Red Sox bring back Travis Shaw
- Thread starter soxhop411
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He hasn’t been good in 3 years, not sure he’s even worthy of a spot over Santana or the recently departed Gonzalez. As depth in Worcester, sure.
This seems like the only reason to take a shot with him. He also hasn't played since June due to injury. Guess they're hoping if he's healthy, he can hit.
I disagree. This is simply replacing Cordero with a better player. It only supplants his seat on the bench.
(Edit: Although I’ve made my opinion ad nauseum that Schwarber should be the full time DH and JDM the left fielder…until they play the NL park in the World Series.)
(Edit: Although I’ve made my opinion ad nauseum that Schwarber should be the full time DH and JDM the left fielder…until they play the NL park in the World Series.)
That’s fair. But with Santana coming back soon, is it choosing Shaw over Santana? I’m kind of ambivalent on that one; Santana offers ability to play CF and can pinch run, I guess? And then Arroyo replaces Arauz on the roster?
Other possibility is that Shaw replaces Cordero, and Santana replaces Duran.
Other possibility is that Shaw replaces Cordero, and Santana replaces Duran.
The Red Sox have officially made the announcement about claiming Shaw, but have not announced a corresponding move. So apparently he's going right on the 60-day IL. No idea where he stands on his rehab, so perhaps his return isn't imminent?
Well he never was really that good. Even when he was hitting 30+ HR for the Brewers he has never had an OBP higher than .349.
Shaw was injured and just finished a AAA rehab assignment.
He's mostly a 3b, but he's handled games at 1b just about every year of his ML career. He's got a career split favoring RHP, and so he's a decent bet not to be worse than Franchy with the bat, v. RHP. He won't run as well, but how often does Franchy feature as a PR?
He's basically Schwarber insurance.
If the Sox have any indication Schwarber won't be playing first, or doing it soon, this makes a lot of sense. Especially if they think he can occasionally run into one.
He's mostly a 3b, but he's handled games at 1b just about every year of his ML career. He's got a career split favoring RHP, and so he's a decent bet not to be worse than Franchy with the bat, v. RHP. He won't run as well, but how often does Franchy feature as a PR?
He's basically Schwarber insurance.
If the Sox have any indication Schwarber won't be playing first, or doing it soon, this makes a lot of sense. Especially if they think he can occasionally run into one.
Taylor is on Covid IL, so there's the 40-man spot. Presumably Franchy or Wong go back to WooSox when Shaw reports, to free up the 26-man spot. When Taylor returns, there will need to be another 40-man/26-man move.
That'd slot him between JD and Verdugo this year.
I'm NOT saying his past 3 years have been good, or that he has anything in the tank, but this board has a history of being down on Shaw given that he wasn't a blue chipper. However, he had a very good age 25-28 run.
Covid IL does not remove a player from the 40-man roster. It's no different than the regular 10-day IL in that respect.
Wong was sent back when Vazquez came back.
Would assume a pitcher (Valdez or Rios) is replacing Taylor.
For the 40-man spot, they could cut bait with Santana, Andriese; or someone like Potts or Rosario, I guess?
Oh, I missed that- my bad.
seems like a useless guy to keep calling up, but I guess it gives flexibility to use Plawecki more.
A third catcher never hurts anything, plus he can play the infield (better Wong as an emergency 2B or 3B than Vazquez). And given the WooSox have four catchers, he seems the least disruptive guy to keep on the roster yo-yo.
You are incorrect. Players on the Covid IL do not count against the 26-man or 40-man roster limits.
Actually you are incorrect, replacements for players on the Covid IL don’t need to be added to the 40 man and aren’t subject to the normal waivers process when dropped.
The rule you are citing is not applicable to the question of whether there is an open 40-man spot on Boston's roster for Travis Shaw, per RHF's post. In addition, the rule you are citing only applies in the event of a COVID-19 outbreak. Note the term “outbreak,” which is not defined in the MLB guidelines, has not applied in a situation where just one player is affected.
He also has 270 innings at 2B so he’s sort of an infield Marwin replacement. I like the move and I feel better about the deadline not picking up a true 1B. And a lefty bat for the short Toilet porch in a Couple days. I’d play him over Dalbec against most/all righties.
Regardless, on the Red Sox website, Shaw is currently listed as IL-60, so he's not technically on the 40-man at the moment anyway. FWIW, Taylor is listed as IL-10 which may just be a limitation of the website (as in, they don't have an IL-COVID graphic).
I’d rather have Shaw than Franchy on the 26-man, so I like this move well enough. How many ABs Shaw gets probably depends on whether Dalbec’s recent renaissance continues.
He had a .347 OBP between the two seasons, which is still well above average (league OBP was .324 in 2017 and .318 in 2018). And that also came with a .497 SLG% and 120 OPS+ from a guy playing 3rd and some 2nd. I'd say that's good.
That being said, I would have preferred giving Munoz a shot.
Yeah and with no real 3B option behind Devers I guess it's Bloom tossing shit against the wall. 38 starts at 2B in '18, so in a pinch he could be considered a little more depth in case Arroyo can't stay healthy and also makes Santana expendable as their are enough bodies in the OF ATM. I'm guess Shaw and the pending return of Arroyo mean that Santana's gone and either Franchy or Duran go down.
Is he better off in WOOster where he'll play everyday or sitting on the Red Sox bench in place of Shaw?
As shitty as Franchy's been I'd rather Duran go down and work on things while being able to play everyday. On a team with extremely limit speed I imagine he may be a Sept call up.
With rosters only expanding by two spots in September, and the AAA season continuing all the way to the end of September, I think if they send Duran down to play everyday, he won't be back up unless there's an injury or two to the outfield.
My guess, based on how they've handled the roster all year, is that those two extra spots are going to be filled by pitchers more often then not.
Where would he play?
I think they'd be foolish keeping a 3 man bench down the stretch, but that's why I'm watching games from my recliner and not from the bench.
I had been under the assumption Schwarber wouldn't be activated till September, so Reddick could have been that left handed bat. Also, he has some 1st base experience, so he could have been the other half of the Dalbec platoon. Mainly, just based on the last 2 seasons, I don't think Reddick is toast, and it certainly appears that Shaw is.
It doesn't matter now, as Schwarber is here and seems to be relegated to DH'ing.
His experience at 1B consists of 5 games, none of them as a starter. That said, he does hold an edge over Schwarber's 1 non start at first.
Right here. I was heartbroken when they gave him away for nothing. And then he performed beautifully for the Brewers, and as everyone has said, suffered injury after injury and performed miserably. On the other hand, Bloom would not have picked him up unless he saw something in him, so I am happy for him and hopeful he can do something good.
At this point the depth Duran provides is more important to me that his getting at bats for a month (certainly at the beginning of 2022 he needs to be the starter or on the strong side of a platoon to be on the team and if not, let him keep developing - but for the rest of this year, he should serve the ML club in anyway he can). He has actually been putting together good at bats lately (including several line drive outs) and we all know he can run. From here on in, every 26 man decision should be made to have the best possible talent on the ML roster for the stretch run and - pu pu pu - the playoffs. Duran is better than Cordero or Santana (or Shaw for that matter) or Arauz by a long shot. I really hope he's not sent down. Obviously need back up in the infield and outfield ...
A bench essentially of: Plawecki, Duran, Shaw, Arroyo would cover a lot of needs ...
FWIW, Shaw's xwOBA (based off quality of contact from Statcast) is right around league average the last couple years (.320). My guess is Bloom was looking more at the underlying metrics than the top line slash.
For context, coming into today Franchy's xwOBA is .239. Dalbec is .318 in 2021. Too lazy to dig into the L/R splits, but you could probably platoon Dalbec + Shaw and get closer to .330/.340 from your 1B. Such an xwOBA puts you in the Ji-Man Choi, Carlos Santana, Brandon Belt, etc. tier.
Shaw played 3B for quite a while earlier this year, so he's also passable depth there.
Obviously, the ideal outcome would be Schwarber being passable defensively and being a ++ hitters... my guess is this is effectively a hedge against that.
For context, coming into today Franchy's xwOBA is .239. Dalbec is .318 in 2021. Too lazy to dig into the L/R splits, but you could probably platoon Dalbec + Shaw and get closer to .330/.340 from your 1B. Such an xwOBA puts you in the Ji-Man Choi, Carlos Santana, Brandon Belt, etc. tier.
Shaw played 3B for quite a while earlier this year, so he's also passable depth there.
Obviously, the ideal outcome would be Schwarber being passable defensively and being a ++ hitters... my guess is this is effectively a hedge against that.
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