Tag: chaim bloom

Red Sox 2020 Season Preview: Prepare for Weirdness Over the Next Two-Plus Months

You want to get weird? Well, the 2020 Major League Baseball season is going to get weird. Teams will be playing 60 games in 66 days from now until the end of September, all while playing in mostly empty ballparks since the United States is still in the midst of this COVID-19 pandemic.

The Red Sox are in for a rather weird season themselves considering everything that’s gone down since last September.

With chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and manager Ron Roenicke at the helm now, the Sox are projected to be a mediocre club in 2020, which we’ll touch on later.

For now, here’s an overview for what this season preview is going to look like:

  • 2020 schedule and break down of opponents
  • Roster
  • Projections
  • Prospects
  • Predictions
  • Summary

Let’s get to it.

THE SCHEDULE:

THE OPPONENTS ON THE SCHEDULE:

Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, teams will be limited to playing opponents in the same region this season (AL East vs. NL East in the Red Sox’ case).

Atlanta Braves – 6 games (3 at home, 3 on road)
Baltimore Orioles* – 10 games (6 at home, 4 on road)
Miami Marlins – 3 games (all on road)
New York Mets – 4 games (2 at home, 2 on road)
New York Yankees* – 10 games (3 at home, 7 on road)
Philadelphia Phillies – 4 games (2 at home, 2 on road)
Tampa Bay Rays* – 10 games (4 at home, 6 on road)
Toronto Blue Jays* – 10 games (7 at home, 3 on road)
Washington Nationals – 3 games (all at home)

* – Divisional opponent

THE OPENING DAY ROSTER: 

Right-handed pitchers:
Nathan Eovaldi
Ryan Weber
Brandon Workman
Matt Barnes
Ryan Brasier
Colten Brewer
Austin Brice
Marcus Walden
Heath Hembree
Phillips Valdez
Dylan Covey

Left-handed pitchers:
Martin Perez
Matt Hall
Jeffrey Springs
Josh Osich

Catchers:
Christian Vazquez
Kevin Plawecki
Jonathan Lucroy

Infielders:
Mitch Moreland
Michael Chavis
Jose Peraza
Jonathan Arauz
Xander Bogaerts
Rafael Devers
Tzu-Wei Lin

Outfielders:
Andrew Benintendi
Jackie Bradley Jr.
Alex Verdugo
Kevin Pillar
J.D. Martinez (DH)

THE PROJECTIONS:

According to FanGraphs, the Red Sox are projected to be a .500 team this year and finish with a 30-30 record, good for third-place in the American League East. The site has the Sox outscoring their opponents by an average of .07 runs per game. For full team projections courtesy of FanGraphs, click here.

THE PROSPECTS:

Among MLB Pipeline’s top-100 prospects in baseball, the Red Sox are represented by middle infielder Jeter Downs (No. 44) and first baseman Triston Casas (No. 77).

Unlike Casas, Downs is in Boston’s 60-man player pool along with a handful of the club’s other top prospects, such as Bobby Dalbec (No. 3), Bryan Mata (No. 4), Jay Groome (No. 7), Jarren Duran (No. 8), Tanner Houck (No. 10), C.J. Chatham (No. 12), Connor Wong (No. 15), and Jonathan Arauz (No. 30)

With there being no organized minor-league baseball this year, it was imperative that the Red Sox gather up their most touted prospects to ensure they continue to develop during these unprecedented times.

Among the bunch, Dalbec and Houck seem like the most ready for the jump to the majors, while as a Rule 5 Draft pick, Arauz made the Sox’ Opening Day roster so that he would not have to be offered back to the Houston Astros for the time being.

THE PREDICTIONS:

Like FanGraphs, I believe the Red Sox will finish third in the American League East this year with anywhere between 28 and 33 wins on the season. The lineup, led by Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts, and J.D. Martinez, will be one of the best in the American League, but pitching struggles will ultimately hinder the Sox’ hopes of making it back to the postseason even with the league’s playoff format for this year expanding to 16 teams.

SUMMARY:

Watching the Red Sox offense score their fair share of runs will probably be enjoyable. Watching the pitching staff give up their fair share of runs on the other hand? Not so much.

Still, even if Boston is not aiming to be an American League powerhouse this year, it’s great to have Major League Baseball back in the fold.

 

Red Sox Announce 30-Man Opening Day Roster for 2020 Season

The Red Sox have released their 30-man Opening Day roster for the 2020 season, the club announced earlier Thursday afternoon.

As manager Ron Roenicke told reporters last week, the Sox will carry 15 pitchers and 15 position players on their roster to begin the year.

Among the notable additions to Boston’s Opening Day squad are right-handers Phillips Valdez and Dylan Covey, left-hander Josh Osich, catcher Jonathan Lucroy, and infielder Jonathan Arauz.

Among the notable players who were left off the Sox’ active roster are left-hander Brian Johnson, right-handers Zack Godley and Chris Mazza, and infielder Yairo Munoz.

In order to make this all happen, the Red Sox needed to recall Valdez, Osich, Jeffrey Springs, Matt Hall, and Colten Brewer from the minors while also giving 40-man roster spots to Covey and Lucroy.

By adding Covey and Lucroy, Boston’s 40-man roster now stands at 37 players, meaning someone like Johnson, Godley, or Munoz could be added at a later date if necessary.

As mentioned in the tweet above, Darwinzon Hernandez, Eduardo Rodriguez, Josh Taylor, Chris Sale, and Dustin Pedroia will begin the truncated 2020 season on the injured list. The first three players listed here should be able to re-join the Red Sox relatively soon. The other two? Not so much.

All teams will be allowed to carry 30 players on their active roster from now until August 6, when rosters will be reduced to 28 players. Two weeks after that date, on August 20, rosters will again be reduced to the conventional 26 players.

So, even though Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and Co. have put together this here Opening Day roster ahead of Friday’s season opener against the Orioles, there will still be some important decisions to make down the line.

 

Zack Godley Works Three Scoreless, No-Hit Innings in Red Sox’ Final Exhibition Game Before Opening Day

In their final tune-up before the start of the 2020 regular season, the Red Sox only managed to play 4 1/2 innings of exhibition baseball against the Blue Jays on Wednesday night due to the weather. If games were official after only 4 1/2 innings, the Sox would have lost by a final score of 2-0, but it’s not like that matters too much anyway.

Zack Godley got the start for Boston in this one, and he made a solid case for a spot in the back end of the Sox’ rotation by working three scoreless, no-hit innings to go along with just one walk and two strikeouts on the night.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 35, 24 of which were strikes, the veteran right-hander turned to his curveball exactly 40% of the time he was on the mound Wednesday while also topping out at 91 MPH with his cutter, a pitch he threw 16 times.

If things align the way he wants them to, Godley could open the season as Boston’s No. 4 or 5 starter, meaning his first official start in a Red Sox uniform would come in next week’s interleague series against the New York Mets.

In relief of Godley, Brian Johnson was the only other Sox hurler to get some work in on Wednesday due to the weather, and he did not look his best given the fact that he served up a two-run blast to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on a hanging, 3-2 curveball down the heart of the plate in the top half of the fourth.

Still, if there is any positives to take away from the left-hander’s rather rough outing, it’s that he tossed a scoreless fifth inning right before this game was going to be called.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup, fresh off plating six runs on Tuesday, was matched up against Blue Jays right-hander Trent Thornton to begin things on Wednesday.

As it turns out, the Boston bats were only able to muster one hit off of Thornton, a two-out single from former Blue Jay Kevin Pillar in the third, and another hit off of Toronto reliever Shun Yamaguchi in the fourth. That being a two-out single off the bat of Xander Bogaerts.

Other than that, not much to report on seeing how Mother Nature cut this exhibition contest short.

Some observations from this one:

Should Zack Godley start over Brian Johnson? The answer at this point seems to be leaning towards ‘yes.’

Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette is pretty good.

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Next up for the Red Sox, the games finally start to count. Opening Day is this Friday and a three-game weekend series against the Baltimore Orioles is on tap.

Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi will be making his first career Opening Day start for Boston, while lefty Tommy Milone will be doing the same for Baltimore.

The Sox won 63% of their games against the O’s last year. That would translate to six wins in 10 games against their divisional foes in 2020.

First pitch Friday is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. eastern time on NESN. Real baseball is back, folks.

 

Former Red Sox Star Mookie Betts Officially Signs 12-Year, $365 Million Extension With Dodgers

Former Red Sox star Mookie Betts and the Los Angeles Dodgers are in agreement on a 12-year, $365 million contract extension, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

Per Passan, because Betts is under contract for $27 million ($10 million in prorated salary) this season, the total value of his extension with Los Angeles is $392 million over the next 13 years. Also from Passan:

And from the Dodgers, it’s now official:

Prior to being dealt to Los Angeles in February, Betts and the Red Sox were reportedly $120 million apart in extension talks, as Boston had offered the 27-year-old $300 million over 10 years and Betts countered with $420 million over 12 years, according to WEEI’s Lou Merloni.

The two sides obviously could not reach a compromise though, as the 2018 American League MVP was eventually traded to the Dodgers with left-hander David Price in exchange for outfielder Alex Verdugo and prospects Jeter Downs and Connor Wong.

As his tenure with the Red Sox was winding down, it appeared as though Betts was set on becoming a free agent this winter. But, due to the financial insecurities across baseball that have stemmed as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, perhaps the Tennessee native had a change in heart and decided to take the money when he could.

With this record-setting extension, Betts will be under contract through the end of the 2032 season. By then, the former fifth-round pick will be 39 years old.

This news also marks the end of any speculation that Betts could re-sign with the Red Sox as a free agent this winter, as had been the hope among fans when the four-time All-Star was traded away.

If Betts continues to be as productive as he has since making his first Opening Day roster in 2015, he’ll likely be on a Hall of Fame trajectory. In other words, he’ll eventually be donning a Dodgers cap on his plaque in Cooperstown.

Even after five months, it’s still somewhat mind-boggling that the Red Sox would trade a player of Betts’ caliber. Without taking the financial aspects into consideration, which are important, Betts is just about everything you would want in a professional baseball player. From being a once-undervalued homegrown talent to an MVP and perennial All-Star. he was the perfect face of the franchise for Boston. It’s just too bad John Henry and Co. didn’t value that as much as the Dodgers clearly do.

Former Red Sox Star Mookie Betts on Verge of Signing Massive Contract Extension With Dodgers, per Report

Any hopes of the Red Sox reuniting with Mookie Betts this winter appear to be dead, as the Los Angeles Dodgers are reportedly closing in on a massive contract extension with the 27-year-old outfielder, according to WEEI’s Lou Merloni.

Per Merloni, the extension the Dodgers and Betts are on the verge of agreeing to is worth anywhere between $350 to $400 million for 10-plus seasons.

Based off this follow-up from ESPN’s Jeff Passan, it would appear that these rumors are in fact legitimate and Betts will indeed ink a long-term extension with the Dodgers relatively soon.

After both sides were reportedly off by $120 million in extension talks over the winter, the Sox, with chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom at the helm, dealt Betts and left-hander David Price to Los Angeles in February in exchange for outfielder Alex Verdugo and prospects Jeter Downs and Connor Wong.

At the time, that transaction got Boston under the vaunted $208 million luxury tax threshold, but as it turns out, the 2020 Major League Baseball season will have to played until at least the start of September for that to carry out into this offseason. In other words, if the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic halts the season at any point prior to the August 31st trading deadline, the Sox’ luxury tax penalties will not reset and they will essentially be in the same position they were prior to dealing Betts and Price.

At least on the surface, one of the motivating factors in the Red Sox trading away Betts was the notion that the four-time All-Star was locked in on becoming a free agent for the very first time in his career this winter. It might not be a great look in the eyes of Red Sox fans if he goes back on that now, but, given the uncertainties surrounding how much teams will be willing to spend in free agency because of the pandemic, it’s certainly understandable why Betts may be more open to forgoing free agency when taking financial security into account in the midst of a nationwide pandemic.

Of course, one of the hopes in the Sox trading Betts to get under the luxury tax was the idea that the club was going to lure the 2018 American League MVP back in free agency with a lucrative contract this winter. That now appears unlikely to happen barring any significant changes on Betts’ or the Dodgers’ front.

Red Sox Acquire Right-Hander Dylan Covey in Trade With Rays

The Red Sox have acquired right-hander Dylan Covey from the Tampa Bay Rays, the club officially announced Tuesday.

By acquiring Covey and adding him to their player pool while removing left-hander Bobby Poyner, the Sox now have 59 players in said pool.

Covey, who turns 29 in August, was originally a fourth-round pick of the Oakland Athletics in the 2013 amateur draft.

Listed at 6-foot-1 and 220 lbs., the University of San Diego product made his major-league debut with the White Sox in April 2017 after being taken by Chicago in the previous year’s Rule 5 draft.

Since that time, Covey has not had a simple time of things in the big-leagues, as he owns a career ERA of 6.54 and career FIP 5.56 through 63 outings, 45 of which were starts, and 250 1/3 innings pitched.

While he was consistently shuttled between the majors and Triple-A the past two seasons, Covey was ultimately designated for assignment by the ChiSox in January before he inked a minor-league pact with the Rays the very next month.

For what it’s worth, Covey was having a decent spring for Tampa Bay before things were shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March. Through his first four Grapefruit League appearances of the spring, he had yielded just four runs (three earned) over 7 2/3 innings of work out of the Rays’ bullpen.

Per his Statcast page, Covey’s 2019 pitch mix included six pitches: a four-seam fastball, a cutter, a sinker, a slider, a changeup, and a curveball. He punched out 14.6% of the batters he faced last season.

With Covey, as well former Diamondbacks hurler Zack Godley, the Red Sox have added two intriguing rotation and/or bullpen options to their ranks in the past week.

As noted by MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo, the acquisition of Covey from the Rays marks the first time chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom has made a deal with his former employer in St. Petersburg.

Red Sox’ Collin McHugh Opts Out of 2020 Season

Right-handed pitcher Collin McHugh has opted out of the 2020 season, Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke announced Sunday.

Per Roenicke, McHugh made this decision based off the fact that he really was nowhere close to appearing in a game anytime soon and it had nothing to do with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Under normal circumstances, the 33-year-old would have begun the year on the injured list and it would have taken about “half a season” to get him back healthy. Now, while at Summer Camp with the Red Sox, it became apparent that McHugh, who is recovering from an elbow procedure, was more in “rehab mode” rather than “game prep mode,” as Roenicke put it. In other words, “His arm just didn’t respond as fast as he’d like it to.”

By opting out of the 2020 season, McHugh will be removed from Boston’s 40-man roster, meaning the club now has two open spots on said roster to work with. Those two spots could go to Brian Johnson and Zack Godley.

As for McHugh, the veteran right-hander initially signed a one-year, major-league deal with the Sox back in February after undergoing a non-surgical procedure to repair a flexor strain over the winter. He will now return to his family in Atlanta.

 

 

Red Sox Reportedly Sign Right-Hander Zack Godley to Minor-League Deal

The Red Sox have signed right-hander Zack Godley to a minor-league deal, according to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo and confirmed by The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier.

As noted by Speier, any player signed to a contract, whether it be of the major or minor-league variety, is automatically added to their respective club’s 60-man player pool. That being said, Godley will be the 57th player added to the Sox’ roster pool.

Although all the details are not yet known because the deal is still pending a medical review, Godley is expected to the join the Sox at Summer Camp as a non-roster invitee and compete for a rotation spot.

The 30-year-old out of South Carolina was cut loose by the Detroit Tigers on Monday and was almost immediately linked to the Red Sox, which is understandable seeing how chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said on Friday that the team’s starting rotation is “definitely more unsettled than I think you would want.”

A former 10th-round draft pick of the Cubs in 2013, Godley had a nice run with the Arizona Diamondbacks for a little while there in 2017 and 2018, as he posted a collective 3.63 FIP over 59 appearances (57 starts) and 333 1/3 innings pitched over that span. However, the 2019 campaign was a different story for the former Tennessee volunteer, and he ended up getting cut by Arizona in August before landing with the Blue Jays.

There, Godley made just six appearances as a reliever with Toronto before again getting cut loose by another team in September.

The Tigers signed Godley to a minor-league pact in December, but after realizing he was not going to make their Opening Day roster, Detroit released the veteran righty earlier this week, as previously mentioned.

One important note with this signing made by the Red Sox, per Cotillo is that, “Though the expectation is that Godley has a good chance to make the team at the end of camp next week, his contract includes an opt-out after the first week of the regular season if he’s not in the majors. Additionally, he has an opt-out clause at the end of July if he’s not in the majors by that point.”

Of course, if Godley does perform well enough to latch on with Boston, he will need to be added to the club’s 40-man roster prior to the start of the 2020 season.

 

Top Prospects Jeter Downs, Jarren Duran Among Nine New Additions to Red Sox’ Summer Camp Player Pool

As expected, the Red Sox have added nine players to their Summer Camp player pool, chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom announced Friday. Those nine players — R.J. Alvarez, Jeter Downs, Jarren Duran, Jay Groome, Tanner Houck, Bryan Mata, Josh Ockimey, Jhonny Perada, and Bobby Poyner — will report to the Sox’ alternate training site at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket.

On top of those additions, the Red Sox have also reassigned four players — Mike Kickham, Mike Shawaryn, Domingo Tapia, and Connor Wong — to that same alternating training site.

With all that being said, the Sox now have 56 players in their Summer Camp roster pool and will likely have 57 relatively soon seeing how the club is reportedly in agreement with right-hander Zack Godley on a minor-league contract.

More on that later. For now, let’s talk about the nine guys who were added to the Summer Camp player pool.

Jeter Downs, Bryan Mata, Jay Groome, Jarren Duran, and Tanner Houck represent five of those nine players, and all five are regarded by MLB Pipeline as top-10 prospects in the Red Sox’ farm system.

Downs, Boston’s top-ranked prospect, was one of three players acquired from the Dodgers in the Mookie Betts and David Price trade back in February. The soon-to-be 22-year-old out of Colombia is capable of playing both middle infield positions and has quite a bit of pop despite a 5-foot-11, 195 lb. frame, as he finished with the fourth-most homers (24) among all Dodgers minor-leaguers in 2019.

Mata, Boston’s top-ranked pitching prospect, originally joined the organization as an international free agent out of Venezuela in January 2016. He signed for just $25,000 back then, but the 21-year-old right-hander has worked his way to becoming somewhat of an oddity in the Sox’ farm sytem in that he could become a middle-of-the-rotation starter at the major-league level.

Unlike Downs and Mata, Jay Groome has yet to reach the Double-A plateau, and that’s mainly due to injuries. Boston’s top pick in the 2016 amateur draft, Groome underwent Tommy John surgery two Mays ago and has amassed just 20 starts and 66 innings pitched as a professional despite being with the organization for four years. Although the likelihood of Groome, who turns 22 next month, making it to the majors this year, is slim to none, it was obviously still important for the Sox to get the touted prospect time to develop under their watchful eye by whatever means possible. Groome is Boston’s No. 3 pitching prospect, by the way.

One thing Jarren Duran shares in common with Bryan Mata is that the two have been the Red Sox’ lone representative in MLB’s All-Star Futures Game the last two years, with the former making the cut in 2019 and the latter making the cut in 2018. Another thing the pair of prospects have in common is that they both somewhat came out of nowhere. As previously mentioned, Mata signed with Boston for a mere $25,000 four years ago. Duran, meanwhile, burst onto the scene as a seventh-round selection out of Long Beach state in ’18, finished his first full professional season with the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs, and was one of six Red Sox prospects invited to play in the Arizona Fall League. Despite not being on his parent club’s 40-man roster, Duran, the Red Sox’eight-ranked prospect, did get added to the Summer Camp player pool over fellow outfielder Marcus Wilson, who is on the 40-man. So, it would appear that the Red Sox have high hopes for the speedster moving forward, especially when considering how well he looked earlier this year in spring training.

Finally, we arrive at another 2019 Arizona Fall Leaguer in the form of Tanner Houck, the Sox’ 10th-ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline. Recently turning 24 years old last month, the 2017 first-round pick out of Mizzou has experience as both a starter and reliever. He undertook both roles in the minors last year, but likely projects as a rotation man moving forward.

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As for the other four players added on Friday, Josh Ockimey and Jhonny Perada are without a doubt the most interesting of the bunch.

At one point in time, Ockimey was left off the Sox’ 40-man roster ahead of the 2018 Rule 5 draft and very well could have been snatched up by another club that December. He wasn’t though, and the 24-year-old first baseman in turn slugged 25 home runs over 122 games for the PawSox last year.

Perada, as you may remember, was acquired by Boston from the Cubs as the player to be named later in the Travis Lakins trade back in January. Like Connor Wong, he certainly adds to the level of catching depth the Sox have at the minor-league level.

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After all was said and done, the Red Sox now have 56 players on their 60-man Summer Camp roster pool. 30 of those players will make the team’s Opening Day roster, while the other 26-30 will report to the alternate training site in Pawtucket as some already have.

Red Sox Sign Fifth-Round Draft Pick Shane Drohan for $600,000

The Red Sox have signed fifth-round draft pick Shane Drohan, according to MLB.com’s Jim Callis.

Per Callis, Drohan, a 21-year-old left-hander out of Florida State University, signed with Boston for $600,000, which is well above the $364,400 in recommended slot value assigned to the 148th overall pick ($364,400).

Regarded by MLB Pipeline as the 147th-ranked draft-eligible prospect headed into this year’s draft, Drohan posted a 4.08 ERA over four starts and 17 2/3 innings pitched for the Seminoles in his junior season before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the college baseball season.

Based off his SoxProspects scouting report, Drohan, a native of Fort Lauderdale, has a pitch mix that includes a 91-93 mph fastball that tops out at 95 mph, a 77-79 mph curveball, and an 80-83 mph changeup.

By signing Drohan, the Red Sox have now inked all four of their 2020 draft picks to professional contracts.

First-rounder Nick Yorke signed for $2.7 million, third-rounder Blaze Jordan signed for $1.75 million, fourth-rounder Jeremy Wu-Yelland signed for $200,000, and as already mentioned, fifth-rounder Shane Drohan signed for $600,000.

In total, Boston spent $5.25 million in order to sign their draftees, an amount that just barely surpasses their $5,129,900 bonus pool. As noted by SoxProspects’ Ian Cundall, this means that the club will “have to pay a 75% tax on the extra $120,100” they spent on their picks.

Also worth mentioning, the Red Sox, led by chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and amateur scouting director Paul Toboni, have signed 14 undrafted free agents, the most in baseball.