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Brewers Acquire Yeison Coca From Red Sox To Complete Tyler Thornburg Trade

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10:07am: Both teams have now announced the trade. Coca is headed to Milwaukee’s extended Spring Training program for the time being, according to the Brewers.

9:50am: The Brewers will acquire minor league shortstop Yeison Coca from the Red Sox as the player to be named later in the offseason Tyler Thornburg/Travis Shaw trade, according to Evan Drellich of CSN New England (Twitter link).

Coca, 18, signed with the Red Sox back on July 2 in 2015 as a 16-year-old and has just one full season of pro ball under his belt. He spent the 2016 campaign with Boston’s affiliate in the Dominican Summer League, hitting .307/.370/.409 with a homer, five doubles, nine triples and 12 stolen bases (in 17 attempts). Baseball America rated Coca as the Red Sox’ No. 25 prospect this offseason, noting that he shows the instincts and defensive aptitude to eventually be an everyday shortstop with above-average bat-to-ball skills and below-average power. Certainly, any up-the-middle player with the potential to stick at his position is a valuable commodity. But, Coca is a long ways from realizing his potential, and there’s a fairly notable attrition rate among promising teenage shortstops.

Regardless of what happens with Coca, the trade has been overwhelmingly lopsided in Milwaukee’s favor to this point. Shaw has gotten off to an outstanding start with the Brewers, hitting .292/.339/.530 with 10 homers, 16 doubles and a triple through 210 plate appearances. While he’s only seen 57 PAs against lefties, he’s held his own in that limited sample, hitting .250/.316/.442. In a larger sample of 161 PAs while holding the platoon advantage, Shaw has laid waste to right-handers with a .307/.348/.560 triple slash.

The Brewers also added minor league righty Josh Pennington, who has yet to pitch in 2017, and minor league infielder Mauricio Dubon in that trade. The 22-year-old Dubon is hitting .294/.346/.383 with 25 steals (in 32 attempts) through 56 games for Milwaukee’s Double-A affiliate in Biloxi.

Thornburg, on the other hand, has yet to pitch for the Red Sox at all due to a nebulous shoulder issue. The righty has been shut down since Spring Training due to ongoing discomfort in his right shoulder, but there’s been no firm timetable placed on his recovery nor any suggestion of surgery to this point in the season. A healthy Thornburg would help to balance the scales on that trade, so to speak, but the strong play from both Shaw and Dubon is only magnified by a lack of infield depth (specifically at third base) that has plagued Boston throughout the 2017 season.

Olney On Rafael Devers

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  • ESPN’s Buster Olney spoke to a talent evaluator from a rival club who recently watched Red Sox prospect Rafael Devers and came away convinced that the 20-year-old’s size and conditioning won’t allow him to stick at third base in the long run. While that’s just one opinion — Baseball America wrote this offseason that Devers’ glovework has improved, for instance — the lack of certainty isn’t great for a Boston club that has a murky third base picture in the long term thanks to Pablo Sandoval’s struggles and Brock Holt’s injuries. As Olney notes, Devers’ defense will also impact how other clubs view him in potential trade discussions as well.

Red Sox Sign Elih Villanueva To Minor League Deal

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  • The Red Sox have added right-hander Elih Villanueva on a minors pact. Villanueva threw three innings with the Marlins back in 2011, but the rest of his work has come at lower levels. The 30-year-old began the season with Lancaster of the independent Atlantic League, notching a 2.72 ERA, 7.9 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 36 1/3 frames. He hasn’t pitched for a major league team’s minor league affiliate since 2015, which he split between Baltimore’s Double-A and Triple-A clubs.

Update On Carson Smith

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  • Carson Smith is scheduled to throw a bullpen session this weekend and a live batting practice sometime this week in advance of a minor league rehab assignment, CSNNE.com’s Evan Drellich reports.  As Smith tells Drellich, June was the target date for Smith’s return from his Tommy John surgery over a year ago, and the right-hander seems to be on track to finally make his Red Sox debut.

Farrell's Job Not In Jeopardy

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There’ve been an average of 3.4 in-season managerial firings since the 2007, writes Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports in the intro to his latest weekly notes column, but the 2017 campaign may be the rare year where all 30 Opening Day skippers are still at the helm of their respective teams at the conclusion of the regular season. Heyman notes that while there’s been plenty of fan and/or media criticism of high-profile managers like John Farrell (Red Sox) and Terry Collins (Mets), no manager seems to be on a particularly hot seat at the moment. He also runs down a list of nearly half the managers in the league and examines their chances of being dismissed, though again, the primary takeaway is that most seem to be rather safe.

Dombroski: Sox Need To See More From Sandoval

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It’s likely too soon to expect the Red Sox to make any significant moves — indeed, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said yesterday that the market hasn’t really developed yet, as Alex Speier of the Boston Globe tweets. But that doesn’t mean the club is not readying for the deadline. As Tim Britton of the Providence Journal writes, third base is an obvious area to target — even with Pablo Sandoval returning from the DL. Dombrowski acknowledged that the veteran’s “so-so” play early on has left the organization feeling unsettled at the hot corner. “We think he can do it,” said Dombrowski. “But now he’s got to go out and do it for us.” Of course, there are some other internal possibilities. Deven Marrero has impressed with the glove and hit two home runs last night, though his overall offensive work (in the both the majors and at Triple-A) remains uninspiring. And then there’s top prospect Rafael Devers, who’s playing at Double-A at twenty years of age.

Dustin Pedroia Not Expected To Miss Much Time

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  • While there was initially a fair bit of concern for veteran Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia, the prognosis now seems to be good. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski says that he thinks Pedroia may be back after the minimum ten-day absence, as Tim Britton of the Providence Journal reports on Twitter. “It’s really the best-case scenario in many ways,” said Dombrowski.

Red Sox Place Dustin Pedroia On Disabled List, Activate Pablo Sandoval

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1:51pm: The Red Sox have now announced that Pedroia has been placed on the DL, with Sandoval indeed being activated in his place.

1:10pm: The Red Sox will place second baseman Dustin Pedroia on the 10-day disabled list with a “severe” sprain of his left wrist, according to Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe. Pedroia is expected to miss at least the next two weeks and is headed for a second opinion, Abraham adds. Pablo Sandoval is expected to be activated from the disabled list in a corresponding move, per the report.

The injury to Pedroia is the latest blow to the Red Sox’ infield depth, as the team has also lost Marco Hernandez for the season (shoulder surgery) and is unsure when Brock Holt will be able to return to action due to ongoing symptoms of vertigo. Recent trades of Travis Shaw (for Tyler Thornburg) and Carlos Asuaje (part of the Craig Kimbrel package) have also thinned out Boston’s infield depth.

The 33-year-old Pedroia, who suffered the wrist injury in a recent collision at first base with Chicago’s Jose Abreu, had been off to a solid start at the plate this season. In 197 plate appearances, he’s slashed .292/.369/.380 with a pair of homers while chipping in his typically strong defensive contributions at second base. With Pedroia out through at least mid-June, the Sox can shift Deven Marrero from third base over to second base and/or give more playing time to Josh Rutledge, who has plenty of experience at second.

Dustin Pedroia Set For MRI

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  • Some fears were seemingly put to rest for Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia after an X-ray on his wrist came back clean, as Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald was among those to report. But Pedroia, who was injured in a collision while running to first base, has yet to undergo an MRI. The team is sending him back to Boston for a closer look tomorrow morning, with his status to be assessed thereafter.

Red Sox Like Pirates' Pitchers; Pablo Sandoval Nearing Return

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In the event left-hander David Price falters this year in his return from elbow problems, the playoff-contending Red Sox will be forced to scour the trade market to bolster their rotation, observes Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald. Jose Quintana, Sonny Gray, Gerrit Cole and Chris Archer represent high-end starters who could end up on the move prior to the trade deadline, notes Silverman, who doubts that the Red Sox would be able to put together a deal for any of the four. Even without factoring Cole into the mix, the Red Sox are bullish on the Pirates’ pitching at both the major and minor league levels, according to Silverman. If Boston and Pittsburgh don’t swing a deal, Miami right-hander Dan Straily could also be a possibility, though Silverman is skeptical that the Sox would meet the Marlins’ likely high asking price for him. Conversely, Silverman regards Royals left-hander Jason Vargas as an ideal fit for Boston and Twins righty Ervin Santana as a “perfect bridge-type acquisition.” Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reported Saturday that Vargas and Santana are generating buzz as the trade deadline draws closer.

  • It looks as though the Red Sox are targeting next weekend for third baseman Pablo Sandoval’s activation from the DL, writes Ryan Hannable of WEEI.com. Upon his return, Sandoval – unavailable since late April because of a right knee sprain – will provide a much-needed option at third for a team that’s dealing with significant injuries to Marco Hernandez and Brock Holt. Boston’s third basemen have been utterly inept this year, having slashed a paltry .231/.281/.316 in 243 plate appearances. Sandoval didn’t look like part of the solution prior to his injury, though, with a .213/.269/.377 showing in 67 trips to the plate.
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