Red Sox acquire Kyle Schwarber

BostonFanInCanesLand

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.Bloom says Sox will look at Schwarber at 1B. ‘This is not someone I would bet against.’ But if 1B doesn’t take, Bloom says Sox see impact as ‘huge.’ .
. Bloom on Schwarber: ‘We think Kyle Schwarber is one of the most impactful hitters to change teams this week.’

 

KenTremendous

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I kind of thought they were going to take Hosmer and his terrible contract off SD's hands, especially after SD made all those other moves. He's a league average hitter, which is like 25% better than what we've been throwing out there, and still good defensively, and we probably could've had him for (quite literally) nothing with SD paying a decent amount of the remaining deal. He's got $59mm left through 2025 (ugh) but if SD had paid, say, 1/3 of that...? Plus he can opt out after 2022. Might have been worth the risk.
 

Scoops Bolling

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I kind of thought they were going to take Hosmer and his terrible contract off SD's hands, especially after SD made all those other moves. He's a league average hitter, which is like 25% better than what we've been throwing out there, and still good defensively, and we probably could've had him for (quite literally) nothing with SD paying a decent amount of the remaining deal. He's got $59mm left through 2025 (ugh) but if SD had paid, say, 1/3 of that...? Plus he can opt out after 2022. Might have been worth the risk.
Hosmer's a league average bat and probably declining from there with four years let to go. He's not even a particularly good defensive 1B. If the Padres wanted to stable CJ Abrams and Hasell III to him, then absolutely I'd consider eating that contract, but otherwise...no thanks.

EDIT: Pulling up the metrics, he seems to be a below average defender according to most. I'd rather have taken on Josh Donaldson's contract and slapped him at 1B (although he probably would've cost some actual assets).
 

cantor44

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If Duran keeps this up, there won’t be any need for Schwarber at 1B.
If Duran keeps this up, Hernandez moves back to center when Arroyo returns and Schwarber is still at 1B ...
Sale, Arroyo, Schwarber, and even Houck ... these guys can't get here fast enough ... the next couple weeks are crucial and the team at its most vulnerable all season with reinforcements 2-3 weeks away ... perilous.
 

Green (Tongued) Monster

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Do we have the option of extending a qualifying offer to Schwarber after he declines his 11.5 million option? If so, I assume he accepts that correct? I would believe this would have played a part in Bloom’s calculus - especially if there is a belief that he declines and we get a comp pick as part of this trade.
 

Martin and Woods

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Dec 8, 2017
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(career) OPS wRC+
Schwarber vs R: .873 126
Dalbec vs L: .829 117


As a platoon, that's a very productive hitter at the least challenging position on the defensive spectrum. We HAVE to let Schwarber try there. Of course, they'll have to emphatically restrict him from trying any splits at 1B (see Arroyo, Christian).

(career) OPS wRC+
Renfroe vs R: .719 87
Schwarber vs L: .665 81
Dalbec vs R: .659 77


Renfroe hits better against same-handed pitching than either Schwarber or Dalbec and is (much!) better defensively at his position, so while Schwarber can platoon for him occasionally (playing LF and moving Verdugo to RF), I'd much rather have Renfroe on the field consistently.

So Schwarber crushes righties and can spell Dalbec at 1B, Renfroe at corner OF, and Martinez at DH against them. Love the trade.

Duran is a very exciting player that I'm looking forward to watching in the future. However, after a hot start, I think we're seeing that he may need a little more work in AAA. That said, his speed makes him a great candidate for a post-season roster.
 

pgeyer13

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Jan 8, 2007
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Do we have the option of extending a qualifying offer to Schwarber after he declines his 11.5 million option? If so, I assume he accepts that correct? I would believe this would have played a part in Bloom’s calculus - especially if there is a belief that he declines and we get a comp pick as part of this trade.
Someone can correct me if this is wrong, but I don't think you get a compensation pick for guys acquired in season anymore.
 

OCD SS

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No comp picks for pending free agents, but is a player with an option handled differently, since there is technically extra control there?

Duran is a very exciting player that I'm looking forward to watching in the future. However, after a hot start, I think we're seeing that he may need a little more work in AAA. That said, his speed makes him a great candidate for a post-season roster.
Is “exciting” anything more than a synonym for fast?

It really seems like the gap between MLB and AAA is big enough that young players need to work on the adjustments to what they’re seeing in MLB. The Sox knew what Duran needed to do already, we’re see what he is until he starts to make MLB adjustments.
 
Sep 1, 2019
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Kyle Schwarber has a right hamstring injury. For a right-handed first baseman, isn't the left leg (the one extending toward the ball) the one where the hamstring muscles of the posterior thigh are under more stress?

If I have that right and not backwards, does that perhaps mean his injury can be more successfully managed in the short-term as he transitions to 1B?
 

Jerry’s Curl

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I kind of thought they were going to take Hosmer and his terrible contract off SD's hands, especially after SD made all those other moves. He's a league average hitter, which is like 25% better than what we've been throwing out there, and still good defensively, and we probably could've had him for (quite literally) nothing with SD paying a decent amount of the remaining deal. He's got $59mm left through 2025 (ugh) but if SD had paid, say, 1/3 of that...? Plus he can opt out after 2022. Might have been worth the risk.
That would have been a “no dawg” for me. We just need a bridge to 2023 Casas.
 

chawson

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Pretty curious what it’d take to extend him. He really seems to have figured something out with his chase rate and makes a perfect JDM replacement (or complement if he sticks around another year).

His market would really depend on how he hits in September and October but at this point, would he turn down 4/$60M or so? That would cover his 29-32 seasons. Seems like a decent bet to be an elite hitter not far off from JDM, with maybe even a little more defensive value.
 
Sep 1, 2019
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makes a perfect JDM replacement
Yes, I think Schwarber was not just acquired to fill a short-term need, but also with possible longer-term planning in mind. Schwarber may well be on an upward trajectory, and because of the injury was obtained for very little cost.

That is a shrewd way to operate, and it seems to be the philosophy of Chaim and the rest of the Sox management team at present.
 

snowmanny

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Kyle Schwarber has a right hamstring injury. For a right-handed first baseman, isn't the left leg (the one extending toward the ball) the one where the hamstring muscles of the posterior thigh are under more stress?

If I have that right and not backwards, does that perhaps mean his injury can be more successfully managed in the short-term as he transitions to 1B?
It’s hard to believe it has already been seven years since the trade deadline Lisfranc injury discussions.
 

chawson

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I thought JDM doesn’t actually have an opt-out this winter?
Hmm, my mistake. I had it in my craw that he did but it’s not so per Cot’s. Apologies if it’s been covered elsewhere and I missed it.

A 3 or 4-year Schwarber extension still makes sense to me even if the DH spot wouldn’t need filling til ‘23. Seems like a caliber hitter you try to keep in the fold once you get him and figure the rest out later.
 

jon abbey

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Link? ... So we can clear this up
There is reporting both ways so a link won't help, I will go with Cot's (who says he does not have one but is signed through 2022) until proven otherwise.
 

jon abbey

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Someone should ask Alex Speier or another beat writer to find out definitively, my guess is that someone wrote the wrong thing at one point and that misinformation has propagated into other stories about it.
 

Rovin Romine

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Kyle Schwarber has a right hamstring injury. For a right-handed first baseman, isn't the left leg (the one extending toward the ball) the one where the hamstring muscles of the posterior thigh are under more stress?

If I have that right and not backwards, does that perhaps mean his injury can be more successfully managed in the short-term as he transitions to 1B?
Uh. A hamstring injury will be felt when walking, running, or pushing/twisting on the leg, as one does when batting.

If we're worrying which leg carries more stress in a moderate lunge position, the player will not be running or batting anyway. (But see, Gibson, Kirk.)
 

bosockboy

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Someone should ask Alex Speier or another beat writer to find out definitively, my guess is that someone wrote the wrong thing at one point and that misinformation has propagated into other stories about it.
Yes. Spotrac says he does have one. I’ll try and message Chad Finn.
 

sean1562

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https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/22584613/boston-red-sox-officially-sign-jd-martinez-5-year-deal-2022

This ESPN article from when he first signed states:

Martinez's contract is front-loaded, according to multiple sources, with a $23.75 million annual salary both this year and next. Boras also negotiated separate opt-out provisions that enable Martinez to re-enter the free-agent market after the second, third or fourth years of the deal.

edit:

Also, this article from the Boston Globe a few weeks ago seems to confirm it, with quotes from Boras.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/07/12/sports/red-sox-all-star-dh-jd-martinez-could-have-decisions-make-seasons-end/

“It’s something that’s a player’s choice,” said Martinez’s agent, Scott Boras, on Monday. “And that’s the reason we did it. I’m sure he’ll view those things at the season’s end — you always wait till the season’s end — to deliberate those things.”
 

soxhop411

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Spoke with the media today.
some quotes
Schwarber said he could go on a rehab assignment soon.
He's ready to return
View: https://twitter.com/SmittyOnMLB/status/1421542837863190533

Kyle Schwarber on when he can play: ‘It’s not going to be too long.’ He thinks a rehab assignment could come soon. ‘It’s been too long. I’m ready to get back out there and play baseball.’
View: https://twitter.com/alexspeier/status/1421542877327413252

Schwarber said there are only a couple of real ballparks left and that Fenway and Wrigley are two of them and it's special to play at places like that.
View: https://twitter.com/PeteAbe/status/1421543389493932042

Schwarber said he considers himself a pretty good athlete and thinks first base shouldn't be a problem.
View: https://twitter.com/JMastrodonato/status/1421543474038444032

Schwarber on 1B: ‘I view myself as a pretty good athlete. … Obviously there is a sense of urgency here with where the club is at. I’m going to do everything I can so that if I go to 1B, there’s not going to be a weakness’
View: https://twitter.com/alexspeier/status/1421543531034914816

Schwarber on 1B, Cont: ‘I am looking forward to the challenge. …I’ll be working my butt off over there.’
https://twitter.com/alexspeier/status/1421543930785669126
Kyle Schwarber and Rafael Devers have worked out together the past few years in the offseason. "Talk about a great kid in general, the personality, the attitude he brings, it's fantastic." #RedSox
https://twitter.com/MacCerullo/status/1421545170529660930
 

Petey Bienel

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Feb 8, 2020
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Yeah, that matches the eye test. He isn't good out there
His arm is not bad in the OF, it's just he's not fast and can't get to balls a normal outfielder can. You look at his career defensive ratings on Fangraphs, and his arm grades out slightly positive. Where he gets burned is on range, which can be seen from his inside edge numbers. He doesn't make low probable catches and is at the bottom of 4 bins of putouts. https://www.fangraphs.com/players/kyle-schwarber/16478/stats?position=OF

That said, I would think he could play left in Fenway pretty well, tbh. Fenway seems to be a place where rangy guys with make up speed (thinking of you, Carl Crawford) underperform their career record defensively in left, while it can hide relatively slower, less rangy guys who can play a ball off the wall and get it back in OK (strikes me as Manny, among others).

I guess he's going to be force fed first base from the reports. He wasn't going to play first in Chicago ahead of Rizzo, nor did Josh Bell or Ryan Zimmerman have another place to play in DC, so maybe it's more of a case of a lack of opportunity than a lack of ability, but it was not the guy I thought the Sox should have played for from the Nats. I honestly thought a Hand /Bell package would have filled more gaps (LH bullpen, primarily LH 1st base bat). Bell's been sneaky good this year after a horrible April.
 
Sep 1, 2019
170
A hamstring injury will be felt when walking, running, or pushing/twisting on the leg, as one does when batting.
The hamstring muscles flex the leg at the knee and extend the thigh at the hip. Therefore full lower limb anterior movement is most stressful to those muscles since both antagonistic actions (leg extension and thigh flexion) are being performed simultaneously. It's the reason why it is difficult for untrained people to fully flex at the hip and extend at the knee (like a football kicker getting full extension, or bending at the waist and touching your toes).

I know there will also be stress during batting and running, my question was really about the extreme stretches playing first (since this is how Arroyo got hurt), and whether a right hamstring injury is a bit more favorable than the left. Given the integrated nature of the physical demands of playing baseball, it is probably a dumb question and I withdraw it.
 

Rovin Romine

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The hamstring muscles flex the leg at the knee and extend the thigh at the hip. Therefore full lower limb anterior movement is most stressful to those muscles since both antagonistic actions (leg extension and thigh flexion) are being performed simultaneously. It's the reason why it is difficult for untrained people to fully flex at the hip and extend at the knee (like a football kicker getting full extension, or bending at the waist and touching your toes).

I know there will also be stress during batting and running, my question was really about the extreme stretches playing first (since this is how Arroyo got hurt), and whether a right hamstring injury is a bit more favorable than the left. Given the integrated nature of the physical demands of playing baseball, it is probably a dumb question and I withdraw it.
Many first basemen do just fine without having to do full-on splits.
 

E5 Yaz

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@PeteAbe
Schwarber said there are only a couple of real ballparks left and that Fenway and Wrigley are two of them and it's special to play at places like that.

@PeteAbe
Schwarber is clearly enthused about first base, saying he several times he'll work his butt off to learn. That's half the battle a lot of times.

@PeteAbe
Schwarber started hitting three weeks ago and has done all he can to simulate game speed to keep his swing crisp
 

Sox Puppet

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I've been banging the drum for a Bobby D. replacement for a long time now, but it must suck when your team is urgently awaiting an injured dude who's never played your position to come and replace you.
 

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I've been banging the drum for a Bobby D. replacement for a long time now, but it must suck when your team is urgently awaiting an injured dude who's never played your position to come and replace you.
Eh, I think Bobby D is pretty aware that he's been given a lot of opportunity to seize the job. He knows what his stats are. And he'll undoubtedly still get at bats with a chance to contribute to a contending team. I doubt he's overjoyed, but I think he'll keep working hard.