivan mailed out contract renewals to two players in their option year, Fisk and Fred Lynn, past the mandated Dec. 20 deadline.

The flub freed up Fisk—ironically, an unyielding New Englander who never sought to leave the Red Sox—as an unrestricted free agent.

Let’s dig deeper into one of the odder offseason occurrences in baseball history.

—

Carlton Fisk: Let me make one thing perfectly clear: I never planned to leave Boston.

Honestly, it broke my heart to leave New England. I grew up there, in a little town in New Hampshire called Charlestown. It was one of those towns, look right, look left, and you’ve seen everything. No movie theater. No swimming pool. No traffic lights. It was a thousand people. My graduating class was the biggest ever: 32 kids! It was in me—still is. And as kids, we all dreamed of wearing a Red Sox uniform or a Celtics jersey.

So, why’d I leave? Well, I was 33 years old. I’d made money in the game, sure, but ownership wasn’t exactly giving it away. I had my family to think of, and my own pride. I wanted to be paid fairly—and the plain fact is that from the moment I was drafted [1967] I’d been underpaid by the Red Sox. That’s how it was in those days.

Also, Boston was in a sort of transition. Honestly, it didn’t seem clear to me that the front office was dedicated to our core group of guys, or to winning.

Indeed, the two baseball Soxes seemed to be working in opposite directions in 1981.

Boston was just five seasons removed from the thrill of the 1975 World Series, which it lost in dramatic fashion in seven games to the Cincinnati Reds, and a few years past its historic, regular-season AL East division race collapse, culminating in Bucky F’ing Dent’s tiebreaker game-winning home run in 1978.

Meanwhile, in Chicago, excitement greeted the 1981 season after Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn purchased the club from Bill Veeck and signaled that the days of Veeck’s hamstrung purse strings were over. With a promising young pitching staff already in place and a solid base of position players, the team felt it was just one key offensive acquisition away from contention.

Jerry Reinsdorf: We didn’t come in with an agenda to make a “splash,” but looking around at the state of things, we wanted to make it clear to fans that things would change. We tripled the promotional budget. We made efforts to upgrade Comiskey Park. And we were willing to look into any way we could help the club, be it by trading for a player or signing one.

Eddie Einhorn*: We were excited to get our hands dirty and improve the ballclub. We kept Roland Hemond, the GM who built our first great White Sox team, and we had some money to spend if an opportunity came along. [Note: Einhorn died in 2016; the interview referenced in this article was conducted during Spring Training 2011.]

Roland Hemond: Bill Veeck had already spent some of Edward DeBartolo’s money after DeBartolo agreed to buy the White Sox. Not many people remember this, but Bill never was supposed to leave the White Sox. He sold the White Sox to DeBartolo for $20 million and the promise of staying on with the team as President. But American League owners had it out for him, and rejected the sale two different times.

But initially, Bill was excited to have some financial freedom, which he hadn’t enjoyed for the five years he’d owned the team in the 1970s. We picked up Ronnie LeFlore from Montreal. We signed a catcher, Jim Essian, to some big money.

Reinsdorf: Those deals were made under a prospective DeBartolo ownership, but once the owners rejected DeBartolo and voted for us, we were on the hook for the contracts.

More than the roster, we honestly thought we had a bigger issue with the off-field things like improving an aging ballpark, and increasing attendance. We knew the White Sox were an up-and-coming team, and figured its natural development in 1981 would be a step forward, without any other acquisitions.

Einhorn: But then we heard Carlton Fisk was a free agent.

When the Red Sox missed their deadline to renew the Fisk and Lynn contracts in December 1980, an unprecedented situation arose. Never before in the free agency era had a player been freed from his contract because of a clerical error. With no precedent from which to base a decision, an arbitration date was set in January 1981 to determine Fisk’s fate.

Fisk: The easiest solution would have been for the Red Sox to rip up my old contract and make me a fair market offer. I generally knew what I was worth. People talk. It wouldn’t have been complicated. Treat me fairly, and I’m right back in Florida with the Red Sox in spring training, with a few more dollars in my pocket. But the Red Sox never made a fair market offer. Their offer was so low it wasn’t even worth considering.

Lynn, who received his 1981 contract even later than Fisk, bailed out on the arbitration process early on by agreeing to a deal that would send him to his hometown California Angels along with pitcher Steve Renko for Joe Rudi and Frank Tanana. The center fielder also received a contract from Angels owner Gene Autry for $5 million over four years.

Fisk, on the other hand, didn’t have a trump card in negotiations like driving a trade to his hometown—the New Hampshire native was already there, with the Red Sox. But without an offer worth considering from Boston, the veteran was driven by principle to see the arbitration process through.

Fisk: I didn’t have any doubt we’d win in arbitration. It was very simple: Haywood Sullivan did not tender me a contract. The Red Sox sort of admitted, ‘Well, we forgot.’ One of their defenses was that they didn’t understand the agreements with the Players’ Association. I thought, ‘Hey, wait a minute, we’re talking about the uniform player’s contract that they’ve been using for 100 years!’ That’s when I knew for sure we’d win, and we did.

It was reported that Boston had offered Fisk a three-year, $1.5 million deal, but some felt it was merely a face-saving pitch, made after the fact.

Fisk: I can say that offer is definitely not true, because if I was offered that, I may have taken it—at least we would have been close, and negotiated from there. The Red Sox weren’t even in the ballpark with the money or the years they offered, believe me.

Even still, they had a chance to sign me. Make a fair offer—I’m an unrestricted free agent now, so you’re going to compete against other teams, and the offer needs to be competitive—and I’ll stay.

But while I was still waiting to hear something concrete from Boston, Chicago called and made an offer I couldn’t turn down.

Because of the unique and late nature of the contract infraction, and the somewhat protracted arbitration process, Fisk was declared a free agent late in the offseason, after teams had already reported to spring training. The entire process generated a sort of Fisk Watch: Would he leave the Red Sox? Where would he go?

Reinsdorf: We had Essian, and we’d signed another catcher, Marc Hill, but when Fisk became available, you had to consider him. Remember, this was late in the offseason, way late. Signing Carlton had the potential to be disruptive. But we had to pick up the phone and call.

Einhorn: We were still so new to everything. I was doing all sorts of things to put our stamp on the team, like staffing up the front office, even choosing a new mascot. Jerry was trying to improve ticket sales and fix up the ballpark. The initial reaction to us in Chicago had been a little lackluster; the White Sox hadn’t won in a while, and fans were tired of five-year plans. So getting a chance to reach out to Carlton was a timely opportunity.

After some protracted negotiation and last-minute twists, Fisk signed with the White Sox for five years and $3 million, almost tripling his 1980 salary. Getting Fisk to change his Sox wasn’t as universally lauded as hindsight might lead us to think today—at the time, the veteran backstop was 33 years old, and many thought his best days were behind him.

Fisk: Yeah, I’d hear that from some people. It’s a little trick management plays on you. When you’re younger and outproducing your salary, the team talks about how young you are, you’re still unproven, there’s a pecking order with salaries, don’t breed dissent with the veterans. When you get older, teams say that you’re over the hill, even if you’re still producing. You think, wait, do I even get one season to be paid fairly?

But the White Sox were upfront with me. They played up the opportunity there, with a young pitching staff and a mix of younger players and veterans, a changing of the guard in ownership. They looked to me for leadership and encouraged that, without it sounding like a burden. They pointed out there were opportunities with advertisers that I might not get in Boston. Jerry and Eddie were enthusiastic guys. They seemed fair. It was a really difficult decision, but in the end, my gut said it would be a good move for me and my family.

Later on, Haywood Sullivan was talking about how the White Sox pressured me and gave me a take-it-or-leave-it deal. Do I look like a guy who’s going to let himself get strongarmed?

For catcher Jim Essian—who had signed a club record four-year, $1 million contract just a couple of months earlier—the Fisk signing was a mixed bag.

Essian: Of course, I wanted to get my 400 at-bats that year. That’s why I came back to Chicago. The White Sox had made me a priority. It’s easy to forget today, but a million-dollar contract, even over several years, was a big deal in 1981. I was really proud. It was a validation of a lot of hard work I’d put in to be a major leaguer.

Well, in comes Fisk, and there goes my chance to start. For a while [manager] Tony [La Russa] was talking like me and Carlton would split the catching duties. But even if that was the plan, I knew that if Fisk started hitting, he’d be playing every day. He was an All-Star. He wasn’t the kind of guy who begged out of games, even if he was in a rough stretch. But Fisk was a class guy, and a leader, and we needed that.

While Essian played little in 1981 and was dealt to the Seattle Mariners after the season, the Fisk signing also had an unintended, negative impact on Chicago’s key superstar. Center fielder Chet Lemon, a two-time All-Star and by far the most valuable position player on the club in 1980 (notching 4.2 WAR in his age 25 season), took notice of the deal—and wasn’t digging it.

Lemon: I was very comfortable in Chicago. I loved the team, and playing for the White Sox fans. The new ownership and Roland Hemond sat down with me in spring training in 1981 and laid out a five-year contract extension [1983-87] that would have made me the highest-paid on the team. Everything went smoothly, but I never got around to signing the deal.

While the contract was just sitting on the table, a couple of weeks later they signed Carlton Fisk. For the team, that was great. For me, suddenly I wouldn’t be the highest-paid player on the club. I thought I’d done a lot for the White Sox in my five seasons, and it hurt a little bit that a new guy, even Carlton Fisk, would sweep right in like that.

I can look back now and see that it’s a little childish to be caught up in who makes the most money, but I was still a young kid and it mattered to me. I decided I wouldn’t sign the contract, and that we’d talk again after the season.

After the 1981 season, pressure was mounting on the White Sox to get a return for Lemon in case he bolted as a free agent after the 1982 season. At the end of November, and without significant extension discussions, Chicago dealt Lemon to the Detroit Tigers for Steve Kemp—ironically, a player also in the last year of his contract who was a risk to bolt the White Sox after the season. (Kemp indeed signed elsewhere, with the New York Yankees, in 1983.) Meanwhile, Lemon signed a 10-year deal—the longest in the majors at the time—with Detroit and produced 23.0 WAR over the five seasons that his unsigned extension with the White Sox would have covered.

Lemon: Things worked out great for me in Detroit [the Tigers won the World Series in 1984]. But I’ve always loved the White Sox fans. Things could have been different.

At the time of the Fisk signing, everyone in baseball felt the clock was ticking on the catcher’s career—even the White Sox, who despite shelling out millions weren’t certain the catcher would finish out his contract (two mutual option years at the end of the deal were understood to be fulfilling a future front office position, not a roster spot). 

Yet somewhat amazingly, Fisk ended up playing far beyond his five-year contract, and 343 more games for the White Sox than he played in Boston. He remained a catcher his entire career (97% of Fisk’s games were at catcher), retiring after being released in mid-season in 1993, at age 45. With Fisk’s final game, he broke Bob Boone’s record for games caught, with 2,226—a record he held for 16 years, until it was broken by Ivan Rodriguez.

Ozzie Guillen [who spent the most games as Fisk’s White Sox teammate]: We loved to give Fisk s— about his age, and he gave it right back. We had a great, young pitching staff in the early 1990s and they didn’t want to put up with his old man bulls— [imitates all of Fisk’s mannerisms]: adjusting his chest protector, his cup, his mask, walking out to the mound every other pitch and barking instructions to the infield. Remember when Joe Mauer was catching for Minnesota, walking out to the mound every other pitch? That was Fisk. We had an aggressive staff: Black Jack [McDowell], [Alex] Fernandez, [Jason] Bere, [Wilson] Alvarez. They wanted to attack guys but Fisk was like a human stop sign.

Don’t get me wrong. Carlton Fisk was a great player and a great teammate. Best catcher I ever played with on the Sox. But it was time. No player wants to admit it—I f—— didn’t, for sure. But it was his time.

Of everyone involved in Fisk changing Sox, no one suffered more than Sullivan. The GM/owner was already under heavy criticism after the 1978 collapse, as he dealt away or released many of the team’s assets (including Luis Tiant, Bill Lee, Bernie Carbo, Reggie Cleveland, Ferguson Jenkins, and Jim Willoughby) and drafting poorly (most notably picking his own son, non-prospect Marc, in the second round in 1979). In 1983, Sullivan’s last year as GM, he watched Fisk’s move to No. 2 in the batting order spur the White Sox to an AL West title and 99 wins, while overseeing a 78-84 season in Boston. 

Sullivan always had maintained the reason that the Fisk and Lynn contracts weren’t mailed promptly was the fact that, due to mutually agreed-upon clauses, the two players were already under contract for 1981.

Fisk: Haywood claimed he offered me more money, more years, more everything. Again, there’s an easy answer to that: If he had, I would have taken it and stayed in Boston my entire career.

It’s funny, at the time people were talking about me betraying the Boston Red Sox. Everyone made a big deal about December 20, like it was some fluke, and the Red Sox got cheated because of [the deadline]. What no one talks about is the Red Sox had seven months to offer me a contract—they never did. Even during the hearing, the Red Sox could have made it all go away with a fair offer. They didn’t. I wasn’t interested in beating the Red Sox—but I did want what’s fair.

Once his White Sox career began, Fisk would take particular relish in sticking it to the Red Sox—especially at Fenway. A career .300 hitter in Boston, Fisk upped that average to .314 as a member of the White Sox. Fisk hit homers in 3.8% of his career plate appearances and 4.4% of his Fenway appearances, but as a member of the White Sox visiting Fenway upped his longball rate to 6.9%. In the end, over 107 career games vs. the Red Sox Fisk hit .310, with 27 homers and 68 RBI.

And there was never a more dramatic a moment for Fisk as a visitor to Fenway Park than in his first game there, on Opening Day 1981, when he hit the an eventual game-winning, three-run homer in the top of the eighth to spur a 5-3 White Sox win.

With the White Sox, Fisk would produce another 28.8 WAR, ending his career with 68.3. At age 37 in 1985, he put up career numbers of 37 home runs and 107 RBI.

Yet in spite of an acrimonious divorce and more time logged in White Sox than Red, Fisk was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000 as a member of the Red Sox.

Fisk: There was nothing hard about the decision to go into the Hall of Fame as a member of the Red Sox. Boston is my hometown and my home team. There’s no way I can ever divorce myself from that home run—not a day goes by when I don’t hear about it from someone. With all respect to the White Sox and my long career there, that particular decision wasn’t difficult at all.

Brett Ballantini has been a sportswriter for two decades, drawing on hundreds of interviews over the years to compile oral histories of great moments in major league baseball, basketball, and hockey. Follow him on Twitter @PoetryinPros.

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AL Notes: Sale, Hardy, Orioles, Twins

By Connor Byrne | August 10, 2017 at 9:14pm CDT

It’s possible the Red Sox will open contract extension talks with superstar left-hander Chris Sale during the upcoming offseason, writes Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Sale has two more option years remaining at a combined $26MM, which is an absolute bargain relative to his production, but Cafardo wonders if the Red Sox should give the 28-year-old a raise in an act of good faith. While Sale certainly belongs in the elite tier of pitchers in terms of salary, the Red Sox may be reluctant to hand out a second David Price-type blockbuster deal that takes a pitcher through his 30s, Cafardo suggests. Ultimately, the Sox may choose to wait another year and then override the 2019 option with an extension if Sale is his typical self next season, notes Cafardo.

More from the American League:

  • Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy sees the writing on the wall in Baltimore after it acquired his likely replacement, Tim Beckham, at last month’s non-waiver trade deadline, details Rich Dubroff of PressBoxOnline. But Hardy, who has been on the disabled list with a broken wrist since June 18, has still served as a mentor to Beckham. Asked if having Beckham around has been awkward, Hardy replied: “To be honest, no. I’m really, really aware of what’s going on around me, maybe to a fault. I’ve seen it. I know what’s going on. There’s really nothing that I can do. You just have to remember the business part of it.” Hardy struggled mightily this season before the injury, and the O’s are sure to decline his $14MM club option for 2018 in favor of a $2MM buyout, but the soon-to-be 35-year-old isn’t ready to retire. “I’m not saying that I’m done playing. I just know what’s going on in this organization,” said Hardy, who has been an Oriole since 2011.
  • Unlike Hardy, fellow Orioles shortstop Paul Janish is seemingly on the verge of ending his playing career. Janish is likely to join Rice University’s coaching staff next season, reports Mark Berman of FOX 26 (on Twitter). The defensively gifted Janish played at Rice before the Reds chose him in the fifth round of the 2004 draft. The 34-year-old has been with the Baltimore organization since 2015 and has worked almost exclusively at the Triple-A level with the franchise. Janish has only amassed 99 plate appearances with the Orioles, including 28 this year.
  • The Twins’ first-year front office heads, chief baseball officer Derek Falvey and general manager Thad Levine, continue their organizational shakeup, per Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press (all Twitter links). After firing several scouts last week, Minnesota has now let go of pro scout Greg Orr, who had just joined the team in January, and major league scout Wayne Krivsky. Changes to the Twins’ international scouting department are next on the docket, according to Berardino.
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Baltimore Orioles Boston Red Sox Minnesota Twins Chris Sale J.J. Hardy Paul Janish

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