Red Sox Acquire C Blake Sabol from SFG for IFA $$ (Chase Shugart DFA'd)

The Gray Eagle

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Nice, I was hoping we would add him. He has to be on the 40-man but he is optionable, so he can be stashed in AAA and come up and down the Worcester shuttle.
LH hitter who hit 13 HRs in the majors in 2023, but reportedly bad defensively, some solid tools but really bad at blocking. But he hasn't caught much so maybe our new catching gurus can help him improve this season.
 

SouthernBoSox

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Given the overall system depth at catcher, including the fact their back up is going to be a rookie, it was important they grab a legitimate third catcher. Good work on getting a non zero bat with major league experience and a couple of options for nothing. His defense needs work but he is athletic enough to project improvement when he gets consistent reps at the position.

Good move. Breslow has really worked this 40 man the last two years.
 

Big Papi's Mango Salsa

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Good move. No risk whatsoever (because there are probably 100 guys out there that could be as good as Chase Shugart). Talk about a guy that destroyed AA and AAA pitching and hasn't been able to replicate that in the majors.

Probably with he, Wong and Narvaez all on the 40man, I would have to assume this kind of closes the book on the Grandal's of the world, which I'm fine with. Not exactly how I'd want to spend $10m of the remaining $30m they have below $LTT1.
 

Yo La Tengo

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I thought this might happen... here's a link to some clutch hitting:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-xYZPOvWDc


Thoughts about Blake Sabol of the Giants?

An extremely inexperienced catcher who was picked up as a Rule 5 player and was on the MLB roster in 2023 when he played multiple positions. Prior to 2023, he had played on 25 games in AAA and he spent most of last year in the minors.

Here is a blurb from Grant Bisbee: "Catching is hard, and I’ve been pretty dismissive of Sabol’s defensive acumen. His blocking skills were the worst in the league by a wide margin. Baseball Savant has a stat called Blocks Above Average per Game, and Sabol wasn’t just the worst in baseball — he was almost twice as bad as the second worst. But his framing was strong. His pop time was fine. His arm was fine. He did plenty right behind the plate, as it turns out. He was just horrible at keeping the ball in front of him, relative to other catchers.

He is a tall lefty with a .753 OPS against RHP over 329 PAs in the majors.

The last thing the Sox need is another athletic catcher who struggles to catch the ball. But I'm intrigued by Sabol because of his relative inexperience as a catcher, his good defensive skills other than blocking, and his surprisingly effective play in the majors.
 

shaggydog2000

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Yo La Tengo

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Shout out @Yo La Tengo for id'ing Sabol a week ago...



Edit: Oops... he just beat me to (justifiably) patting himself on the back.
Thanks for noticing! I mostly wanted to share that Bisbee quote, since it is remarkable how little experience Sabol has at catcher. He has started ~50 games at catcher in MLB, and another 153 games in the minors. In college, he split time at catcher and didn't catch at all his final year in 2019, followed by no baseball in 2020. So, I'm not surprised that a player who caught a total of 28 games during their age 21, 22, and 23 seasons is not very developed as a catcher. As point of comparison, Narvaez has over 400 games started at catcher during his minor league career.
 

Yo La Tengo

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And it seems that his throwing has been a work in progress, but with improvement (from August 2023):

The Giants always liked Sabol’s offensive profile, but there were plenty of questions about his defense behind the plate, particularly since he caught only 94 games in the Minors. While Sabol graded out well as a framer, his throwing was viewed as his biggest weakness, as he threw out only 16 of 92 runners in the Minors.
After earning a spot on the Giants’ Opening Day roster, Sabol worked with catching coach Craig Albernaz to develop a plyo ball routine, which he credited with helping him improve his arm strength and accuracy.
“I think it’s really helped me take my mind off being robotic and more just using my athleticism and stuff,” Sabol said. “Now I don’t have to think about my throwing much. I’ve kind of learned how my body works a little bit better by getting on a routine.”
Sabol's efforts paid off against the D-backs last week, when he nabbed Geraldo Perdomo on an attempted steal of second base with his best throw of the year. His 1.89 second pop time and 82.1 mph throw on the play were both his top marks of the season, according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs.
“He was relentless in his pursuit of getting better behind the plate and making his throws better,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “You don’t necessarily see it right away. We saw some hiccups in Spring Training. We were concerned about his ability to be accurate. Would his pop times and the carry on his ball be enough? But certainly, that hard work pays off. That’s why we’re very comfortable putting him behind the plate to catch big games for us.”
Sabol’s teammates have taken notice of his improvement, as well.
"I remember seeing him in spring," fellow backstop Patrick Bailey said. "I would say the throwing might have been the biggest struggle. But from what you see today, it's pretty night and day, which is really cool to see. All the credit to him for the work he's put in. To do what he does is pretty cool, with playing almost every day against right-handed pitching in the outfield and DH and then to be able to catch as well is pretty special."
https://www.mlb.com/news/blake-sabol-shows-growth-with-giants
 

Philip Jeff Frye

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He's fine as a "break glass in case of emergency" kind of player, and maybe he actually learns to catch in the minors over the next few years given a chance, but the very last thing this team needs is another bad defensive player.
 

geoflin

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And if he doesn't learn to catch the other thing they don't need is another left handed hitting outfielder
 

8slim

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He's fine as a "break glass in case of emergency" kind of player, and maybe he actually learns to catch in the minors over the next few years given a chance, but the very last thing this team needs is another bad defensive player.
Thanks for writing was I was thinking. If folks here like the move than I'm down with that assessment. Just struck me as odd to read that he's a bad defensive catcher when I've also been reading all offseason about the scourge that is Conor Wong.
 

pjheff

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Thanks for writing was I was thinking. If folks here like the move than I'm down with that assessment. Just struck me as odd to read that he's a bad defensive catcher when I've also been reading all offseason about the scourge that is Conor Wong.
He looks like potentially a cheaper Reese McGuire replacement.
 

AlNipper49

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Thanks for writing was I was thinking. If folks here like the move than I'm down with that assessment. Just struck me as odd to read that he's a bad defensive catcher when I've also been reading all offseason about the scourge that is Conor Wong.
I agree.

My takeaway is that I should feel good about Breslow. This is optimizing the 40 man roster at the very back end. It speaks highly to his attention to details. He’s not the only GM who does this, but I like that ours does.
 

Dogman

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He’s only bad at blocking. Don’t throw pitches in the dirt and it’s nbd
Fortunately, pitchers never throw in the dirt so we should be good. NBD.
The last fangraphs scouting report (a bit old being from mid 2023) was really negative about his throwing, and basically saying he's way too big and stiff. Hope that's changed. Or that he hits well enough in AAA to only be an emergency catcher and mostly outfielder.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/san-francisco-giants-top-49-prospects-2023/
What? He can' throw either? Two basic functions of the C positions are something this guy can't do. Great. Add in that he has a shitty OBP, can't hit, block, or throw, he is basically Chris Pratt without the movie career.
 

CR67dream

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Fortunately, pitchers never throw in the dirt so we should be good. NBD.


What? He can' throw either? Two basic functions of the C positions are something this guy can't do. Great. Add in that he has a shitty OBP, can't hit, block, or throw, he is basically Chris Pratt without the movie career.
“He was relentless in his pursuit of getting better behind the plate and making his throws better,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “You don’t necessarily see it right away. We saw some hiccups in Spring Training. We were concerned about his ability to be accurate. Would his pop times and the carry on his ball be enough? But certainly, that hard work pays off. That’s why we’re very comfortable putting him behind the plate to catch big games for us.”
Sabol’s teammates have taken notice of his improvement, as well.
"I remember seeing him in spring," fellow backstop Patrick Bailey said. "I would say the throwing might have been the biggest struggle. But from what you see today, it's pretty night and day, which is really cool to see. All the credit to him for the work he's put in. To do what he does is pretty cool, with playing almost every day against right-handed pitching in the outfield and DH and then to be able to catch as well is pretty special."
https://www.mlb.com/news/blake-sabol-shows-growth-with-giants
Seems that the arm concerns are pretty much in the rear view. In any case, he's the 40th man on the 40 man, has options, puts in the work, and seems far more likely to contribute positively for the Red Sox in the future than Chase Shugart ever would have. It also doesn't preclude another move at catcher should Breslow be so inclined. A move doesn't have to be big to be good. I just don't see anything not to like with this one.
 

Fishy1

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Seems that the arm concerns are pretty much in the rear view. In any case, he's the 40th man on the 40 man, has options, puts in the work, and seems far more likely to contribute positively for the Red Sox in the future than Chase Shugart ever would have. It also doesn't preclude another move at catcher should Breslow be so inclined. A move doesn't have to be big to be good. I just don't see anything not to like with this one.
Yeah. If you ignore everything his teammates had to say about his hard work, and the data which says he's a just fine at catching basestealers, there's no reason to be optimistic about his ability to improve behind the plate.

94793

Couple of things leap out here. He caught 21 basestealers last year in AAA against 39 thefts! That's a lot, and a huge improvement! He'd only caught 22 in his entire career before that. On the other hand, he gave up 11 stolen bases without catching anyone in 65 innings in 2024 in the majors (notably that was early on in the year, so whatever improvement he made happened later in the season).

As for the blocking: in 2023 he had 34 passed balls or wild pitches in about 400 innings in the majors. That's nearly one every ten innings, which is, yeah, not great. For comparison, in 2373 career innings, Reese McGuire, who's consistently above average, has only 108 wild pitches and passed balls.

As for the offense, he seemed to completely lose it last year. Nice little run in the big leagues but a wrc+ of 85 in AAA last year.

94794

The slugging disappeared, as did the hit tool. Went looking on statcast to see what happened, and...this appears to be overall for his time in AAA, and it's not great.
94795

So yeah, a depth option for now, who could put everything together and be interesting. It's not impossible.
 

Yo La Tengo

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Yeah. If you ignore everything his teammates had to say about his hard work, and the data which says he's a just fine at catching basestealers, there's no reason to be optimistic about his ability to improve behind the plate.

View attachment 94793

Couple of things leap out here. He caught 21 basestealers last year in AAA against 39 thefts! That's a lot, and a huge improvement! He'd only caught 22 in his entire career before that. On the other hand, he gave up 11 stolen bases without catching anyone in 65 innings in 2024 in the majors (notably that was early on in the year, so whatever improvement he made happened later in the season).

As for the blocking: in 2023 he had 34 passed balls or wild pitches in about 400 innings in the majors. That's nearly one every ten innings, which is, yeah, not great. For comparison, in 2373 career innings, Reese McGuire, who's consistently above average, has only 108 wild pitches and passed balls.

As for the offense, he seemed to completely lose it last year. Nice little run in the big leagues but a wrc+ of 85 in AAA last year.

View attachment 94794

The slugging disappeared, as did the hit tool. Went looking on statcast to see what happened, and...this appears to be overall for his time in AAA, and it's not great.
View attachment 94795

So yeah, a depth option for now, who could put everything together and be interesting. It's not impossible.
The MLB numbers are hard to parse because of the weird trajectory due to the Rule 5 pick. Grant Brisbee: Here’s another number that adds context to what Sabol did last year (2023): 25. As in, that’s how many career games he’d played in Triple A before last season. The Giants took a big, tall player who was still learning how to catch and hadn’t really played in Triple A yet, stuck him on the roster all season, and he wasn’t the worst player in baseball? He was actually promising, for the most part, with plenty of power and athleticism? He did well enough to keep the dream of a helpful, sweet-swinging, left-handed catcher alive."

The fact that Sabol managed to compete and contribute in 2023 is pretty amazing. That provides a sliver of hope that there is more development on tap.
 

TheDogMan

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The MLB numbers are hard to parse because of the weird trajectory due to the Rule 5 pick. Grant Brisbee: Here’s another number that adds context to what Sabol did last year (2023): 25. As in, that’s how many career games he’d played in Triple A before last season. The Giants took a big, tall player who was still learning how to catch and hadn’t really played in Triple A yet, stuck him on the roster all season, and he wasn’t the worst player in baseball? He was actually promising, for the most part, with plenty of power and athleticism? He did well enough to keep the dream of a helpful, sweet-swinging, left-handed catcher alive."

The fact that Sabol managed to compete and contribute in 2023 is pretty amazing. That provides a sliver of hope that there is more development on tap.
I feel that when you look toward the back end of the roster sometimes you just take a chance. In this instance the Sox need catching depth so even a poor big league catcher, I am not saying that is what he is, is preferable to no big league depth and no minor league help that is close. Years ago we took a chance on two players who were given up on, Jeremy Giambi and David Ortiz. One of them did ok.
 

shaggydog2000

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I feel that when you look toward the back end of the roster sometimes you just take a chance. In this instance the Sox need catching depth so even a poor big league catcher, I am not saying that is what he is, is preferable to no big league depth and no minor league help that is close. Years ago we took a chance on two players who were given up on, Jeremy Giambi and David Ortiz. One of them did ok.
Every year they take a flier on back end relievers or injured starters. And they should. Low risk, might as well. This is the same sort of thing. I have no issue with it.
 

chawson

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It’s interesting that all three of the catchers on our 40-man spent considerable time at other positions last year (minor leagues included). Seems like a real rarity.
 

Big Papi's Mango Salsa

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It’s interesting that all three of the catchers on our 40-man spent considerable time at other positions last year (minor leagues included). Seems like a real rarity.
Also, FWIW, I don't think there is anything even remotely interesting at 1b in Worcester and nothing really coming up from Portland in that regard either. Jordan has had two cracks at AA now and hasn't managed an average season (by wRC+) in either of them; maybe Hickey but his k rate is now above 31% in AAA, so that's not great. At least Sabol serves that role as well.

Which isn't exactly anything special, but at the expense of Chase Shugart (and before looking at this thread I didn't even honestly know he was on the 40 man roster), why not. Cumulative moves were basically turning Mickey Gasper into a relief pitcher that has had some MLB success and turning Chase Shugart into a 1,000,000x more interesting Mickey Gasper.

No real reason to be terribly excited, but absolutely no reason to be upset about it either and serves to be something mildly interesting to read about in the middle of January.
 

shaggydog2000

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It’s interesting that all three of the catchers on our 40-man spent considerable time at other positions last year (minor leagues included). Seems like a real rarity.
That's probably a result of them not being particularly good defensive catchers.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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That's probably a result of them not being particularly good defensive catchers.
I imagine it has as much to do with wanting to keep their bats in the lineup. Johnny Bench, in his first MVP season (1970), made 22 starts at positions other than catcher (1B, LF, CF, RF). It certainly wasn't because he was a bad catcher (he won the Gold Glove that season too).
 

shaggydog2000

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I imagine it has as much to do with wanting to keep their bats in the lineup. Johnny Bench, in his first MVP season (1970), made 22 starts at positions other than catcher (1B, LF, CF, RF). It certainly wasn't because he was a bad catcher (he won the Gold Glove that season too).
I think Johnny Bench is not a viable comp for any of these guys.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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I think Johnny Bench is not a viable comp for any of these guys.
My point wasn't to compare them to Bench in terms of quality but to show that even great defensive catchers spend time at other positions when they hit well enough. Playing other positions during the season isn't necessarily an indictment of their defensive skills as much as an endorsement of their bat. Wong played 1B in September because he had been one of the team's best RHH all year and he couldn't catch every game. Sabol played some 1B and LF in AAA because the team carried 3 catchers most of the time and he hit well enough to deserve more playing time (he still led the team in innings caught).
 

shaggydog2000

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My point wasn't to compare them to Bench in terms of quality but to show that even great defensive catchers spend time at other positions when they hit well enough. Playing other positions during the season isn't necessarily an indictment of their defensive skills as much as an endorsement of their bat. Wong played 1B in September because he had been one of the team's best RHH all year and he couldn't catch every game. Sabol played some 1B and LF in AAA because the team carried 3 catchers most of the time and he hit well enough to deserve more playing time (he still led the team in innings caught).
Bench was a player who was so good you wanted his bat in the lineup every day, and catching as often as possible without his knees falling off. He caught up to 139 games in his prime. These are guys whose bats are good to fine, and aren't so good at catching that you want to start them there all the time. So why not plug them in at other spots to give guys a breather or help fill in for an injury, etc? They're not maxing out the number of catching starts possible for a reason.
 

Harry Hooper

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My point wasn't to compare them to Bench in terms of quality but to show that even great defensive catchers spend time at other positions when they hit well enough. Playing other positions during the season isn't necessarily an indictment of their defensive skills as much as an endorsement of their bat. Wong played 1B in September because he had been one of the team's best RHH all year and he couldn't catch every game. Sabol played some 1B and LF in AAA because the team carried 3 catchers most of the time and he hit well enough to deserve more playing time (he still led the team in innings caught).
Yes, Carlton Fisk used to play a few games in the OF to keep his bat in the lineup and avoid a heavy leg day behind the plate.

{Edited for dumbass typo. H/T: Sin Duda}
 
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Sandy Leon Trotsky

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My point wasn't to compare them to Bench in terms of quality but to show that even great defensive catchers spend time at other positions when they hit well enough. Playing other positions during the season isn't necessarily an indictment of their defensive skills as much as an endorsement of their bat. Wong played 1B in September because he had been one of the team's best RHH all year and he couldn't catch every game. Sabol played some 1B and LF in AAA because the team carried 3 catchers most of the time and he hit well enough to deserve more playing time (he still led the team in innings caught).
I was about to accuse you of claiming that Sabol would come up and play like Johny Bench!
 

Sin Duda

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Yes, Carlton Fisk sued to play a few games in the OF to keep his bat in the lineup and avoid a heavy leg day behind the plate.
Wow! That must have been groundbreaking for a player to sue his team for more playing time. :p

I make that same use/sue typo at least once a week (that I catch).
 

Sad Sam Jones

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Wong and Sabol both started their pro careers as multi-positional players who settled in behind the plate because their bats played up there. It's not really similar to Bench or Fisk at all... it's more of the Yan Gomes track.
 

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Bailey had Sabol catch his staff in '23, so at least he knows what he's getting into with the defense (or lack thereof)
 

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This won’t be the last acquisition for which we’ll need to clear a 40-man spot (at least I hope not), so Shugart was gone regardless.

I wish Breslow had signed a veteran catcher to split time with Wong, with Narvaez riding the shuttle. But that ship sailed a while ago — I don’t think any of the remaining free agents are better than Narvaez.

So the only thing we’re giving up here is whatever opportunity cost is associated with the ceded bonus pool money. I have no idea how to think about that.
 

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This won’t be the last acquisition for which we’ll need to clear a 40-man spot (at least I hope not), so Shugart was gone regardless.

I wish Breslow had signed a veteran catcher to split time with Wong, with Narvaez riding the shuttle. But that ship sailed a while ago — I don’t think any of the remaining free agents are better than Narvaez.

So the only thing we’re giving up here is whatever opportunity cost is associated with the ceded bonus pool money. I have no idea how to think about that.
Considering the Sox left ~$700K unspent in 2024 bonus pool money, I can't imagine that whatever amount they gave up for Sabol is earth-shattering in any way. By rule it can't have been more than $250K.

Maybe the money enables the Giants to outbid the Dodgers for Sasaki. (tongue firmly in cheek on that one)