Dombo talks Panda, and Vazquez/Swihart
Dave Dombrowski spoke to the media for roughly 15 minutes today to talk about Pablo Sandoval and Blake Swihart/Christian Vazquez. Here is a sampling.
The latest on Sandoval:
“So, he had an MRI yesterday. There’s a great deal going on in his left shoulder from a medical perspective. He is going to get a second opinion on Monday, from Dr. Andrews. Monday morning. Then we will have a disclosure at that point on what actually is involved with his shoulder. Until we get the second opinion, we’re going to wait to make any kind of statements on that because we want to make sure whatever is diagnosed is the proper one. We talked to his agent about that this morning, Rick Thurman. He felt comfortable with that situation, as does Pablo. And so that’s what our plans are.”
Could the injury require surgery?
“I’m not going to speculate on anything but I won’t rule anything out either.”
Is it an ominous sign that Sandoval is seeing Andrews?
“Well, Dr. Andrews, if he’s not the best, he’s one of the best. We’ve sent many people to them. But I think when you’re dealing with a situation that’s with any player really, but a player that you want to make sure what exactly is in there that he’s one of the best and so you send it to him. I’ve had plenty of guys go there and come back with the same exact diagnosis and everything be smooth. And other guys, sometimes they see a little bit different. Dr. Andrews, I have the utmost respect for him, as does our medical team as does Pablo and his agent.”
The playing time issue is officially on the backburner.
“Well, right now, we’re in a situation where we need to get him healthy. And when people ask what his situation is, really, speculation doesn’t serve me any good. It’s just really a situation, the first thing with him is to tackle the medical aspect of it. And I would do that with any player.”
What about a report from Yahoo that Sandoval only wants to stay in Boston if he’s playing every day?
“It’s never been termed that way to me. I know he wants to play every day. But he also understands the situation.”
Then, the conversation switched to Swihart.
How hard was it to send him down?
“Yeah, lot of conversations on that situation. Very difficult decision because of how much we like Blake and how good a player we think he is. We emphasized that to him when we talked. We’ve thought about, should we carry three catchers or not? A lot of people were involved in the decision, really the whole staff. I had a long conversation with Jason Varitek. I ran into him the other day, it just so happened, in the morning at Dunkin Donuts, having a cup of coffee, and we talked for over an hour on the situation. Then we met that afternoon. And really our feelings at this time are two-fold.
“One is, what it comes down to, we think he has a chance to be a good catcher, an all-star type of catcher. It won’t hurt him to go down and continue to develop those skills. With Christian coming on board, we don’t think that the catching time here will be enough to continue for him to grow in that regard. We do want him to continue to catch. The second part of it is as we look towards the future and even as time goes on, we would like Christian Vazquez and Blake Swihart to both be part of our club. And they’re both not going to be everyday catchers with our team.
“Blake’s more athletic. He’s a converted catcher. We think he can make a conversion to another position. Even on a part-time basis, so we can keep his bat in the lineup. So he’s also going to learn, when we send him out, we’re going to start hitting him flyballs in left field. We think that’s more fair to do that down in Triple-A then just put him in at the big league level and say, here you go, so he’s also going to start working on that. so the combination between catching, we’re not going to put him right in left field to play. We’re going to start hitting him some flyballs. We think he’ll be able to make the conversion while continuing to catch and DH. He’ll be in the lineup every day and we think that’s more beneficial for him at this stage of his career than it would be playing on a periodic basis here.”
How did Swihart take the news, and the suggestion to try left field?
“He was fine. I think to probably describe him would be that he would be a little disappointed, as anybody would be if they aren’t staying here. But he handled it professionally. John Farrell’s the one who told him. I was in there with Mike Hazen and with Dana and John presented to him very well because we had emphasized to him, which we heartfully meant, how important he is for us in the future, how highly we think of him as a player and as a person. We think he will be a key contributor to the Boston Red Sox for years to come. But we thought this was the best plan at this point.
“And John can tell you better than I can because he was the one involved with it in spring training, but it was even before we started playing games in spring training. This was a topic we’ve talked about. Where this is going to go? But we couldn’t tackle it during spring training because he was a No. 1 catcher, our Opening Day catcher, and we didn’t want him thinking about something else other than that at this particular moment. But he was standing in the outfield and I don’t think we had started playing regular official workouts at that time and he asked John, ‘Christian is doing pretty well.’ ‘Yeah, he is doing pretty well.’ ‘It looks like he might be back pretty quickly.’ ‘He could be.’ We had thought at one time that Christian could be ready for Opening Day. We just took our time a little more with that.
“He said, ‘What’s the plan?’ And John said, ‘We love you. We think you’re great. We like your catching and your our guy. But you might want to think about taking some fly balls in the outfield here in left field.’ It never really came to fruition because Christian never really got close to being ready Opening Day, but Blake’s response was, ‘I’ll do anything. I just want to play for the Red Sox. I just want to be ready to go and I’m ready to help wherever I can.’ He was open-minded to that and John touched on that conversation today.
Why have Swihart keep catching and play the outfield?
“Well, it’s a great question. Basically, still he’s a foul-tip away from coming back to the big leagues as a catcher. So, he needs to keep working on that skill totally. I mean, Jason Varitek, I’m sure he would tell you, he’s told me, ‘I think he’s going to be an All-Star catcher.’ That’s what Jason Varitek tells me. He knows catching better than I do. Only time will tell that. He thinks he’s going to be that good. He also says, ‘I think Christian Vazquez is a gifted receiver, like not too many others.’ So, you’re really tackling an issue that’s kind of a difficult one, but as Ruben Amaro pointed out in our meeting, he said, ‘It’s a much better situation to be talking about having talent than not having talent.’
“I think what it does, it allows us to be in a position to just analyze how it goes at this time. He’s not doing it under the microscope here. I don’t think it would be fair to him to put him in left field here and start playing him in games. We just want to try to develop both skills. And it doesn’t mean, for example, as we talked about too in our meeting, let’s say he’s catching tomorrow. Well, that particular day, he’s not going to be taking a bunch of fly balls in left field that particular day. He’s going to be focusing on catching. Doesn’t mean at 2:30 he may not go out there and here 10 minutes of instruction at some point, but we’re going to try to do things in a wise fashion.”
Pablo, Rusney debut in Toronto
With a quick turnaround after last night’s thrilling victory, manager John Farrell made a couple of lineup changes for Saturday afternoon’s matinee in Toronto.
Pablo Sandoval and Rusney Castillo, who are owed a combined $134.5 million for the balance of their contracts and are playing bench roles, are both in the lineup. Sandoval is at third, with Travis Shaw moving to first and Hanley Ramirez serving as the DH. David Ortiz will get a rest. Castillo is in center, with Jackie Bradley out of the lineup.
“To get everybody on the field, get everybody involved in a ballgame on this first road trip,” said Farrell. “[R.A.] Dickey’s kind of an unusual matchup for us and I think there are certain types of swings that we have felt, over a course of time, that have played better against a knuckleballer. It’s an opportunity for Rusney to get into center field, put Panda on the field as well, who’s swung the bat in a limited number of bats but at least he’s swung the bat decently against Dickey. This keeps everybody involved.”
Chris Young, who is 1-for-13 lifetime against Dickey, is expected to make his first start of the season tomorrow.
Despite needing the bullpen for six innings on Friday, Farrell thinks he’ll have enough coverage on Saturday.
“Barnes will be available. We’re certainly covered, we’ve got the ability to match up if needed. We’re in decent shape,” Farrell said.
Tito talks Farrell, Papi
The Red Sox open the 2016 season against a familiar face in Indians manager Terry Francona, who guided Boston to World Series titles in 2004 and 2007.
Francona is always all-business once the games begin. But he was expansive on his close friend John Farrell as well as David Ortiz during Sunday’s news conference.
This will be Farrell’s first regular-season game since undergoing chemotherapy treatments for cancer last summer. Francona accompanied Farrell to his first treatment and has been in constant contact with his former pitching coach.
“Once the game starts, you want to win so bad that you don’t really care who is over there. But certainly seeing him, I saw him earlier today walking to the clubhouse, certainly seeing him healthy and smiling and laughing is more meaningful than any game we’ll ever play. Once the game starts, we want to win bad. So do they. But seeing him happy and healthy and smiling is better than anything else.”
He’s one of my best friends so I’ve talked to him a lot. I don’t think he ever doubted this would have happened this way. I don’t think, as a friend, I would have doubted it either just because I know him. I know the care he was getting. That was really something to see. One of the things I was happiest about is that I knew Larry Ronan was watching out and was in charge of everything that was going on with John. I was really grateful for that. If you’re going to have something that’s serious, you can’t be in better hands.”
Francona has never downplayed how vital Ortiz was to the two World Series rings he owns. There will be a lot of attention on Ortiz in this, his final season. Francona thinks the gregarious slugger deserves all the accolades he gets.
“I know what he’s meant to Boston. He went there and some guys kind of shrink in that atmosphere and he just blossomed. It brought out his true personality and he embraced it. He’s been through a lot there. He’s certainly the face of the Red Sox, or one of them, and probably the same goes for the face of baseball. He’s got that big smile that when you walk in the room, or when somebody walks in the room, he can disarm you just like that. I don’t care who you are. He’s a big teddy bear.”
Then, Francona displayed the humor he is known for.
“I think all things considered, because it is his last year, I think he should take the next three days off and just enjoy Cleveland and we’ll honor him at home plate, but he should probably not play.”
Francona realized early on in his time in Boston that Ortiz was not only an impact figure on the field but also off of it.
“Early on when I got there, I realized real quick you could go to him if you got something you needed to get done, which is important, real important. And we had a lot of guys like that. David transcends languages, colors, things like that. If you were in his uniform, that was what mattered. That meant a lot to me. David and I went through a lot. Good. Some tough, The pinch hitting one year. He’s a proud man. That was hard for him. Hard for me. But we fought through it and that’s what’s more important.”
Kopech breaks throwing hand in altercation
Red Sox pitching prospect Michael Kopech will have another abbreviated season after fracturing his right (throwing) hand in a recent altercation with his Spring Training roommate.
The incident comes on the heels of Kopech being suspended 50 games last year for testing positive for Oxilofrine, a stimulant in violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.
Kopech is the ranked No. 5 among Red Sox prospects by MLB Pipeline.
“There’s a small fracture in his hand,” said Red Sox general manager Mike Hazen. “We’re still trying to figure out what the medical [recovery] is going to be. We have to go through more tests just to make sure we know exactly what we’re dealing with.”
Without question, the Red Sox are displeased Kopech has cost himself more time away from the mound with an off-field mistake.
“It’s disappointing,” said Hazen. “Very disappointed. It was stupid. He’s going to have to grow up, obviously, with the things that have happened so far. He’s got a long road to go to get to the big leagues. He obviously has a ton of potential and he’s got a long way to go. These types of things, you don’t want to put more barriers in front of you than playing professional baseball already presents to you.”
The Red Sox took Kopech in the first round (33rd overall pick) of the 2014 First Year Player Draft out of Mount Pleasant (Texas) High School. Kopech is 19 years old.
“I don’t want to go into details of what happened,” Hazen said. “He was very apologetic. He’s very disappointed by what happened certainly, and now he’s going to pay for it with regard to more lost time.”
In the coming days, the Red Sox should get a better understanding of how much time Kopech will miss.
“It depends on the severity of the fracture and if we have to do anything with it [surgically] or not,” said Hazen. “Right now, we’re unsure exactly. There’s a wide range of time frames depending on what we have to do. We don’t have those answers yet.”
Kopech pitched in 16 games for Class-A Greenville last year, going 4-5 with a 2.63 ERA and notching 70 strikeouts over 65 innings.
Sandoval hopes for rebound in 2016
Pablo Sandoval arrived at Red Sox camp today, two days before reporting date for position players. He is excited to turn the page and start fresh after a highly-disappointing first season in Boston.
At first, Sandoval said he had nothing to prove. Interestingly, he gave the exact opposite answer later in the near nine-minute session with reporters.
“No, I don’t got nothing to prove. I just prepare myself to perform well, for my teammates to perform well, to try to get to the World Series. That’s what I’m doing. I put some goals in my mind, and I’m working hard to get it done on the field.”
And here is what he said the second time he was asked if he had something to prove.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m going to prove to the fans, to my teammates that I can be a better defensive player, offensive player to win games. I have to work hard to get to that moment. Keep working hard, keep your head up and do everything you can do on the field.”
Is Sandoval motivated to erase the bitter taste of last year?
“Real motivated. I just want to be one thing to my teammates, performing well and trying the best that I can performing out there and try to get my team to the World Series. That’s’ my goal.”
Manager John Farrell had said in January that Sandoval lost 20 to 22 pounds. But Sandoval was evasive when asked about his weight.
“I don’t weigh. I don’t weigh in at all. I just do my work and try to do everything I can. I don’t weigh in all offseason. I just tried to get better and be in better position like I said and and be an athlete.”
Did the Red Sox tell him to lose weight going into the offseason?
“Nope,” Sandoval said.
However, Sandoval did talk about improving his condition.
“After the season was over for me, when I was sick with pneumonia. I got the clearance to start working out in October. I started working out to prepare myself to be an athlete on the field. That’s what I did. I don’t’ try to lose weight, I don’t try to do nothing. I just try to put in my work and feel better and do the things I can do on the field to get better out there. That’s what I did.”
Was last year a disappointment?
“It’s not a disappointment. It’s baseball. It’s a surprise. You’re not going to have the whole season great. You’re going to have some ups and downs. You have to prepare yourself to be ready for when those down moments come, shake it off and you work hard to do everything you can do to prove next year you can be better than that. Like I said, It was a tough, tough year, but it’s in the past, and now I’ll prepare myself to be better and be in a better position this year.”
What went wrong in 2015?
“Bad moments. For me, bad moments. It was up and downs during the season, but you have to prepare yourself, put your mind in the right spot to be better.”
As John Farrell said a couple of days ago, Sandoval will resume switch hitting after giving it up righty last May.
“I’ve been working out all offseason just righthanded. I didn’t hit left-hadned at all. I’m focused on that. I’m trying to get my confidence back. That was one of the things I lost last year — my confidence. Now I’ve got my confidence back, and I’m going to taste it again.”
It was noted to Sandoval that his numbers have spiraled downard the last four years.
“I don’t worry about numbers. I worry about wins. You can see all the years that my numbers went down and how many championships I’ve got. That’s what I worry about.”
Sandoval admits he lost his confidence.
“If you don’t have that, if you don’t feel confident at home plate from the right side, you’re not going to trust your swing, and you’re going to put pressure on you so that’s what I did.”
How hard was that? “Hard. Hard because it is the moment when you lost that confidence to perform well. You put in that spot but what am I going to do? What’s the next step? That’s what I’m working the offseason to try to shake it up and work hard and get my confidence back. that’s what I did right now, I feel great. I’ve been working hard to be a better right-handed hitter so that’s what I did.”
Trader Dave strikes again — setup man Smith acquired
Dave Dombrowski’s first offseason with the Red Sox continues to gain steam. On Monday, Dombrowski dealt lefty Wade Miley to the Mariners for a pair of promising young arms in righty Carson Smith and lefty Roenis Elias.
Smith, 26, was one of the top setup relievers last season. In 70 games, he posted a 2.31 ERA while striking out 92 over 70 innings and holding opponents to a .194 average.
Elias, a 27-year-old Cuban, gives the Red Sox some rotation depth. In 51 career appearances over the last two seasons — all but two of them starts — Elias is 15-20 with a 3.97 ERA.
Miley, 29, went 11-11 with a 4.46 ERA in 2015, his only season with the Red Sox. It was last year at the Winter Meetings that Boston acquired Miley from the Diamondbacks.
The Mariners have good cost control with Miley, who will earn $6 million in 2016, $8.75 million in in ’17 and has a club option for $12 million in ’18.
With three days still left in the Winter Meetings, it will be interesting to see if Dombrowski tries to acquire a Number 2 starter. Shelby Miller — who is Joe Kelly’s best friend — is an intriguing possibility. However, the Braves are said to be asking a lot for Miller and for good reason: He is under control of whatever team he pitches for through 2018.
Hanley healthy, eyeing strong rebound
PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic – With the soothing shores of his native island crashing in the background, a cheerful Hanley Ramirez spotted a small group of Red Sox reporters having lunch and sat down next to them for an update on his health and overall state of mind as he prepares to switch positions for the second straight season .
In Punta Cana this weekend for David Ortiz’s Celebrity Golf Classic, Ramirez was affable, and clearly in a better state of mind than a couple of months ago, when his ailing right shoulder ended his season early.
“Great,” said Ramirez. “I’ve been working out. I’ll stop for a little bit [this weekend] and then go back.”
Ramirez left the Red Sox late in the season to concentrate on shoulder rehab in Miami, and feels that plan worked perfectly.
“The thing is, it was a good thing they did, when they sent me home, like two weeks or a week and a half before the season ended,” Ramirez said. “After a couple of weeks, I was ready to go. I was feeling strong after two weeks.”
Ramirez first banged up his left shoulder running into the wall at the end of April, and then ran into trouble with the other shoulder in July or August. The result was an utter lack of offense over the season’s final months from a player who has hit throughout his entire career.
Ramirez thinks that his decline in production – which he felt was mainly related to injuries – led to overblown scrutiny about his physique.
“The thing is, in April, nobody said anything,” Ramirez said. “I had 10 homers. I know how it is. It’s the media. When you’re struggling, things are going to come out. When you do good, I just got to hit and that’s it, and everything’s going to be fine.”
However, Ramirez said he will honor the request of president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski to get “more athletic”. He has altered his training routine this winter and the plan is for him to be about 230 pounds for 2016.
Ramirez admitted that he used to train like a football player in the winter, but noted he needs to adapt as he gets older.
“That’s what we’re doing this year,” Ramirez said. “We’re concentrating on the smaller muscles inside the different ones. It’s what the medical staff on the Red Sox want and it’s what we’ve been doing. I’ve been doing a lot of cardio and agility because to play the infield, that’s the difference.”
While Ramirez would like to play Winter Ball in the Dominican, he realizes the Red Sox might rather he keep focusing on his workouts and return to health.
“Every year I try to play to get ready. If they let me, I play,” Ramirez said. “If they don’t let me, I just keep working in the gym and doing my thing to get ready.”
Ramirez’s transition to left field didn’t go well at all last year, but he has confidence that playing first base won’t be nearly as difficult for him to master.
“I’ve been in the infield my whole life,” Ramirez said. “This is nothing new for me. Just work on my hands, relaxing my hands, and that’s it. We’re going to concentrate on footwork and all that stuff in maybe in like a week with the team I was supposed to play Winter League with and just go there and try to get some work done.”
Ramirez will arrive to Spring Training a couple of weeks early and feels he’ll have plenty of time to master the art of first base with renowned instructor Brian Butterfield.
“What we did last year, towards the end of the year, he gave me some keys, and I was like, ‘Wow, this works.’ You see it with [Mike] Napoli,” said Ramirez. “Napoli was a catcher and he moved to first. He picked it. Butterfield, man, he’s good.”
“The outfield is different. You can see Bradley, he’s unbelievable. Or Mookie, I wish I could do that. I was clapping every time they made a good play because I know myself, I couldn’t do it,” Ramirez said. “Going to the infield, it’s different, it’s way different. I’m an infielder. I don’t know why you guys think it’s going to be hard. I just have to keep working every day and no doubt I’ll make some mistakes but we just have to learn from that. At the end of the season, just win and everything is going to be alright.”
As for the speculation the Red Sox might try to trade Ramirez, he hasn’t heard any of that from Dombrowski. Ramirez very much once to fulfill the final three seasons of his contract in Boston.
“Why you think I cried when they traded me the first time when I was in Double-A? But the thing is, he’s honest,” Ramirez said of Dombrowski. “He tells you what we wants, and you respect people like that. That’s why I feel great right now. He told me what he wants me to do. We set up all the points, and I’m fine with that, he’s fine with that.”
Dombrowski, Kimbrel on the trade
Here is a transcript of tonight’s conference call in which the Red Sox announced the acquisition of four-time All-Star closer
Dave Dombrowski started out by recognizing the events of the day:
“I just want to acknowledge the tragic events that took place in Paris today and are taking place as we speak. Our thoughts and prayers are with the French people and those that have been affected by those attacks. It just didn’t seem appropriate to start talking baseball without addressing what’s taking place across the Atlantic. We really were somewhat thinking if we should have this or not, but just thought it was appropriate to do so, but we didn’t want to do so without first acknowledging that.”
On why Kimbrel was the ultimate choice: “First and foremost, what was extremely important was the ability, because when we looked at Craig, we looked at him as a premium closer and there are various names out there, but one of the best in the game of baseball. There was no question that the years of control do make a difference, because you’re looking at the ability to control the contract as far as three years are concerned. And that was also able to make a difference as far as what we were able to give up, because we gave up a lot of good young players. We also thought that we’re going to have to give some quality to get quality. But giving the quality and having the three years made a significant difference.”
Getting someone with closing experience: “The key for us was we had identified a couple of guys that maybe stood above the rest as far as the ability to close, and the ability to get one of those guys we thought was extremely important. Because with the acquisition of Craig, we’re in a spot where we’ll move Koji to the eighth inning, and John Farrell really thought he’d be fine with that, knowing the type of individual that Koji is. And John made sure to reach out to Koji and spoke to him tonight already and said he was really good with the change of the role and that all he wants to do is pitch in the World Series again. He basically said, you don’t have to worry about me, I’ll pitch whenever you’re asked to and he acknowledged Kimbrel and understands the shift to the eighth inning, so I think that whole combination for us is really what made it work.”
Bullpen set for the most part: “I think this is enough of a major move that we need to make. Because when you shift Koji into the eight and Tazawa into the seventh, that’s significant. I can’t say we won’t do some tweaking as time goes on, I’m not really sure about that, but I think with the major moves, this is a big step for us and probably the major step we look to make at this point.”
Status update on Kimbrel? “He’s perfectly healthy. He feels great. He’s in the prime of his career. He’s 27. Our last scouting reports, which were late in the year in September, he was throwing 97 to 99 at that time with the good breaking ball. So he’s healthy, he’s been consistent throughout his career, he’s at the prime time, and so we look for him to be our guy back there for years to come.”
The haul: “Well, you don’t ever like to give up young talent. We think they’re very talented individuals. But I do think with the good job that the people in player-development, scouting, international operations have done, we do have some depth at those positions and we also have some other quality young players that we were asked about repeatedly. In addition to that, I think the real key for us is that we made this acquisition in acknowledging that we didn’t give anything up at the major-league level to affect our club this year. So, we were able to add an All-Star closer without giving up the big-league-level guys. And so, again, it’s talent that is good talent. Some of it’s a while away. Again, you don’t like to give up this type of talent. I think San Diego did a very fine job, but we’re happy, of course, with getting Craig.”
Ace will be a free agent: “Well, my guess would be — and again, these are only guesses at this time — going into the wintertime and with conversations we’ve had with clubs over the last month, my thought process is most likely any acquisition we’d make in the starting pitching would first happen as far as the free-agent field is concerned. You never know, but that would be my guess. I thought that our acquisition of the relief pitching aspect would more likely come through a trade. We’re in a spot that this is probably our major acquisition for the wintertime as far as the trade market is concerned. You never can tell, but that’s what my instincts tell me.”
The importance of hard throwers in bullpen: “I think it’s always been a great way to go. Again, you have to look at different ways you put a bullpen together and to me, it starts with having a quality, premium closer, somebody that can get a big strikeout, get out of a tough situation. Someone who gets the save for you eventually. There’s different ways to go about it. Having that power arm out there at the back end is really important. I think it really strengthens the back end of our ‘pen overall then because you’ve got a closer there, a guy that’s closed in the eighth inning for us and in the seventh. You see the way clubs have been successful, I think it’s important if you can do that. I’d like to combine it with real good starting pitching too and then you’ll really be in a quality spot. Having a strong bullpen is extremely important.”
The timeline of the deal: “We were working on it during the GM meetings. We’ve actually talked to San Diego almost since the very end of the season, just about various things, and they were really in a little bit of a hold as they went through their managerial hiring process, so it picked up right before going to the GM meetings and picked up as soon as we got there. We met on Monday face to face and really conversed about this, went back and forth on names. The whole GM meetings, we talked numerous times, met a few times, talked on the phone numerous times, but also did talk to other clubs. That was something that was taking place the whole time period. I was hopeful that we could make a deal after we left, but you never knew about those things. We actually finalized things this morning — it was about 8:30, I was in the office doing some work, catching up, got in here earlier than that. A.J. Preller called me around 5:30 in the morning his time, he was thinking about it and called me, and then we consummated the deal then, tentatively, agreed to things, and we had to go through different stages, medical people talking to one other, updating ownership at the time, and myself, too. That was really the time frame.”
Craig Kimbrel’s reaction
On being traded last year: “It definitely opened up my eyes, it definitely made you grow quite a bit. Especially with the trade being so last minute, the night before Opening Day. Things went kind of fast. I could barely know my teammates. I’m looking forward to having spring training to learn the team I’m going to be on this year. That’s going to be very nice. I felt like I’m from the south and playing in atlanta for that duration kind of spoiled me a little bit, being so close to home. I learned a lot about what it takes to move away from home and move away from my family and learn how to play the game that way. It definitely made me a stronger player and definitely a stronger person.”
Being traded twice in a year: “It’s part of the game. The more we looked at the game, there’s players who move around a lot more. From my view, especially being out of the bullpen, it’s something I won’t say I want to get to used to, but it’s become more common. Being moved to the American league, I’m excited. It’s a league of big bats and as a pitcher you want to have the opportunity to face those big bats. It’s a challenge in itself and I’m looking forward to.”
On Pitching in Boston: “The history, the fans in Boston, the atmosphere is always awesome every time I’ve been there. You can tell the history and everything behind it there, so to be able to put the uniform on, to be able to play in front of those fans, it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Boras on Bogaerts, Red Sox
An annual rite of passage at any General Managers Meetings is power agent Scott Boras holding court with a barrage of reporters for 45 minutes or so. That took place today in Boca Raton, but Boras doesn’t have as many Red Sox ties as we’re accustomed to this time of year.
We did ask him about his client Xander Bogaerts, and whether he might sign a long-term deal with the Red Sox several years in advance of free agency.
“Again, anything their clients say to me about their interest in doing things … Xander is very happy in Boston,” Boras said. “He had a great year there. It’s really a relationship between him and the coaching staff. They did a great job with him and he did a great job with him and he did a great job for them so we’re very encouraged about his future there.”
What if Mookie Betts — a non-Boras client — signs an extension? Would that make Bogaerts more apt to do so?
“I don’t know if players look to other players,” Boras said. “Look, the Red Sox have a history of signing players to long-term contracts. I don’t think that’s a secret among players. So the fact that they’ve been an organization that commits to good players and commits to good players long-term, I think all the young players there know they have the capacity to do that. I wouldn’t think the signing of any particular player would affect how [Bogaerts] would view things.”
What if Bogaerts says he’s interested in an extension?
“I would listen,” Boras said. “My job is listening to the player so whenever a player wants to sign a long-term contract I would make sure I would facilitate his goals for him.”
How does Boras think the Red Sox will impact the market this winter?
“The Red Sox have some very good players and their outfield and their up-the-middle, the talent they have at catching, they really have some really, really good players so obviously the teams that are in the playoffs they seem to have that really dominant pitching so that seems to be in today’s times what makes these clubs get past to that championship level. I’m sure they have every intention of focusing on that.”
Red Sox exercise Buchholz’s option
The Red Sox expressed confidence that Clay Buchholz is healthy again, exercising the right-hander’s $13 million option for 2016.
Buchholz’s 2015 season ended when he suffered a strained flexor in his right elbow pitching against the Yankees on July 10.
Prior to the injury, Buchholz was on a superb run, going 5-2 with a 1.99 ERA in a 10-start run between May 15 and July 4.
Buchholz’s career has been defined as much by sterling runs like that one as untimely injuries and dips in performance.
Still, a $13 million annual value is a bargain in today’s market if Buchholz pitches anywhere close to his capability and stays relatively healthy.
The Red Sox hold a $13.5 million option on Buchholz for ’17.
President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has been open about the club’s pursuit of an ace this offseason. The Red Sox have Buchholz, Rick Porcello, Joe Kelly, Wade Miley, Eduardo Rodriguez and Henry Owens under their control for next season.
Boston could have starting depth to trade from, and Buchholz’s contract could be attractive to another team.
Buchholz hopes to continue pitching for the Red Sox, the franchise he’s spent his entire career with after being selected in the 2005 First-Year Player Draft.
A two-time All-Star, Buchholz has a career record of 73-51 with a 3.85 ERA, notching 806 strikeouts in 169 games, all but two of them starts.
Buchholz’s .589 winning percentage is the 10th best in the AL since the start of 2007 for pitchers who have a minimum of 100 decisions.
The 31-year-old Buchholz is the longest-tenured member of the Red Sox’ pitching staff and has been with the club the last nine seasons.
mlblogsbrowniepoints1
Recent Comments