Red Sox acquire Steve Pearce

Al Zarilla

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Speier tweeted that Pearce has faced CC more than any other pitcher (.849 OPS). I bet he hops on the plane tomorrow.
Farrell used to give a new guy a day to get used to the dugout and the bathroom. I don’t know about Cora. Maybe Pearce will be this year’s Johnny Gomes, but in a lot less games.
 

Soxfan in Fla

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Nice pickup. As for Blake, he needs to be traded for a AAAA catcher with options that is decent defensively and can hit better than a pitcher in case of injury.
 

Hank Scorpio

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Nice pickup. As for Blake, he needs to be traded for a AAAA catcher with options that is decent defensively and can hit better than a pitcher in case of injury.
The problem with that is, Blake is a AAAA catcher without options that isn't very decent defensively and hasn't hit better than a pitcher for quite a long time.

There may be a glimmer of upside somewhere with Blake, but that glimmer is fading, and not worth very much at this point anyway.
 

johnnywayback

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Trade's fine, but it's irritating that Sam Travis -- a second-round pick who was supposed to have a high floor because of his plus hit tool -- couldn't fill this slot. Like Marco Hernandez (remember him?) and Tzu-Wei Lin, Espinal has shown signs of a change to his offensive approach this year that could make him a very plausible major leaguer. He's 23, and his ceiling is still utility infielder, and we have plenty of those in our system -- so, yeah, it's a reasonable price to pay for someone who will improve the major league roster. But if Sam Travis could have just gotten it together the way we've been expecting for years, we could have used that chip on something else.
 

Minneapolis Millers

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I like this deal. Pearce was an ideal target. Good position flexibility (he's even played a little 2d and 3rd), good v LHs, has played decently this year both before and after his oblique injury, knows the AL East, and fits our budget constraints. For a 23 yo in A-ball? Yeah, no brainer.
 

Mugsy's Jock

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First off, he’s a 2004 Cotuit Kettleer —LIKE!

Secondly, per the get-to-know-you article in the National Post when he joined the Blue Jays in2016, he had posted a total of 6 pictures on Twitter, and 3 of those were of wings he planned to eat watching college football — LIKE!

Though it was Florida State football — Don’t like as much.

Shares a name with a New Mexico come ngressman who is a birther and a climate change denier — Don’t like, but can’t really blame him for that.

His dogs are named Swagger and Mojo — jury is out.

https://nationalpost.com/sports/baseball/mlb/who-is-steve-pearce-meet-the-toronto-blue-jays-newest-versatile-journeyman-free-agent-signee

Edit: Steve Pearce (R-NM) is a “birther”. Definitely not a “brother”.
 
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Byrdbrain

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So the Jays get a 23 YO with utility player upside and a bit over $1M in salary relief.
Seems like they might have been better off hanging on to him to see if a better deal came their way.
 

Jerry’s Curl

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So the Jays get a 23 YO with utility player upside and a bit over $1M in salary relief.
Seems like they might have been better off hanging on to him to see if a better deal came their way.
Pearce probably doesn’t have appeal to non-playoff teams because of his age. He’s a perfect fit for a team that has more of a specific need for the stretch run. I’m not complaining that we got him for what we did.
 

shaggydog2000

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He's also had some injury issues this year and in the recent past, so lets hope he stays healthy and contributes. Could be a great low cast addition.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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Listened to a telephone interview of Gibbons today on mlb radio on xm. I think it may just be the tv feed, not sure. Was hoping to pick up a tidbit or two about Pearce, but it was all platitudes. "He's one of the good guys." And "we were juggling at the position and it was tough to keep everyone sharp." About this time of year: "Not really my thing, front office needs to make our team better and we just play the games."

Is Gibbons well regarded? Interviews on the radio with a cell phone are usually pretty lame, but he doesn't strike me as an effective communicator and he really comes off as one of those old school guys without much forward thinking. Again, though, pretty small sample to judge from.
 

JimD

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So the Jays get a 23 YO with utility player upside and a bit over $1M in salary relief.
Seems like they might have been better off hanging on to him to see if a better deal came their way.
Pearce seems to fill a very specific need for Boston - not sure how much value he would have had among other contenders.
 

Byrdbrain

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No doubt that Pearce fills a specific need on the Sox that may not exist on any other team.
I just doubt that the Sox need would go away and who knows who could get injured between now and then on another team.
Seems like there was little downside in waiting for the Jays.

Not a complaint, I like what the Sox did, I'm just commenting on it from the other side.
 

Cumberland Blues

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Pearce is still productive enough that somebody probably gives him a gig next year...but if not, here's hoping he goes out like Bobby Kielty.
 

mfried

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"Shake nerves" was an overly abbreviated way to express that Lin's couple of at bats have shown the guy incredibly nervous. Nerves even have affected a play in the field. Shaking in this context means "getting over" his nervousness.
 

Pozo the Clown

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PaSox

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Listened to a telephone interview of Gibbons today on mlb radio on xm. I think it may just be the tv feed, not sure. Was hoping to pick up a tidbit or two about Pearce, but it was all platitudes. "He's one of the good guys." And "we were juggling at the position and it was tough to keep everyone sharp." About this time of year: "Not really my thing, front office needs to make our team better and we just play the games."

Is Gibbons well regarded? Interviews on the radio with a cell phone are usually pretty lame, but he doesn't strike me as an effective communicator and he really comes off as one of those old school guys without much forward thinking. Again, though, pretty small sample to judge from.
I'm usually in my car on Friday's when his segment is on. Typically lots of laughs, never any hard hitting questions. Usually stick to talking about guys that are going good, guys that are close to coming off the DL and a few prospects down below. Hosts that I normally hear with him are Mike Ferrin and Jim Duquette with an occasional mix of Bowden depending on the week.
 

Sprowl

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All Pearce's power is to pull. The Green Monster might fall in love with him.

Screen Shot 2018-06-29 at 1.47.22 PM.png
 

JimD

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Kudos to Cora and Dombrowski for having the guts to cut Hanley loose and the smarts to know that they could most likely replace his bat while finding a player that would be a better defensive fit for this team. Many rookie managers probably would have elected to roll with the veteran bat and hope he gets hot again, not be the one to suggest to his boss that they cut the guy.
 

Philip Jeff Frye

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I gotta say, I watch a decent amount of Red Sox baseball, follow other teams from more of a distance but keep up with the headlines across the sport, etc... and I don't think I can remember a more anonymous player (especially given that he's played in 12 major league seasons!) than Steve Pearce. When the Sox picked him up, I pretty much had no idea who he was.

Well, he's not anonymous anymore, that's for sure.
 

Savin Hillbilly

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The wrong side of the bridge....
I gotta say, I watch a decent amount of Red Sox baseball, follow other teams from more of a distance but keep up with the headlines across the sport, etc... and I don't think I can remember a more anonymous player (especially given that he's played in 12 major league seasons!) than Steve Pearce. When the Sox picked him up, I pretty much had no idea who he was.

Well, he's not anonymous anymore, that's for sure.
He was tremendous for the Orioles in 2014. I remember being aware of him as a good role-player kind of guy back then but didn't register how good he really was at the time....he had a 161 wRC+ and managed 4.5 fWAR in just 102 games/383 PA as a 1B/corner OF. That's crazy stuff.

One interesting tidbit -- he has now played for all five AL East teams consecutively: Yankees (end 2012), Orioles (2013-16), Rays (end 2016), Blue Jays (2017-18), and Red Sox (2018).
 

singaporesoxfan

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I gotta say, I watch a decent amount of Red Sox baseball, follow other teams from more of a distance but keep up with the headlines across the sport, etc... and I don't think I can remember a more anonymous player (especially given that he's played in 12 major league seasons!) than Steve Pearce. When the Sox picked him up, I pretty much had no idea who he was.

Well, he's not anonymous anymore, that's for sure.
Part of that is the sheer anonymity of his name. "Steve Pearce" sounds like the name a comic book superhero adopts when he's trying to lay low
 

uncannymanny

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Same here. It’s kind of shocking to think that he’s played for every other team in the division for years and I had no idea what he looked like or a single recollection of him playing.
 

Dewey'sCannon

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I had a pretty good idea who Pearce was (is), and what he could do, but only because I live in Maryland and saw what he did when he was with the O's. My impression of him then was that he was a slightly more athletic Jonny Gomes - a guy who could do real damage in spots, and sometimes in big spots. So I was pretty happy when the Sox picked him up, as someone who could fill in for Mitchy, and maybe get some time in LF or DH.

But he has certainly exceeded my wildest expectations. Great pickup by DD.
 

Adrian's Dome

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He played in our division for the past six years and you guys didn't know who he was?

I'd understand if the guy had been buried at the bottom of an NL roster the Sox hadn't played in interleague or something, but come on.
 

TFisNEXT

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I had always viewed Pearce as a lumbering lefty-masher whose best position is 1st base. That part hasn't changed, but he's obviously hitting better than any of us imagined in the short sample so far.

He's a perfect compliment to Mitch Moreland. The fact you can hide him in LF at times is nice too in order to give guys like JBJ or Benintendi a breather too against lefties when Moreland isn't sitting.


I agree with those saying the immediate impact is definitely a bit reminiscent of Dauber in '99 when he had some huge games in summer that year (though I recall him tailing off in September, hopefully Pearce is able to stay productive). Nunez too last year is a good comp as well.
 

PrometheusWakefield

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His biggest claim to fame before this was somehow picking up second base eligibility during his time in Toronto - I assume because of some kind of managerial practical joke - and as a result was a high quality middle infield pickup in 2016 when he went .288/.374/.492.

His career arc makes you realize how hard it is to really break in to a starting job if you aren't the shiny young thing anymore. You'd think hitting .293/.373/.556 with 21 home runs in 380 PAs would have given the guy real playing time, and maybe even a real contract. Nope.

I don't think there's any reason he can't keep hitting for us this year. He certainly seems locked in!
 

chrisfont9

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Last night he was the only one who seemed ready for the utter slop Sabathia was throwing up there. We'll see what he can do against better quality pitching (and he didn't do much against Minnesota), but he's clearly a good fit on this team and I'd trust him in big moments in the postseason.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Thank you, Santiago Espinal.
May work out for Toronto too. Espinal has been promoted to AA New Hampshire and is slashing .298/.353/.468 in 51 PA, continuing off the success he had in A+. He'll be 24 in November and he just reached AA but he hasn't repeated any levels and looks to have added some power this year. He plays 2b/SS/3b too. I'd guess he's going to have some type of major league career.

Of course we won't miss him. He's like a Tzu Wei Lin lite.
 

Al Zarilla

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I gotta say, I watch a decent amount of Red Sox baseball, follow other teams from more of a distance but keep up with the headlines across the sport, etc... and I don't think I can remember a more anonymous player (especially given that he's played in 12 major league seasons!) than Steve Pearce. When the Sox picked him up, I pretty much had no idea who he was.

Well, he's not anonymous anymore, that's for sure.
Journeyman Clyde Vollmer hit 13 home runs for the Red Sox in July of 1951. He hit 56 for all the rest of his 10 year career. He helped keep the Sox in the pennant race, and they even led for about half the month of July, then faded and finished third. What else was new back then.

https://www.si.com/vault/1977/06/06/621819/clydes-july-was-a-powerful-trip-for-a-journeyman-named-vollmer

Couldn't find a smaller image of his 1951 card to copy.
 
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chawson

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I don't see how the team could do better at first base next year than to bring Pearce back to pair with Moreland. A two-year deal at maybe $4-5m per would seem to work, maybe splitting time with Ockimey in 2020.