The 2023 Replacement-Level Killers: Shortstop and Third Base
Today the Killers take a turn to the left side of the infield. While still focusing on teams that meet the loose definition of contenders (a .500 record or Playoff Odds of at least 10%), and that have gotten about 0.6 WAR or less out of a position thus far — which prorates to 1.0 WAR over a full season — this year I have incorporated our Depth Charts’ rest-of-season WAR projections into the equation for an additional perspective. Sometimes that may suggest that the team will clear the bar by a significant margin, but even so, I’ve included them here because the team’s performance at that spot is worth a look.
As noted previously, some of these situations are more dire than others, particularly when taken in the context of the rest of a team’s roster. I don’t expect every team to go out and track down an upgrade before the August 1 deadline, and I’m less concerned with the solutions – many of which have more moving parts involved than a single trade — than the problems. Unless otherwise indicated, all statistics are through Monday.
| Team | AVG | OBP | SLG | wRC+ | Bat | BsR | Fld | WAR | ROS WAR | Tot WAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Sox | .210 | .279 | .334 | 65 | -16.3 | -1.1 | -10.4 | -1.1 | 0.8 | -0.3 |
| Guardians | .265 | .309 | .360 | 85 | -7.9 | -0.6 | -12.5 | -0.1 | 0.9 | 0.8 |
Red Sox
With Xander Bogaerts having departed in free agency, the Red Sox planned to move Trevor Story back to shortstop after he spent the 2022 season at second base, but in January, he underwent an internal brace procedure for the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, a modified version of Tommy John surgery with a shorter recovery time. Enrique Hernández spent most of the first two and a half months playing shortstop, but his struggles on both sides of the ball — a .222/.279/.320 (60 wRC+) batting line and awful defense according to the metrics (-9 RAA, -6 DRS, -4 UZR) — led to Yu Chang, David Hamilton, and Pablo Reyes getting their chances. None of it went well; in fact, the Red Sox are dead last in the majors in WAR at shortstop by more than half a win.
The good news is that Story has progressed far enough in his rehab that he just moved from Double-A Portland to Triple-A Worcester, and it’s possible that he could be back as soon as this weekend. Even if he just provides league-average offense and defense, that would be a boost. Meanwhile, on Tuesday the Red Sox traded Hernández to the Dodgers in exchange for a pair of right-handed relief prospects, Justin Hagenman and Nick Robertson. That leaves the Red Sox still having to figure out their second base situation, which landed them on the Killers list — as did their first base situation.
Guardians
In his first two seasons after being acquired from the Mets in the Francisco Lindor blockbuster, Amed Rosario did a solid job at shortstop, with last year the slightly better of his two seasons via a 103 wRC+ (.283/.312/.403) and 2.5 WAR. His offense has fallen off this year (.265/.306/.365, 85 wRC+) as his barrel rate has dropped from 4.5% to 2.9%, though it’s worth noting that where his SLG has fallen by 38 points, his xSLG has only fallen by 19 points from .396 to .377. Meanwhile, his defense has been dreadful according to the metrics, with both his -16 DRS and -12 RAA the majors’ lowest marks at any infield position.
With the 27-year-old Rosario slated to hit free agency this winter, the Guardians already have a pair of potential successors on the active roster in 23-year-old Gabriel Arias and 24-year-old Tyler Freeman, both of whom are currently serving in utility roles. Arias placed 10th on the team’s top prospects list in January as a 45 FV prospect, but he has hit just .179/.290/.300 (69 wRC+) and has struck out in 32.1% of his plate appearances. Freeman placed sixth on last year’s list as a 50 FV prospect; while he didn’t hit much last year, he’s batting .293/.349/.373 (103 wRC+) with just a 14.1% strikeout rate. Waiting in the wings — or more accurately, at Triple-A Columbus — is Brayan Rocchio, a 22-year-old who placed second on the team list and 54th on the Top 100 list. While Rosario won’t fetch as much right now in trade as he would have coming off last season, if the Guardians can find somebody to take a chance on him, they can sift through their alternatives with a good shot at improving upon what they’ve already gotten at shortstop this year.
| Team | AVG | OBP | SLG | wRC+ | Bat | BsR | Fld | WAR | ROS WAR | Tot WAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marlins | .245 | .301 | .310 | 70 | -14.8 | -3.2 | -2.4 | -0.5 | 0.7 | 0.2 |
| Mets | .225 | .281 | .354 | 79 | -10.2 | -1.0 | -1.6 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 1.1 |
| Phillies | .241 | .281 | .377 | 76 | -11.7 | -1.5 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.0 |
| Yankees | .207 | .278 | .380 | 80 | -9.9 | -2.6 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 1.5 |
| Twins | .247 | .317 | .353 | 90 | -4.9 | 0.4 | -6.4 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.5 |
| Angels | .253 | .335 | .372 | 96 | -1.8 | -2.5 | -6.4 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 1.6 |
Marlins
Save for 24 games in 2020, Jean Segura had never played third base in the majors during his career, but upon signing a two-year, $17 million deal with the Marlins this past winter, he moved into the hot corner. It hasn’t gone well. On the defensive side, he’s been rough (-8 DRS, -3 RAA, -0.7 UZR), and if anything it’s been even worse on the offensive side, as he’s hit just .220/.281/.273. Through Tuesday, his 56 wRC+ was tied with Tim Anderson for the majors’ lowest among players with at least 300 plate appearances, and his -1.1 WAR ranked as the seventh-lowest among all position players.
At the very least, the Marlins — who despite a recent eight-game losing streak entered Wednesday at 54-48, one game out of the Wild Card spot — would probably be better off turning third base duties over to utilityman Jon Berti, who has hit .292/.335/.372 (95 wRC+) while spending time at six different positions. An upgrade from outside the organization would help. They could go the rental route by trying to swing an intradivision trade with the Nationals for Jeimer Candelario, or take a chance that a trade can jump-start the White Sox’s Yoán Moncada. Another alternative would be to acquire a player with club control remaining such as the Reds’ Nick Senzel or one of the Urías brothers, the Orioles’ Ramón or the Brewers’ Luis; all of them are being crowded out of the picture on their respective teams.
Mets
Eduardo Escobar began the year as the starting third baseman, but by mid-April, he lost his job to 23-year-old rookie Brett Baty. A 2019 first-round pick, Baty entered the season at no. 23 on the Top 100 Prospects list as a 55 FV prospect with plus-plus raw power, a strong arm, and above-average defense. So far, the package hasn’t quite come together, as a weak showing in July has dropped Baty to a .236/.298/.360 line (86 wRC+). He’s striking out 26.1% of the time, and while he’s hitting the ball hard — his 90.2 mph average exit velocity is in the 67th percentile, his 45.7% hard-hit rate in the 75th — too often it’s on the ground. In that regard he’s regressed; his 52% groundball rate is in line with his other full-season rates save for last year, when he dipped to 42% thanks to a more upright stance that helped him get to fastballs up and away and unlock his raw power.
With Escobar traded to the Angels (see below), the job is still Baty’s, but the Mets might want to consider using the righty-swinging Mark Vientos as a platoon partner given the left-swinging Baty’s 40 wRC+ in 60 PA against lefties. Vientos, a 23-year-old rookie who entered the season at no. 6 on the team’s prospect list, has hit just .204/.241/.259 in 58 PA, but he’s barreled 13.2% of batted balls and has a .251 xBA and .424 xSLG.
Phillies
Didn’t we just do this? Yes, yes we did, as third base was one of the four positions where the Phillies landed on the 2022 Killers lists. This time it’s only partly Alec Bohm’s fault, as he’s started just 36 of the team’s first 101 games there, and his defense has only been sort of shaky (-6 DRS, 1.1 UZR, 1 RAA). He’s hit .279/.330/.411 (101 wRC+) overall but has produced just a 76 wRC+ in his time at third. The real culprit has been Edmundo Sosa, who has started 51 games at the position and has hit just .249/.274/.407 (80 wRC+) overall, with slightly below-average defense. Josh Harrison, who’s hit for just a 53 wRC+ overall, hasn’t added much in his nine starts here. While the Phillies have other needs — left field being a major one now that they can DH Kyle Schwarber and play Bryce Harper at first — a fix here would be welcome.
Yankees
The Josh Donaldson trade may go down as one of the least popular in recent franchise history. He was a disappointment last year, sinking from 26 homers, a 126 wRC+, and 3.0 WAR with the Twins in 2021 to 15 homers, a 97 wRC+ and 1.6 WAR in ’22 while not exactly making friends along the way. The Yankees nonetheless brought him and his $21 million annual salary back, but after playing just five games, he strained his right hamstring, then re-aggravated it while on a rehab assignment, and missed nearly two full months. Over the next six weeks, he played 28 games (though just 18 at third base), and while he hit the ball hard upon making contact (92.8 mph average exit velo, 19.7% barrel rate), he had almost nothing to show for it besides the dingers. His .142/.225/.434 line included a .076 BABIP, the lowest of any player in AL/NL history with at least 100 PA in a season. It looks as though he might hang on to that record, as last week Donaldson suffered a Grade 2-plus strain in his right calf and landed on the 60-day injured list, which could finish him for the season.
Donaldson is only partly responsible for the Yankees’ placement here, as he’s started just 23 games at third, while DJ LeMahieu has started 54. Age and injuries have caught up to the 35-year-old LeMahieu, who has hit just .233/.297/.375; his 85 wRC+ is his worst mark since 2014. He’s been hot the last few weeks (.318/.362/.477 in 47 PA since July 6), but he hasn’t had a month with a wRC+ of at least 100 since April. If the Yankees decide it’s worth pursuing a playoff spot, they’ll need to scare up an upgrade, even if it’s only a rental such as Candelario.
Twins
Jose Miranda began the season as the Twins’ third baseman, but he struggled over the first six weeks and was sent to Triple-A. Since then, nobody has stuck around third for very long, as Miranda, Royce Lewis, Kyle Farmer, and Willi Castro have all made at least 15 starts at the position, with Donovan Solano adding nine. Lewis is the only one who has provided above-average offense (.326/.354/.474, 132 wRC+), but between his recovery from surgery to repair his right ACL a second time (sigh) and a left oblique strain, he was available for only about five weeks, and now Miranda has joined him on the IL due to a right shoulder impingement.
Solano has been the best hitter of the bunch (.265/.367/.396/, 118 wRC+), but historically, he’s struggled at third base defensively, so manager Rocco Baldelli has been juggling his alternatives. With Lewis resuming baseball activities last week, odds are that the Twins will simply continue to mix and match until he returns sometime in mid-August.
Angels
The Angels hoped that Anthony Rendon could bounce back after being limited to 95 games in 2021-22 due to a variety of injuries, but he simply hasn’t been able to stay healthy. The 33-year-old third baseman has played in just 43 games, and had already made trips to the IL for a groin strain and a left wrist contusion before fouling a ball off his left shin on July 4. He hasn’t played since, and while he didn’t suffer a fracture, he was recently diagnosed with a deep bone bruise, and has been shut down for at least two more weeks. When he’s played, he’s hit just .236/.361/.318 (96 wRC+).
Even without Rendon, the injury bug has continued to bite the Angels. Gio Urshela, who covered third during Rendon’s first absence, may be done for the season due to a pelvic fracture. With Brandon Drury sidelined for the past few weeks due to a left shoulder contusion and first base enough of a mess to make the Killers list, lately Luis Rengifo and midseason acquisitions Escobar and Mike Moustakas have been bouncing around the infield, with the Moose doing most of the coverage of third in Rendon’s absence. Between his early-season stint in Colorado and his current one, he’s hit a respectable .258/.333/.447 (102 wRC+), but somewhere the Angels are going to need more infield depth and production if they plan to hold onto Shohei Ohtani in a bid to make the playoffs.
Brooklyn-based Jay Jaffe is a senior writer for FanGraphs, the author of The Cooperstown Casebook (Thomas Dunne Books, 2017) and the creator of the JAWS (Jaffe WAR Score) metric for Hall of Fame analysis. He founded the Futility Infielder website (2001), was a columnist for Baseball Prospectus (2005-2012) and a contributing writer for Sports Illustrated (2012-2018). He has been a recurring guest on MLB Network and a member of the BBWAA since 2011, and a Hall of Fame voter since 2021. Follow him on BlueSky @jayjaffe.bsky.social.
I like how the Angels learned from past years and went out and stockpiled all these infielders and then they all got hurt anyway. The Angels will end this era the way they began it—scrambling for depth.
The media will, as usual, blame ownership for “not spending enough” to complement Trout & Ohtani, but this organization will go nowhere as long as it continues to be bottom-five in player development.
The ownership is also responsible for the state of farm system, no? By most accounts the angels are bottom of the league in scouting, facilities, technology and analytics and treatment of minor leaguers. They’re kind of lying in the bed they made. The media has mostly been responsible for exposing this, as well as their own minor league players speaking out against the organization.
Ownership could fix those things, and they’ve largely chosen not to.
No way the Phillies will pull the plug on Bohm this early in his career.
We’re 1500 plate appearances in here. I don’t know how much more you can give him while you’re trying to contend. Certainly some team should give him an opportunity, but it seems clear that a contending team should be open to upgrading if a good option came along.
I have been wondering why the Phillies have been giving him such a long leash for a while now, but they definitely have. I think it is just that they don’t have any other options.
Unfortunately it’s not early into his career at this point.
“This early in his career”
I know where you’re coming from because he still feels like the young guy on the roster, but Bohm turns 27 next week! This might just be who he is.
How close were the Mainers to being on the list for 2B? Wong has been a blackhole and it seems like Cabellero seems like a candidate for regression in the second half.
The Mariners were on the 2B list which is not this one. It came out yesterday.
So, pretty close then 😀
The Brewers should be on the 3b list at .3 WAR.
I was pretty shocked to see the Brewers weren’t on there.
Brewers have 1.3 WAR for 3B on the splits leaderboard.
The 0.3 WAR showing up if you just click on the 3B tab includes stats for all players that have played 3B, including their stats at other positions.
The Reds for instance, have 1068 PA if you just click on the 3B tab (clearly impossible) but only 442 actual PA at 3B, which is viewable via the 3B option on the split dropdown menu.
how do you see WAR on the splits leaderboard? I went to it and all I see are Standard, Advanced and Batted Balls. None of which had WAR on them.
Don’t think the Yankees or the Red Sox should be on this list.
Neither of those teams are contenders.
Ouch. True, but ouch.
As opposed to the Angels, Phillies, Mets, Marlins, and Twins which are all much stronger contenders…
The Phillies, Marlins, and Twins each have playoff odds of over 49%.
Neither the Yankees nor the Red Sox crack 33% on the same metric, per FG’s calculations.
And sure, the Angels and Mets are interesting. Because Ohtani and Cohen.
The Sox and Yankees are similarly nowhere near meaningful contention, and are deeply boring to boot.
Also. Jokes.
So is it jokes or is it that the BoSox and Yankees are boring with a low playoff metric, the most infallible way to measure playoff odds?
What kind of standards do you have for being a “contender”? Yankees are 2.5 back of the WC and Red Sox’s are 1.5 back as of 07/26.
I believe it is called a joke, or a dig, or a jab.
If one person makes a joke, it’s a joke. If ten people immediately make the same joke, it’s a problem with the article.
A jape, mayhaps!
Speak for the Yankees, but the Redsox are right there with the rest of the division IMO. Their lineups/pen are excellent and have a bunch of average-above average starters (albeit injury prone ones). Getting a real boost from Story and Sale, too
How are the Yankees 5 over .500 with the lineup their trotting out? It’s honestly impressive
The Red Sox have received less WAR from their position players than the Yankees, because they’re running out 3 DHs every day…along with the 1B they have at the hot corner.
their WAR numbers are impacted by Kike being the worst player in baseball and a hole at 2B. Likely addressed by Story and perhaps a trade
They still are running out 7 guys with a 800+ OPS, and the 3B guy is also a 4-5 WAR player even with that defense
It’s honestly wild how bad the Rendon contract ended up. He was so good for Washington, and at least during the covid shortened 2020 looked every bit his down ballot mvp self, and then… man. Just a huge bummer for everyone involved.
Imagine if the Nationals had re-signed him AND Strausburg
what would have been ironic is if the Angels had traded for Candelario instead of picking up Moustakas.
who would have thought that the Pujols contract would only be the 2nd-worst Angels contract in an 8 year time period
No way, that Pujols contract is one of the worst contracts of all time. This is bad but not at that level.
it’s a question if no value is better than negative value.
Like one could argue the Angels would have been better off if injuries Pujols was injury prone and not consistently burying them 150 games a year.
Or to use a different example, Stephen Strasburg has been nearly 4 wins more valuable than Pat Corbin the last 3 years, simply by not pitching at all
Let’s not sell Rendon short yet. He has plenty more years to slip well into negative war territory
But the good value Pujols provided them from 2012-2016 was much more than he cost them from 2017-2021, so the overall positive value he provided still easily surpassed Rendon doing mostly nothing.
Overall, Pujols provided the Angels a net bWAR of +12.9.
No, Pujols was a pretty good player for the first half of his contract. Rendon has barely provided any value at all.
Actually, it was the third worst after also the Josh Hamilton contract.
Austin Riley had a wRC+ of 88 two years into his career, so Mets fans panicking about Baty on the net are a bit much, but the fact that he’s pounding the ball on the ground so much is obviously not good. Gary Cohen mentioned that the batting coaches are working with Baty to hit the ball in the air more and he hit two homers again the Chisox , so hopefully more is coming.
I remember when Amed Rosario was coming up in 2017 and all Mets were so excited including myself and then he shockingly(he was pegged by scouts as a strong defender), played terrible defense and was a pretty crappy hitter. I was happy for him that he figured something out but he’s back to his old Mets days. I’ve always been surprised that the Guardians didn’t move him to second base and let Gimenez play shortstop.
Riley may have had a low wRC+ like Baty, but he had other stats indicating he’d come around, and he did. He hit 18 home runs his first year with as many PAs as Baty has already had this year, and his AVG and SLG both were looking good and his barrel rates and launch angles were impressive. Baty may be hitting the ball hard but he’s not slugging at all, certainly not enough to make up for his strike out rate.
Really Good Player A did ____, so Young Rookie Player B can also do ____ comps don’t usually work
What do you mean? Bert Blyleven is Dutch, so I can’t see why Sidney Ponson wasn’t a Hall of Famer
Tony Gwynn didn’t walk or hit for power, so any prospect with that profile can succeed too
Worked for Ichiro!
It’s working right now for Luis Arraez.
Gimenez isn’t the only candidate for the post-Rosario era. For now the pipeline starts with Freeman/Arias/Rochio. At second Gimenez is being pressured by Brito.
Today they had Gimenez batting second with Arias at SS and Freeman at 3B. Ramirez at DH. Bell on the bench.
Once they move Rosario (PTBNL?) they may trot out of the mix often.
Rosario looks absolutely terrible defensively, and his hitting hasn’t been good either. If he were a free agent (which he very well might be in August) he would be looking at a minor league deal.
Probably.
The only question is whether anybody is desperate enough to offer up something, anything, either before or after DFA.
It might happen: his heart is pumping and he’s not injured.
Desperate teams tend to dream on warm bodies and there are actually worse players rostered out there.
Besides, “he’s well liked in the club house”. 😁
Apparently the Dodgers are willing to take a chance on him. I’m quite surprised ; maybe the Guardians are paying his salary.
Doubt it.
It’s Dolan.
Unless the Dodgers are sending a lottery ticket they’ll pay whatever is left.
The Dodgers were always the logical team since since April. And he’s been hitting lately.
“After a slow start to the season at the plate, Rosario had started to heat up in July with 18 RBI this month. He batted .291 with five doubles and a pair of home runs for the Guardians in his last 20 games.”
At least we know why he didn’t play today.
PS: They’re sending Thor, reportedly. “We take your problem, you take ours.”
Given that each problem fills a hole in the other team’s roster, I guess it makes some sense. There really doesn’t appear to be much hope for Thor other than “stop throwing your sinker right down the middle every time, idiot”, but Rosario at least mashes lefties (126 wRC+ this season), and the Dodgers have really struggled with that.
Cleveland might try him.in the ‘pen.
They have an opening there.
We need starters more. Our current rotation is Aaron Civale, three rookies, and a bullpen game. The losses of Bieber and McKenzie and the abject ineffectiveness of Plesac (thank god he’s gone) and Quantril have really screwed us this year.
Quantril was pitching hurt.
Losing Morris hurt.
But the three rookies are actually doing okay.
Four, if they can stretch Curzon out to five innings.
The pen has lost them a few “won” games so they need help there, too. Maybe more.
They need to get Karinchak back in shape since Clase and Stephan are a bit less reliable these days. So cutting Thor’s innings to get his velo back up is not out of the question. Failed starters sometimes make for good relievers.
I bet the Dodgers play Rosario at 2b and mostly against LHP and he’s fairly valuable. He’s not a useless player, Cleveland just used him in the perfect way to maximize his faults
Already have Hernandez to play second base I’d bet Rosario starts at shortstop over Rojas.
Not impossible.
The Dodgers have taken toolsy but underperforming players and gotten excellent mileage from them.
The Mets’ spot as an allegedly “contending” team looks increasingly ridiculous: they’re 17.5 games out in the division and 7 games out in the Wild Card needing to outplay five separate teams just to grab the last spot.
At some point, what’s blared out by a team playing over 100 games as a sub-.500 team with similar sub-.500 percentages in Pythag and BaseRuns has to register.
I agree hopefully the front office realizes this and sells this deadline.
I think there’s a typo, the Mets are listed as a contender in the 3B list.
Man, what can the Yankees even do to improve their infield this offseason? Even assuming Volpe improves to be an above-average hitter – which, to be fair, is entirely within reason – Paraza hasn’t shown that he has any ability to hit at the major league level; LeMahieu looks cooked; and there aren’t any free agents available who can improve the situation at all. Trade for Arenado? Like, what’s the game plan?
It is a pretty normal situation to desperately need an upgrade at one infield position (here, third base) and hope for an upgrade at a second spot. As far as I can tell the Phillies and Mariners (at 2B) are in the same boat and the Marlins and Brewers might need 3 new infielders. Probably one of these teams signs Candelario, maybe Chapman leaves the Blue Jays.
It’s way, way too early to make a call on Peraza. He has some decent indicators including a really low chase rate. His xwOBA is also about 50 points over his current wOBA this year, which I can’t emphasize enough, covers only 61 plate appearances.
Trey Sweeney is also an intriguing option if Peraza doesn’t work out. There’s also Matt Chapman in free agency, in addition to the trade market. Options abound.
I’m more concerned about the OF situation next year. You basically have 1.5 OF are a strong injury risk, and not much else.
Periera might work out, but I’m growing more convinced Dominguez will need (at least) another year to pan out, if he even does pan out.
I’m guessing the strategy with Florial is take the rest of the season to evaluate him rather try to play the waiver game with him; he’ll either be traded before the 40-man deadline or he’ll be pencilled in as part of the picture.
Imagine if they had a guy who could defend all three OF positions at a reasonable level, while offering league-average offense and solid baserunning!
And if he was a switch hitter owed ~$10m.
He’d obviously be well behind guys like IKF in the outfield depth chart, but…
I’m shocked the Dodgers aren’t included in the SS list. Either Rojas’s glove is more valuable than I realized or Mookie’s time at short is enough to keep them off.
If it’s the second part then the Dodgers need to have a special entry for non-Mookie 2B/SS
Chris Taylor’s defense is apparently marked as being excellent at SS in a very, very small sample size.
Can always depend on the guardians to appear in this series a couple times (or more) every year. Shame that such a great baseball organization is hamstrung by cheap and ambivalent ownership
This comment doesn’t really make sense in this context. If anything, they’re in this position because they stuck with the more expensive player in arbitration (Rosario) rather than selling high in the off-season and handing the reigns over to their glut of well-regarded SS prospects.
Unless you’re still dinging them for trading Lindor (which has worked out just fine for Cleveland), their current problem is not the result of being cheap.
Disagree, raise their payroll to major league average and I’m sure they could have afforded to get a real major league catcher or a better first baseman than Josh bell, or a better center fielder than myles straw, or a second solid starter to anchor the rotation and not ride Bieber til his arm falls off, or, or, or….
Again, this article is about their replacement level production at SS, which was the result of playing the guy who makes a good amount of money over the cheaper alternatives. This is not the place to call them cheap – with the benefit of hindsight, being cheap might have worked out better for them.
And while we’re on the topic, you criticize all of the moves where they actually spent money (Zunino, Bell, and Straw), yet call them cheap. So what if they haven’t worked out, they still went out and spent money, which is what you are claiming they don’t do.
Yes and no.
They were never going to spend big on Catcher with Naylor at Columbus. Likewise, in the OF they needed to see if Gonzalez’ minors power showed up. Both moves failed early but Naylor is settling in reasonably well. Brennan has been okay except his power is doubles rather than homers. He really belongs in center.
Maybe Straw is the next to go.
1B, though, Bell was a miss. More precisely, Bellinger was a miss. They should have taken a flyer on him for CF/1B instead of Bell.
Dolan *is* cheap but the moves that failed had at least a defensible baseball rationale. Not all their moves are driven solely by money. If anything, their problem is the cheapskate owner forces them to keep an eye on the long term as well as the short term.
Being in the ALC allows them to survive the odd faux pas.
And as this year is demonstrating, spending big is no guarantee of winning big.
Brennan is not okay. He’s barely hit better than Straw. 82 wRC+, with probably worse defense than Myles? Personally I think Arias and Brennan are lost causes and neither has deserved anything like the leash they’ve been given–Brennan maybe has the potential to hold down CF and be slightly better than Straw, Arias just can’t hit.
As far as being cheap, yeah, not sure who they would have signed with a larger budget, unless it’s what actually held up them not swinging a deal for Sean Murphy or Olson before him. Cleveland playing guys like Rosario and Straw over pretty clear internal upgrades, and trading away all of their best hitting home grown prospects for the past 5 years is the main reason why they’re not winning 95 games this year
Arias is 22.
Look at Ramirez at the same age/PA’S.
Jose never swing and missed at 91 mph fastballs down them middle on the regular, and also hit .360 in the minors and skipped high A when that was a thing that never happened. They aren’t remotely comparable players. Arias is quite a bit like Yu Chang
It is the result of Francona being loyal to his regulars.
And Rosario being best pals with Ramirez.
Letting him play his way out of an extension saves them from having to let him go like Brantley. Moving him *now* saves them from his hot streak possibly ending or, worse, not ending. Because they were never going to extend him.
Finally, the glut of MI are all young: 21/22 so giving them more seasoning in the minors wasn’t costing them much, as Arias bat hasn’t shown much life.
SHAME!
Rosario’s lack of side-to-side mobility is a shame. He looks athletic in other phases of the game. He looks as lost at SS this year as he did in the outfield last year. There was a ground ball late in yesterday’s (7/25) game fielded by the SS gliding to his left; he set, and he fired a missile to 1B. Didn’t hear the announcers say Arias entered the game as a defensive replacement, but even my ancient peripheral vision knew it couldn’t be Rosario.
His main problem is probably between the ears.
As you say, he has the tools to be adequate. And if he were hurting he wouldn’t hurt the team by going on the IL. Not all players put up career years on the eve of FA.
His second problem is Francona’s loyalty. He got 100 games to play himself out of a job. That’s at least 40 too many with the way Freeman has played.
“Fun” Josh Donaldson stats for this season, assuming he’s done for the year:
Assuming?
Why would he be played down the stretch?
If the yanks played into the WC race, they couldn’t rely on him and if they fade further they might as well play the kids.
At his age, contract status, and physical shape he doesn’t have much left to offer this year.
Twins are moving Jorge Polanco to 3rd it appears. He’s back Friday
And , Amed Rosario’s about to be a Dodger.
LADs buying their way on to this list is a notable development!
Picking up Hernández is an interesting buy-low proposition. Picking up Rosario is baffling. He has been so, so bad.
Never mind, they’re trading Syndergaard for him so I think the Dodgers are actually saving money here.
Nope, because they’re also sending some cash.
Rosario at least hits lefties which is a need for LA. Getting any usable player back for Thor is a net win.
They’re sending out Syndergaard.
Two warm bodies that have seen better days and might again.
Or not.
Low risk deal on both ends but both have track records of making silk purses.
The Guardians solved their problem and get something back in return. The Dodgers must be desperate to plug Rosario into their lineup.
Lefty mashing is why they got Rosario. 126 wRC+ versus lefties this season. And honestly, giving up their own net negative in Thor is a decent move.
I was about to say that I was wrong when I suggested the Guardians were getting something back in return.
Wait a bit.
Maybe third time’s the charm. 😒
Rosario for Syndergaard is a pretty funny trade.
If this is the best this trade deadline offers us…
It might very well be.
LAA is reportedly pulling Ohtani off the market.
Well they also just traded for Giolito and Lopez so I’d put that as the biggest trade so far.
And the Cubs are reportedly looking to keep Stroman and Bellinger.
The options get thinner.
A lot depends on the Mets and Padres raising the white flag.
As a Nats fan, I strongly endorse what the Angels and Cubs are doing. Tighten that market!
Want more for Candelerio, huh? 😁
“That leaves the Red Sox still having to figure out their second base situation, which landed them on the Killers list — as did their first base situation.”
Except the Red Sox were not on the first base list?
Maybe Casas’s hot streak took them off between draft and publication, haha.
With the trade of Rosario today, would the Guardians have any interest in trading for Paul DeJong rather than relying on their rookies to cover SS for the rest of the season?
Doubtful.
Freeman has been hitting acceptably and Arias was already tagged for late inning replacement. Unless DeJong came almost free (Plesac?) they have better uses for their trade “currency”: OF/1B/DH, bullpen, maybe another back end starter.