Matt Barnes DFA'd, traded to Marlins for LH reliever Bleier
- Thread starter soxhop411
- Start date
Oof. Well then... essentially they traded Barnes and German for Bleier, which I do not like. I'd rather they just have released Barnes and been done with it.
Well, Barnes and German for Bleier... and a few million in CBT breathing room.
And maybe let's learn the lesson we should have learned literally today that German could well be part of a trade. We don't always have to leap evidence-free to the conclusion that Bloom is incompetent just because we don't immediately understand what he's up to.
Yes if German is about to be traded for more help, then fine (depending on what they get back).
But if they trade German for some other major leaguer, they'll just have to DFA someone else to make room for THAT new guy.
But if they trade German for some other major leaguer, they'll just have to DFA someone else to make room for THAT new guy.
This is probably my 2nd favorite move this offseason (and depending how you define "move," it may be the favorite. ) I feel like we're getting Reverse Diekman.
Mazel Tov, Chaim.
Still curious about Ortial inertia though.
Mazel Tov, Chaim.
Still curious about Ortial inertia though.
There's got to be something going on with him because if they're just letting him go, and he has the perceived upgrade of people being upset he's off the 40, then in theory Miami would have taken him as a throw-in.
Yeah, it's telling that the Marlins had no interest in a cost controlled young player.
Or maybe they did but the Sox thought they could be better served trading him elsewhere via the DFA.
So I just took a look at the Sox 40 man roster. Bleier's already been added, but I count 41 names.
The state of the board has me a bit touchy on that score, I guess. Apologies.
Yeah, all of the German postings were done while I was checking out the 40 man roster ( of which German is listed ) and posting about it.
Telling of what? The Marlins are at 40 on their roster. Could be they value what they have more than Franklin German.
I'll be curious to see whether German can clear waivers and be outrighted back to Worcester. Assuming he isn't traded, of course.
The oft-repeated outlier is knuckleballers, since they tend to induce weak contact. One of the things that had been lost from Fangraphs in recent years is approachable writing on these kinds of subjects. But here’s a great article by Dave Cameron in 2012 on the issue.
If you keep trading 1 guy each week, eventually the time they can put Story on IL will arrive.
I wonder if they think German walks too many people & that they can sell high on him (2.58 ERA, 4.11 xFIP in AAA last year).
In a vacuum, a guy like that with options would seem like someone they would be interested in keeping around, but we shall see what shoe drops next.
I wonder if they think German walks too many people & that they can sell high on him (2.58 ERA, 4.11 xFIP in AAA last year).
In a vacuum, a guy like that with options would seem like someone they would be interested in keeping around, but we shall see what shoe drops next.
Thanks for posting this. I do wonder if one of the downstream effects of the shift ban is that LOOGYs will become useful again. The three-batter minimum did a number on them, but advanced defensive positioning is probably the reason why LHBs have decreased league wide.
2013 - 44.7% of total PAs by non-pitchers
2014 - 44.7%
2015 - 43.2%
2016 - 41.8%
2017 - 41.5%
2018 - 41.5%
2019 - 41.4%
2020 - 42.7%
2021 - 40.6%
2022 - 39.5%
Obviously that won't shift back overnight, but we might see the declining trend of LHBs reverse itself in 2023.
This was my theory from when I 1st heard the rules... more lefties will be necessary.
I realized downthread, though, that xFIP for calculating whether the shift is helpful or not was a foolish metric to use as it is independent of fielding, which takes away the variable you're trying to account for with the shift.
His BABIPs have been higher with no shift both in his career & last year.
Yeah... just have grown accustomed to the abject pessimism that was prevalent for a long time this off season.
Well, Bleier is Jewish and his father's from Brooklyn. So I now have two things in common with a Sox pitcher.
Aren’t left handed hitters disproportionately shifted against? And given his ability against lefties you’d expect a lower BABIP against lefties vs. righties.
It’s going to take a while to sort through the affects of the shift ban. Years. I’m sure every team looks at it slightly differently.
I have always assumed that Bloom wants a bullpen with a few core guys and then a bunch of cheap guys you can churn through in the hope that one or more pops into being the next Schreiber.
I also assumed German would be one such guy given the mix of stuff + options.
I hope there is a trade on the horizon or they just really don’t like German because he seems to me like the type who could suddenly blossom into a plus reliever for peanuts.
German throws hard but he's got fringe control and average or worse grades on all his pitches, he's basically younger Ryan Brasier. I'd rather they keep the younger Brasier with (theoretical) upside over the actual Brasier (or Ort for that matter, I don't get how he's survived this long either) but there are lots and lots and lots of Franklin Germans in baseball right now. Hard to be upset if that's the acquisition cost for dumping what was left owed to Barnes and adding a useful lefty in Bleier.
ETA: There is also the weirdness of dumping a young guy who you can try to coach up instead of a veteran with no upside left but that speaks more to this team/PD group being generally bad at improving pitchers and maybe feeling that German doesn't have a much higher ceiling than currently.
ETA: There is also the weirdness of dumping a young guy who you can try to coach up instead of a veteran with no upside left but that speaks more to this team/PD group being generally bad at improving pitchers and maybe feeling that German doesn't have a much higher ceiling than currently.
Last year, lefties had a .297 BABIP against Bleier & righties had a .373. In his career it's .258/.352.
But yeah, who knows? More lefties hitting will make lefty pitchers more valuable, but the shift rules will almost certainly make groundball pitchers less valuable.
German was also by some accounts, a top 25 prospect on the Sox, and the best pitching prospect in the system acquired by Bloom. Guess we will see what he returns, but he was seen by many as the prize in taking on Ottavino’s deal. Kind of a bummer to lose him now but I think that’s the unfortunate reality of these depth guys, there’s only so may you can keep on the 40 and they usually don’t have a ton of trade value.
Yeah this makes sense. My feelings are more about the idea of German and some other teams who seem to coach up new stud relievers every season than it is about the pitcher himself.
I think my gut reaction is also shaded by previous negative thoughts about the offseason that have mostly turned neutral-positive (but the negativity lingers). If I once thought it would be a dreadful season, hanging onto a lotto ticket like German would make more sense. As we trend toward maybe competence, there’s a premium on guys who can get outs now. Still…Ort.
Man does that say a lot about the Sox farm system and Bloom and not in a good way. That said Ottavino was good for the '21 team so regardless of what becomes of German, I think that was overall a good deal for Bloom.
From Craig Mish of MLB network: “Correction from earlier, source says Red Sox are sending approximately $5 million to Miami in the trade.”
View: https://twitter.com/craigmish/status/1620210006800097280?s=46&t=RdE4eUhiCzqXprG9rKbLsg
View: https://twitter.com/craigmish/status/1620210006800097280?s=46&t=RdE4eUhiCzqXprG9rKbLsg
FWIW, Bloom acquired Perales, and he's a much better prospect than Frank German. Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz is also above German on SoxProspects, and one could make a case for Jedixson Paez, too. Now someone's going to say that those guys are all too far away, and well, yeah: that's basically a corollary of restricting your scope to three years of drafts and not drafting many (any?) college pitchers.
Pete Abe says it's $1M and Sox save approximately $4.6M off luxury tax payroll. Don't know whether he or Mish is correct but even if it's Mish Sox still saved 600K.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/01/30/sports/matt-barnes-is-gone-red-sox-salvage-another-reliever-trade-with-marlins/
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/01/30/sports/matt-barnes-is-gone-red-sox-salvage-another-reliever-trade-with-marlins/
My guess is they are trying to get him through the waiver wire and retain him. with all the waiver action going on right now, it might work.