Red Sox’ Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts Take Home Third Career Silver Slugger Awards

For the third time in both of their respective careers, Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts were named Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award winners on Thursday night, with Betts being one of three American League outfielders selected, and Bogaerts being the lone American League shortstop to win the award.

Betts, 27, followed up an MVP Award-winning 2018 season with another solid campaign at the plate in 2019, slashing .295/.391/.524 to go along with 29 home runs and 80 RBI over 150 games, 102 of which came batting out of the leadoff spot.

Among qualified American League outfielders this year, Betts ranked first in runs scored (135), second in OBP, and sixth in wRC+ (135). The Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout and Houston Astros’ George Springer took home the other two Silver Slugger Awards for AL outfielders.

The Tennessee native has now won both a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Award in the same year three times, becoming the first Red Sox player to ever accomplish the feat. It sure would be nice to see him try and do it a fourth time.

Bogaerts, meanwhile, built on a strong 2018 season and broke out even more in ’19, as he posted a .309/.384/.555 slash line to go along with a career-best 33 homers and 117 runs driven in over 155 games.

In terms of qualified AL shortstops not named Alex Bregman, who played 61 games at short for the Houston Astros, the 27-year-old ranked first in hits, (190), first in doubles (52), first in RBI, first in on-base percentage, first in slugging percentage, and first in wRC+ (141).

Back in April, Bogaerts inked a six-year, $120 million contract extension with Boston. The extension does not come into effect until next year, but the Aruba native seemed to settle into his own in 2019 and establish himself as a veteran presence in the Red Sox’ clubhouse.

Even if Boston is looking to shred payroll this winter, trading Bogaerts should not be on the table.

J.D. Martinez, who won two Silver Slugger awards last year, was not named an award winner for designated hitters this year. That honor went to Minnesota Twins slugger Nelson Cruz.

Gordon Hayward Has Career Night as Celtics Hold on to Top Cavaliers for Fifth Straight Win

In the venue that severely altered his career just a little more than two years ago, Gordon Hayward put together his best performance as a Boston Celtic in a 119-113 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers Tuesday night.

The 29-year-old had it all going in this one, leading the C’s in scoring with 39 points to tie a career-high on 17/20 (85%) shooting to go along with eight assists, seven total rebounds, and a team-leading +/- of 12 in 33 minutes of play.

The final five of those 39 points wound up to be huge for the Celtics, as Hayward drilled his only corner three of the night coming off some quality ball movement from Daniel Theis, Marcus Smart, and Brad Wanamaker to give his side a 110-99 edge with just over five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

That more than likely should have sealed things for Boston, but a quick 14-6 run on the part of the Cavs made it a three-point contest with 93 seconds to go.

Fast forward about a minute in game time later, coming off a jump ball, and Hayward came through in the clutch yet again, this time beating out Cavs forward Kevin Love to corral a missed three pointer from Kemba Walker, his first and only offensive board, and putting it back in the bucket for an easy two.

Hayward’s 17th make, the most he has ever hit on in a single game in his career, put the Celts up by five, and 119-113 would go on to be Tuesday’s final score.

“He was aggressive going to the basket,” said Celtics head coach Brad Stevens following his team’s fifth straight victory, “He just kept making the right play over and over.”

Through six games this season, the Indiana native is averaging 20.3 points per on 56.5% shooting (50% from three).

Now in his third full year with Boston, it appears that Hayward is finally comfortable and is settling into things nicely. Consistency is key, and Hayward has been exactly that to start out the early stages of the 2019-2020 campaign.

At 5-1 now, the Celtics’ next game will come against the Charlotte Hornets in the Queen City on Thursday night. A homecoming of sorts for Kemba Walker.

Red Sox Free Agency Targets: Pedro Strop

MLB Trade Rumors on Tuesday released their annual predictions for where this year’s crop of top 50 free agents will land this winter.

As it is already known, the Red Sox find themselves needing help out of the bullpen. That much is evident by how team chairman Tom Werner said that, ” we’re going to hopefully supplement our relief pitching,” back in September.

Whether adding new arms to the mix comes via trade or free agency has yet to be determined, but that should not stop new chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom from exploring his options.

Last month, I brought up the idea of the club reaching out to right-handed reliever and Massachusetts native Steve Cishek. Now, I am going to throw out another name who also spent the 2019 season with the Chicago Cubs in right-hander Pedro Strop.

MLBTR has the 34-year-old inking a one-year, $5 million deal with the Sox this winter.

Strop is coming off a 2019 campaign in which he posted a 4.97 ERA and 4.53 FIP over 50 relief appearances and 41 2/3 innings of work. Those numbers may not seem great on the surface, but it is worth mentioning that Strop did spend time on the injured list twice this year due to a left hamstring strain in May and left neck tightness in late July/early August.

Before that though, the Dominican Republic native had established himself as one of the better relievers in the National League since joining the Cubs from the Baltimore Orioles as part of the Jake Arrieta trade in July 2013.

Strop’s pitch arsenal includes a slider, four-seam fastball, cutter, sinker, and split-finger fastball. He certainly appears to be someone who could very well bounce back in 2020.

Although Strop was the only free agent directly linked to the Sox by MLBTR, other named that Boston could be interested in include Zack Wheeler, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Will Smith, Cole Hamels, Jose Abreu, Daniel Hudson, Brock Holt, and Rich Hill.

J.D. Martinez Decides Not to Opt out of Contract With Red Sox

Red Sox slugger J.D. Martinez has decided NOT to opt out of the remaining three years and $62.5 million of his contract, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.

The 32-year-old had until midnight eastern time Monday to make his decision, and is now locked in for at least one more year, as he also has two more opt outs remaining in his contract following the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

In his second season with Boston, Martinez slashed .304/.383/.557 to go along with 36 home runs and 105 RBI across 146 games played in 2019.

Back in September, Sox ownership came out and said that it is a goal, not a mandate, to cut down on payroll ahead of the 2020 campaign. Following Monday’s events, Martinez is expected to earn $23.75 million next year. Combine that with Mookie Betts’ projected salary of $27.7 million, and that seemingly puts Boston’s new chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom in a difficult spot.

Of course, there are plenty of options available here. For starters, Martinez’s deal could be restructured to presumably do away with the opt-outs and lock in one of the best hitters in the game for the next three years. Another avenue worth exploring could be looking into trading both Betts and Martinez.

According to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo, Martinez can block trades to three teams, and no adjustments to his current deal have been made to this point.

During his introductory presser last week, Bloom emphasized being both “sustainable and competitive over the long term.” If the Sox really want to avoid paying those luxury tax penalties once more next year, then they’re going to have to get really creative to do so.

With that said, it would not be much of a surprise if Bloom and Co. listen to trade offers on any player besides Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers.

There was already that report out of Arlington last week that the Texas Rangers had begun having preliminary, internal conversations about acquiring a Sox starter like Nathan Eovaldi, David Price, or even Chris Sale, so that is definitely an avenue to explore as well.

Red Sox’ Mookie Betts Wins Fourth Consecutive Gold Glove Award for American League Right Fielders

Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts was named the Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner for American League right fielders for the fourth consecutive year on Sunday night, beating out both the Los Angeles Angels’ Kole Calhoun and the Houston Astros’ Josh Reddick for the honors.

The 27-year-old was the only 2019 Sox finalist out of Andrew Benintendi, Jackie Bradley Jr., and Christian Vazquez to receive the award.

Among qualified right fielders in all of baseball this past season, Betts ranked second in Defensive Runs Saved (15), first in Ultimate Zone Rating (12.9) and UZR/150 (15.6), and first in Defense (7.0), per FanGraphs.

With the fourth straight Gold Glove nod, Betts moves into a tie with Fred Lynn for the third-most Gold Glove Awards won by a Red Sox outfielder in the franchise’s history.

As for the other Sox finalists previously mentioned, Benintendi lost out to now seven-time winner Alex Gordon of the Kansas City Royals, Bradley Jr. fell short of a second straight Gold Glove to now three-time winner Kevin Kiermaier of the Tampa Bay Rays, and Vazquez lost out to first-time winner and fellow Puerto Rico native Roberto Perez of the Cleveland Indians.

This very well could have been the last time Betts wins a Gold Glove as a member of the Red Sox. Let’s try not to think about that now, though.

Red Sox’ Second-Ranked Prospect Bobby Dalbec Crushes Grand Slam for Team USA as Part of 9-0 Win Over Team Netherlands in Premier12 Tournament Opener

Team USA opened 2019 World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 tournament play with a dominating 9-0 shutout win over Team Netherlands in Guadalajara on Saturday afternoon, and a couple of Red Sox prospects played a significant role in the victory.

Yup, the club’s No. 2 prospect Bobby Dalbec, No. 9 prospect C.J Chatham, and No. 15 prospect Noah Song all played on Saturday. Here’s how they fared in Team USA’s opener.

Starting with Dalbec, the 24-year-old went 2-for-4 hitting out of the four-hole in this one, and he also came through with Team USA’s most productive hit of the afternoon in the bottom half of the fifth inning.

With two outs and the bases full following an intentional walk of Arizona Diamondbacks prospect Daulton Varsho, Dalbec made Team Netherlands right-hander Lars Huijer pay for that he decision, as he unloaded on a 3-2 fastball and deposited it over everything in left field for the game-sealing grand slam.

That moonshot, which was promptly followed by a well-deserved bat drop, put Team USA up by seven runs.

A half inning later, in came Noah Song to relieve Team USA starter and Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Cody Ponce after five solid frames of work.

The 22-year-old Naval Academy product worked his way around a one-out walk in an otherwise clean inning of relief, as he needed just 12 pitches to do his part in a combined two-hit shutout for Team USA pitching on Saturday.

Graduating from the Naval Academy earlier this year, Song finds himself in a unique spot, as he is required to serve two years active duty.

According to The Boston Globe’s Julian McWilliams, Song could defer those two years and continue to pursue a career in baseball, but only if that deferment is approved by the Department of Defense. If not approved, Song would head to Pensacola, Fla. in December to begin training as a Naval flight officer.

“This is to be determined for me,” Song told McWilliams. “All I have to look forward to is
the next couple of weeks and trying to make the most out of it.”

C.J. Chatham, meanwhile, batted out of the nine-hole for Team USA on Saturday, and went 1-for-4 with a single.

Both Chatham and Dalbec need to be added to the Sox’ 40-man roster by November 20th in order to avoid being eligible for the Rule 5 Draft, which takes place during winter meetings in December.

One Red Sox prospect who was not mentioned here is right-hander Tanner Houck, who is on Team USA’s roster as a starting pitcher, not a reliever.

Team USA’s next game of the Premier12 tournament comes against Team Mexico on Sunday at 8 PM eastern time.

Red Sox Listed as 5-1 Favorites to Sign Stephen Strasburg This Winter

The Red Sox are 5/1 favorites to sign Washington Nationals right-hander and 2019 World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg this winter, according to BetOnline.ag.

Strasburg, 31, has until noon eastern time on Saturday to opt out of the remaining four years and $100 million of the seven-year, $175 million contract extension he inked with Washington in May 2016.

A client of Scott Boras, Strasburg will surely exercise that opt out after just putting together another impressive postseason campaign, posting a 1.98 ERA and .607 OPS against over six October outings (five starts) and 36 1/3 total innings pitched, including 8 1/3 dominating frames of two-run ball in his last time out against the Houston Astros in Game 6 of the World Series.

Because of his reputation for showing up in the postseason, the San Diego native is likely to command a hefty pay day despite already being 31 years old.

With the statuses of Nathan Eovaldi, David Price, and Chris Sale up in the air headed into the offseason, it’s not out of question to believe that the Red Sox will be in need of starting pitching for next year. But it’s hard to imagine that new chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and co. would be serious about pursuing a big money starting pitcher such as Strasburg, especially when it looks like the Red Sox want to shred some of their payroll ahead of the 2020 season.

Still, the oddsmakers have listed Boston as the third-place favorites to land the right-hander’s services, as they trail only the Nationals (5/4) and New York Yankees (3/1).

More information regarding Strasburg’s free agency will more than likely come into light beginning on Saturday afternoon, at about the same time the Nats take to the streets of the nation’s capital to celebrate their first ever World Series title.

 

Red Sox Claim Josh Osich off Waivers From White Sox

The Red Sox have made their first roster move under new chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, as the club claimed left-handed reliever Josh Osich off waivers from the Chicago White Sox on Thursday.

Osich, 31, posted an ERA of 4.66 and batting average against of .242 over 57 appearances and 67 2/3 total innings pitched this past season with Chicago, his first in the Windy City after coming up and spending four years with the San Francisco Giants.

Per MLB Trade Rumors, Osich is projected to earn approximately $1 million in his first year of salary arbitration.

The Idaho native has a solid track record against left-handed bats over the course of his career, limiting them to a lifetime .659 OPS over the span of 380 plate appearances.

Beginning in 2020, relievers will be required to face a minimum of three hitters or end the inning they have entered, so it appears that the days of the LOOGY (Left-Handed One Out Guy) in baseball are over.

That new rule did not stop the Sox from picking up a left-handed option out of the bullpen though, especially when they did not have to give anything up to acquire him.

Based off of his Statcast page, Osich relied heavily on his cutter in 2019, turning to the pitch nearly 67% of the time he was on the mound. His pitch arsenal also includes a slider, sinker, changeup, and a mid-90’s fastball.

The offseason is just getting started, and the Red Sox are already on the board in terms of transactions made. It’s hard to imagine that they are anywhere close to being finished.

Red Sox Hire Dave Bush to Be New Pitching Coach

The Red Sox have reportedly hired pitching analyst and minor league coordinator Dave Bush to be their new pitching coach, according to Barstool Sports’ Jared Carrabis and confirmed by MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo.

Identified as the “clear front-runner” for the role by The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier earlier in the week, Bush has been with the Red Sox’ organization since 2016.

Going back to his playing days, the soon to be 40-year-old right-hander was originally drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the second round of the 2002 amateur draft out of Wake Forest University.

In 211 career big league appearances (187 starts) between Toronto, Milwaukee, Texas, and Toronto again from 2004 until April 7th, 2013, Bush posted an ERA of 4.73 and FIP of 4.69 over 1,141 1/3 total innings pitched. He finished eighth in American League Rookie of the Year voting in 2004.

Per the Sox’ 2019 media guide, Bush, was promoted to pitching performance coordinator in January. He also spent two years coaching overseas through MLB International and for the Chinese and South African national teams before joining the Sox three years ago.

A native of Pittsburgh, Pa., Bush will be taking over for former Red Sox pitching coach Dana LeVangie, who was reassigned as a pro scout for the club earlier in the month.

This news also comes just two days after the Sox formally introduced Chaim Bloom as their new chief baseball officer, so it would be interesting to see how much influence he had in this decision given the notion that Boston is headed towards a more analytics-driven approach with their pitching staff.

Kevin Walker was named assistant pitching coach on Thursday.

 

As Opt-Out Decision Looms, J.D. Martinez Is Officially on the Clock

Even though there is still one game remaining in this year’s installent of the World Series between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros on Wednesday night, a former Astro in J.D. Martinez is on the clock.

Yes, the 32-year-old now has until 5 PM eastern time next Monday to decide whether or not he will opt out of the remaining three years and $62.5 million of his contract and become a free agent.

Martinez originally inked a five-year, $110 million deal with Boston back in February 2018. A deal that included built in opt-outs after the 2019, 2020, and 2021 seasons.

In the two seasons he has spent with the Sox to this point, the Florida native ranks second among qualified American League hitters in home runs (79), first in RBI (235), sixth in runs scored (209), and second in slugging percentage (.593).

While introducing new chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom on Monday, Red Sox principal owner John Henry said that he does not know what Martinez’s decision will be and that, “We’ll find out very soon.”

A client of super agent Scott Boras, Martinez may be enticed to enter free agency once again, as at 32, he may only have one last chance to earn a sizable contract in terms of both length and dollar figures.

In the following days leading into Monday evening, the Red Sox will have exclusive negotiating rights with their two-time All-Star slugger, as well as their other free agents. Martinez could reach a decision as early as 9 AM on Thursday, per MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith.

If Martinez were to opt out of his contract, the Sox would owe him a buyout in the form of $2.5 million. They would also more than likely extend him a qualifying offer in this scenario, which will be worth $17.8 million this offseason. That way, any club that signed Martinez would also owe Boston a compensatory draft pick, one that would fall after the fourth round of the 2020 amateur draft.

Given how Henry and chairman Tom Werner have essentially made it clear that they would like to cut down on payroll this winter, it should be interesting to see how serious the club is about bringing Martinez back if he does indeed opt out.