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Rob Refsnyder

Red Sox, Rob Refsnyder Avoid Arbitration

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The Red Sox have avoided arbitration with outfielder Rob Refsnyder by agreeing to a one-year deal, according to Chad Jennings of The Athletic. Refsnyder will earn a salary of $1.2MM in 2023, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive, and will be able to earn an extra $100K in performance bonuses, per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had projected a slightly higher salary of $1.6MM.

Refsnyder, who turns 32 in March, has bounced around the league for much of his career, spending time with the Yankees, Blue Jays, Rays, Rangers and Twins. Minnesota non-tendered him after a 2021 season where he hit .245/.325/.338 for a wRC+ of 88.

The Red Sox signed him to a minor league deal and sent him to Triple-A Worcester to start the year. He got a brief bump to the big leagues in April as a COVID “substitute” but didn’t properly get his contract selected until June. With Worcester, he was hitting an incredible .306/.429/.524 for a wRC+ of 155. After his promotion, he was largely able to duplicate those results at the big league level, finishing the year with a batting line of .307/.384/.497 for a wRC+ of 146. He had only six career home runs in over 600 plate appearances coming into the year and doubled that total by adding six more in just 177 trips to the plate.

That’s still a fairly small sample size but it was enough for the Sox to see if he can carry that over into 2023 with a slight bump in pay. Though Refsnyder has played a lot of infield in his career, Boston kept him in the outfield in 2022 and seems likely to keep him there again next year. Enrique Hernandez could play some infield but is also the best in-house option for the regular center field job at the moment. Alex Verdugo should be pencilled into one of the corners, though the club recently declined their mutual option on Tommy Pham.

Refsnyder has never been much more than a part-time player, with his 177 plate appearances in 2022 actually his career high. Perhaps he’ll have a chance to carve out an everyday role next year if the Red Sox think his results are sustainable, but it’s also possible they acquire another option at some point this offseason and push Refsnyder into the fourth outfielder. But for now, they’ve got a deal at a modest price point on a guy who showed breakout potential and could be sneaky value.

Red Sox Place Rob Refsnyder On Injured List

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The Red Sox announced a series of roster moves today, reinstating first baseman Eric Hosmer from the injured list while recalling left-hander Darwinzon Hernandez. In corresponding moves, right-hander Josh Winckowski was optioned and outfielder Rob Refsnyder was placed on the injured list due to back spasms.

Refsnyder, 31, has somewhat quietly been having the best season of his career. Signed by Boston to a minor league deal in the offseason, he eventually got into 57 games for the Sox and hit .307/.384/.497 for a wRC+ of 146, indicating his production has been 46% better than league average. That’s likely buoyed by some good luck, as his .394 batting average on balls in play is well above his career rate and the league-wide average, but it’s still a nice result for a minor league signing.

Refsnyder can be retained for next year via arbitration, which is the path it seems like the team is leaning towards. Manager Alex Cora spoke to Christopher Smith of MassLive about Refsnyder and had plenty of positive things to say. “He was really, really good offensively. Versatility. The quality of the at-bats were awesome,” Cora said. “The ability to impact the baseball was there and the projections. Defensively solid. It’s a matter of staying healthy. That’s the most important thing with him. We’ll set up a good program for him in the offseason and this is a guy we really like. We really like. And he can contribute at this level.”

Refsnyder has played some infield in previous seasons but the Red Sox kept him on the grass this year, getting a bit of time at all three outfield positions. Going forward, there’s some uncertainty in the team’s outfield picture. Tommy Pham is likely to reach free agency as he has a mutual option for 2023, with those pacts rarely being exercised by both sides. Enrique Hernández and the club recently agreed to sign an extension, though he’s a candidate to spend some time in the infield with Xander Bogaerts likely to opt out of his contract and become a free agent this winter. That leaves Alex Verdugo as the only guy locked into next year’s outfield, with Refsnyder, Abraham Almonte and Franchy Cordero potential candidates to be there as well. The Sox could certainly reinforce that group with external additions, but it sounds like Refsnyder has earned his way into their plans for next year.

Red Sox Designate Yolmer Sanchez For Assignment

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5:35pm: The Red Sox formally announced all three moves. Sanchez has been designated for assignment, while both Hernandez and Refsnyder have been reinstated from the injured list.

4:30pm: The Red Sox have designated infielder Yolmer Sanchez for assignment, reports Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). The team has yet to formally announce the move, but it’ll come as part of series of transactions that also includes the activation of utilitymen Enrique Hernandez and Rob Refsnyder, per Abraham.

Sanchez, 30, has been with the Red Sox since being selected to the big league roster on July 22. A former Gold Glove winner and regular with the White Sox, he’s seen his offensive output crater in recent years, though never quite to the extent it has so far in Boston. It’s a tiny sample, just 14 games, but Sanchez is just 4-for-37 with seven walks (11.4%), 13 strikeouts (29.5%) and zero extra-base hits through 44 trips to the plate — resulting in a dismal .108/.214/.108 batting line on the year.

Sanchez’s peak years with the bat came in 2017-18 in Chicago, when he posted a combined .253/.312/.390 batting line while playing second base on a near-everyday basis. Granted, even that career-best production was about nine percent worse than league-average, by measure of wRC+, but for a player with Sanchez’s speed and defensive skills, that was plenty to make him a solid regular at second base. His line dipped to .252/.318/.321 in 2019, but Sanchez also won a Gold Glove that year, so the Sox likely didn’t mind the tepid output at the plate.

In the time since winning that Gold Glove, though, Sanchez has barely seen the Majors. He logged just 21 plate appearances with the ChiSox during the shortened 2020 season and spent the 2021 season with the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate where he posted a grisly .216/.309/.352 line in 355 plate appearances. Things were going much better for Sanchez with Boston’s Triple-A club, for whom he’d turned in a .247/.377/.413 line in 305 trips to the plate.

Now that the trade deadline has passed, the only outcome for players who are designated for assignment is to be placed on outright waivers or release waivers. Sanchez has enough service time to reject an outright assignment to the minors if he goes unclaimed.

AL Notes: Gausman, Forst, Athletics, Olson, Refsnyder

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Kevin Gausman won’t start tomorrow’s game against the Mariners, as the Blue Jays righty is still recovering from a bone bruise on his right ankle.  Gausman hasn’t pitched since suffering the injury on July 2, but Jays manager Charlie Montoyo told Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi and other reporters that the team is hoping Gausman can return to the mound on Tuesday when the Blue Jays host the Phillies.

Toronto’s struggling rotation hasn’t been helped by Gausman’s absence, as the Jays’ lack of depth was already being stretched by a recent doubleheader against the Rays, and Ross Stripling’s move to the rotation to replace the injured Hyun Jin Ryu.  Since June 14, the Blue Jays have a 9-16 record, and their pitchers have a cumulative 5.49 ERA — the second-highest total of any team in baseball in that stretch.  Rotation help certainly seems like the Jays’ top priority heading into the trade deadline, but in the short term, the club is just trying to hang onto its status as a wild card team.

More from around the American League…

  • In a wide-ranging interview with The Athletic’s Melissa Lockard, A’s general manager David Forst discussed his team’s struggles, the young talent on the roster and in the farm system, the pitching development team, and many other topics.  Forst also noted how the continued uncertainty over the Athletics’ future in Oakland impacts long-term planning, saying “this is sort of almost cliché at this point, but it’s hard, without a ballpark direction and timeline, to really make a plan on what the next few years look like.  Even internally, it’s hard to know what the team will look like the next couple of years.”
  • Forst also talked some trade possibilities both in the future and in the past, noting that of all the Athletics’ moves during the winter, the deal that sent Matt Olson to the Braves “was the one that we had most discussed prior to the lockout.”  Most of the other notable deals were largely negotiated post-lockout, however, leaving the A’s with little time to both remake their roster and bring in new talent.  “That’s why I sort of say there weren’t enough days to make those deals — which again, we knew we were gonna have to do — and also find ways…to get the current team to the level that we’ve sort of become accustomed to,” Forst said.  No such time crunch exists with the upcoming trade deadline, and to that end, Forst (unsurprisingly) said “there’s no panic” about moving Frankie Montas prior to August 2.  “We didn’t trade him in Spring Training because there wasn’t a trade that made sense for us.  That will continue to be the case.  Whether it’s at the deadline or next offseason or whatever, there’s not a feeling at all that in the next 30 days we have to trade Frankie Montas.”
  • Rob Refsnyder has been an unexpected hero for the Red Sox, posting a .931 OPS over 69 plate appearances since Boston selected his contract on June 10.  Refsnyder inked a minor league deal with the Sox just prior to the lockout, and he also drew interest from the Yankees during the offseason, according to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (hat tip to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch).  It would’ve been something of a reunion for Refsnyder in the Bronx, as he was a fifth-round draft pick for the Yankees back in 2012, and he was a well-regarded prospect during his time in New York’s farm system.  However, Refsnyder didn’t hit much in limited playing time in 2015-17, and a trade to the Blue Jays in 2017 kicked off a journeyman stretch for the utilityman — the Red Sox are the ninth different organization of Refsnyder’s career.

Red Sox Designate Jonathan Arauz For Assignment

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The Red Sox a series of roster moves to reporters, including Ian Browne of MLB.com. Right-hander Garrett Whitlock is heading to the 15-day injured list, with right hip inflammation, retroactive to June 9. Fellow righty Phillips Valdez, who was just optioned yesterday for the activation of Hansel Robles, will take his roster spot. Optional assignments usually require a 15-day minimum stint before returning to the roster, though exceptions are made when a player goes on the IL or for double-headers. Additionally, the previously-reported selection of outfielder Rob Refsnyder has been made official, with infielder Jonathan Arauz being designated for assignment to create a spot for him.

A native of Panama, Arauz was originally signed by the Phillies as an international free agent back in 2014. The following year, he was traded to the Astros as part of the Ken Giles deal. The Red Sox selected him in the 2019 Rule 5 draft, with Arauz sticking on the roster through the entirety of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

Of course, the Red Sox were undergoing a miserable season in 2020, finishing dead last in the AL East with a record of 24-36. As the team has put some distance between themselves and that campaign, Arauz has done little to justify hanging onto a roster spot. In 59 career games over the past three seasons, he’s hit .204/.280/.320 for a wRC+ of 62. Even in Triple-A, things haven’t gone much better, as Arauz has hit just .228/.303/.329 in 92 career games there.

The Red Sox will now have a week to trade him or put him on waivers. Despite his light-hitting stat line, he could still garner some interest, as he is still very young at only 23 years old, making it possible he still has some development ahead of him. He also brings versatility to the table, as he is a switch-hitter and is capable of playing shortstop, second base and third base. He still has options remaining, meaning a team that acquires him could keep him in Triple-A for depth purposes.

As for Whitlock, he was scheduled to start Sunday’s game, meaning the club will have a rotation hole to fill. He started the year in the bullpen but has gradually been shifted into the rotation. He was getting better results as a reliever, though it’s possible this hip issue has contributed to his dampened results. Through the end of April, he had a 0.54 ERA, though it’s been 5.06 since.

Red Sox To Select Rob Refsnyder

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The Red Sox are selecting the contract of utility player Rob Refsnyder, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive. A corresponding move will be required in order to create a spot on the 40-man roster for him. Additionally, the club announced it has reinstated right-hander Hansel Robles from the IL and optioned fellow righty Phillips Valdez in a corresponding move.

Signed to a minor league deal in the offseason, Refsnyder joined the big league club earlier this year but was designated as a Covid substitute and therefore was able to be removed from the roster without being exposed to waivers. He got into three games in April before being returned to the minors. He’s having a monster season in Triple-A through 42 games on the season, with a batting line of .306/.429/.524. That amounts to a wRC+ of 156, or 56% better than the league average hitter.

If Refsnyder, 31, can carry anything resembling that type of production to the big leagues, it would be a tremendous boon to the team and his own career numbers. In 235 MLB games to this point, he’s hit .226/.312/.312 for a wRC+ of 72. However, even if he doesn’t hit at an elite level, he’ll at least provide the team with some positional versatility. He’s spent time at first, second and third base as well as all three outfield positions in his career, though he’s only played in the outfield for Worcester this year.

The club hasn’t gotten much offensive production out of its outfield this year. Franchy Cordero, Alex Verdugo, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Christian Arroyo each have a wRC+ between 55 and 95 on the year, indicating that they’ve all been hitting at below-average rates on the season. Enrique Hernandez, recently placed on the IL, also fits this bill with a wRC+ of 73 on the year.

As for Robles, he was dealing with back spasms and last pitched on May 22. He was off to a good start to the year before hitting the IL, throwing 17 innings with a 2.65 ERA. Their might have been some good fortune in there, however, as his 16.2% strikeout rate was well below his career rate of 25.3% and his .188 BABIP was nowhere near his .279 career number.

Travis Shaw Elects Free Agency

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TODAY: Shaw has elected to become a free agent rather than accept an outright assignment to Triple-A.  As noted by WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford, the Red Sox will only owe Shaw the prorated portion of his $1.5MM salary for the time spent on the active roster.  Because Shaw was let go within the season’s first 40 days, the Sox don’t owe the entire salary.

APRIL 29, 4:06pm: The Red Sox informed reporters (including Tara Sullivan of the Boston Globe) that Cordero has been selected and Shaw was DFA. Boston also reinstated right-handers Tanner Houck and Kutter Crawford from the restricted list. To clear 40-man roster space for those two hurlers, the Sox returned COVID “substitutes” Rob Refsnyder and John Schreiber to Triple-A Worcester. They’ve also optioned righty Tyler Danish and recalled outfielder Jaylin Davis.

10:50am: The Sox indeed plan to select Cordero’s contract from Worcester, Cotillo tweets. Cordero struggled immensely through 136 plate appearances in Boston last season, hitting at just a .189/.237/.260 clip while fanning at a 37.5% rate. He’s out to a massive .296/.375/.535 start through 81 plate appearances in Triple-A, where he’s slugged three homers and eight doubles with a slightly lower (though still troubling) 28.3% strikeout rate.

10:23am: The Red Sox are designating struggling corner infielder Travis Shaw for assignment, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports (via Twitter). The team has yet to formally announce the move or a corresponding transaction, though Cotillo suggests that outfielder Franchy Cordero could be brought up from Triple-A Worcester to take Shaw’s spot on the roster.

Shaw, 32, has a lengthy history with the Sox and has had plenty of success in prior stints with Boston, but his 2022 campaign has gotten out to a disastrous start. Through 19 plate appearances, he’s yet to collect a hit or even reach base, punching out seven times along the way. Were the Red Sox’ lineup performing better on the whole, perhaps the front office might have been more willing to give the veteran Shaw a bit more leash to right the ship. Boston, however, is batting just .229/.275/.344 as a team, translating to a 78 wRC+ that ranks 27th among baseball’s 30 teams. Their 72 runs scored this season rank 20th. The Sox have scored two or fewer runs in nine of their 20 games thus far.

Shaw returned to the Red Sox for a second stint late last season after the Brewers placed him on waivers, and his second stint with the Sox proved productive. In 48 plate appearances down the stretch, Shaw hit just .238 but got on base at a healthier .319 clip and slugged a robust .524. He smacked three homers and three doubles along the way, showing enough for Boston to bring him back to the organization on a minor league contract this winter. Shaw didn’t hit much in Spring Training (4-for-24), but management saw enough positives from him to carry him on the Opening Day roster.

Now designated for assignment, Shaw will be either traded, placed on outright waivers or released within a week’s time. Given his early struggles, it seems unlikely that another club would immediately place Shaw on its 40-man roster (via a small trade or waiver claim). If he goes unclaimed or is released, however, his track record ought to get him a look elsewhere on a minor league contract. Shaw has a pair of 30-homer campaigns on his resume and is a career .237/.319/.437 hitter in 2690 plate appearances.

Red Sox Activate Christian Vazquez

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Apr. 20: Vazquez has been reinstated with Hernandez optioned backed to Triple-A Worcester, per a team announcement.

Apr. 19: The Red Sox have selected the contract of veteran infielder/outfielder Rob Refsnyder and recalled right-hander Tyler Danish from Triple-A Worcester, per a club announcement. Catcher Christian Vazquez and infielder Jonathan Arauz were placed on the Covid-19-related injured list.

The series of moves leaves Connor Wong as the only catcher on Boston’s active roster, as backup Kevin Plawecki was also placed on the Covid list yesterday. It would appear that additional moves could be forthcoming, as MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo reported last night that minor league catcher Ronaldo Hernandez was expected to be promoted to the big league roster. Hernandez has since shared news of a big league call-up on his Instagram story. The Sox have not yet formally announced that move, however.

Refsnyder, 31, spent the 2021 season with the Twins and logged 157 Major League plate appearances, batting at a .245/.325/.338 pace while spending time at all three outfield positions. Refsnyder also has ample experience at second base and third base, though Minnesota used him exclusively in the outfield. In 614 career plate appearances between the Yankees, Blue Jays, Rays, Rangers and Twins, Refsnyder is a .224/.310/.308 hitter.

Both Vazquez and Arauz will be away from the Sox for a yet-to-be-determined period of time. Boston has not yet announced whether either Vazquez or Arauz has tested positive or whether they’re showing symptoms and thus undergoing further testing. The jointly agreed-upon health and safety protocols for the 2022 season stipulate a 10-day absence following a positive test, though that absence can be shortened if the player records a pair of negative PCR tests and is approved by a team medical official and a joint committee of one MLB-appointed and one MLBPA-appointed doctor.

Red Sox Sign Christin Stewart, Rob Refsynder To Minor League Deals

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The Red Sox have inked a pair of recent big leaguers to minor league deals. Rob Bradford of WEEI reported (on Twitter) that former Tigers corner outfielder/DH Christin Stewart was landing in Boston; meanwhile, Chris Cotillo of MassLive reported this morning (Twitter link) that utilityman Rob Refsnyder was signing with the Sox.

Stewart, 28 next month, appeared in the majors with Detroit each season from 2018-20. The left-handed hitter tallied 587 plate appearances all told (the bulk of them coming in 2019) and hit .225/.300/.376 with 15 home runs. That kind of offensive output wasn’t enough to compensate for Stewart’s lack of defensive value as a below-average left fielder, and Detroit outrighted him off their 40-man roster in April.

To his credit, Stewart bounced back after clearing waivers. He took 343 trips to the plate with the Tigers’ Triple-A affiliate in Toledo, hitting .254/.339/.538 with 21 homers. That’s in line with Stewart’s career-long track record of hitting well in the minors, but it wasn’t enough to earn another big league look in Detroit. He’ll try to play his way back to the majors with the Red Sox next spring.

Refsnyder has appeared in the majors in each of the past six seasons, albeit without ever tallying 200 trips to the plate in a given year. He’s bounced around the league, suiting up for the archrival Yankees, Blue Jays, Rays, Rangers and Twins. His most recent stop was in Minnesota, where he posted a .245/.325/.338 line with a pair of homers over 157 plate appearances.

The 30-year-old’s greatest appeal lies in his defensive versatility. Refsnyder has appeared at every position excepting shortstop and catcher over the course of his big league career, adding center field to his resume while Byron Buxton was on the injured list this past season. He’ll look to earn a big league roster spot with the fourth AL East team of his career come Spring Training.

Twins Claim Jharel Cotton, Outright Rob Refsnyder

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The Twins announced Friday that they’ve claimed righty Jharel Cotton off waivers from the Rangers and outrighted infielder/outfielder Rob Refsnyder off the 40-man roster. Minnesota also confirmed prior reports that right-hander Alex Colome’s 2022 mutual option has been declined.

Though his track record is spotty, Cotton put up solid numbers as a low-leverage relief option for the Rangers in 2021, posting a 3.52 ERA (3.72 FIP) across 30 2/3 innings while striking out just shy of a batter an inning. For his career, Cotton sports a less appealing 4.71 ERA (5.06 FIP) over 189 innings, though prior to 2021 he hadn’t seen a big-league mound since he covered 129 of those innings as a back-end starter for the 2017 A’s.

Since then, Cotton has dealt with a variety of injuries, undergoing both Tommy John surgery in 2018 and a hamstring issue that also required surgery in 2019. The A’s traded him to the Cubs for cash considerations in late 2019, and though he was chosen for the Cubs’ alternate site, he was never promoted to the active roster. The Rangers then signed him to a minor league deal and promoted him to the bigs in July of this year after he pitched to a 3.00 ERA in 42 innings at Triple-A Round Rock.

Cotton will be arbitration-eligible in 2022 (Matt Swartz pegs him at a $1.2MM salary in MLBTR’s arbitration projections), which may be behind the Rangers’ decision to move on from the righty. The Twins evidently see him as a potential bargain, however, as they look to return to contention next year following a disappointing 2021. They’ll hope Cotton can help solidify the back end of a ’pen that featured several solid options (Taylor Rogers, Caleb Thielbar, Tyler Duffey) in 2021 but struggled to cover a season’s worth of innings.

Refsnyder, a journeyman utility bench bat, was also eligible for arbitration, but the Twins have decided not to tender him a contract at a projected $800K salary. He’ll presumably opt for minor league free agency in the coming days.

Across 614 plate appearances in parts of six seasons with the Yankees, Blue Jays, Rays, Rangers, and Twins, Refsnyder has put together a .224/.310/.308 line. His versatility may give him a chance to catch on somewhere, but he’ll likely need to find a way to tap into more power (he’s slugged .442 across parts of nine seasons in the minors) to add much value.

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