The Red Sox’s moves at the trade deadline make you wonder if Chaim Bloom believes this team can make a playoff push and if he should have done more to remake the club with 2023 and beyond in mind. Boston improved its outfield offense and improved all around at first base. Yet, their outfield defense and offense from the catcher position are worse. The Sox’ bullpen is short a left-handed reliever, as well, after the Red Sox agreed to trade Jake Diekman to the White Sox for Reese McGuire. They’ve gone from having more lefty relievers than they had spots for to having only one. And they desperately need a second with Matt Strahm still on the injured list. If Bloom believed in this team, he would have at the very least acquired a reliever to replace Diekman.
Trading an underperforming reliever’s contract for next season in exchange for a player with multiple years of control isn’t a bad baseball trade. Like the Christian Vazquez trade, that kind of move makes sense in particular situations. But in the position that the Red Sox believe they are in, the Reese McGuire trade would seem to be looking toward the future, not 2022.
Why Red Sox Make Reese McGuire Trade
Besides having Reese McGuire, 27, under control through 2025, the Red Sox traded for a Christian Vázquez-type that doesn’t hit. Not to say Vázquez and McGuire are the same defensively; they’re not. But their framing numbers aren’t much different over the last two seasons, and the pop time to second base is also similar. Additionally, McGuire has a career 30 percent caught stealing rate (a percentage that’s improved drastically since 2019) compared to Vázquez’s 35 percent.
The former Pittsburgh Pirates’ first-round pick has been better against right-handed pitching in his career. Against righties, McGuire has a .268/.316/.390/.706 slash line with a 91 wRC+ in 455 career plate appearances. Not great, but closer to an average hitter than he is against left-handed pitching (21 wRC+).
McGuire hasn’t appeared in more than 78 games in a season. So the Red Sox did not trade for Reese McGuire with the intent of him taking over full-time. The Red Sox have Connor Wong and Ronaldo Hernandez at Triple-A; however, Boston clearly doesn’t think highly of them. Otherwise, they would have taken the “let’s see what we have” approach with them as they have with Jarren Duran.
The Reese McGuire trade gives the Red Sox some certainty at catcher and isn’t a major downgrade defensively from Christian Vazquez.
Jake Diekman Just Didn’t Work Out in Boston
It didn’t work out for Jake Diekman with the Red Sox for whatever reason. Another miscalculation by Bloom? Strong possibility. The miscalculation, I believe, was thinking Diekman could be part of the late innings mix and not adding more to that mix. It’s public information that the Nebraska native’s numbers weren’t all that great last season. Intriguing but not late-inning reliever numbers.
In 2021, Diekman pitched to a 3.86 ERA/4.46 FIP with 34 walks, 83 strikeouts, four hit batters, and eight wild pitches in 60.2 innings. He allowed a 40 percent hard-hit rate, 41 percent of inherited runners scored against him, and had seven blown saves in 14 opportunities. Batters hit .211/.324/.390/.715 against him.
This season with the Red Sox, over 38.1 innings, Diekman had a 4.23 ERA/4.97 FIP, with 30 walks, 51 strikeouts, six hit batters, and five wild pitches. He allowed a 40 percent hard-hit rate, 38 percent of inherited runners scored against him, and had three blown saves in four opportunities. Batters hit .203/.368/.744 against the lefty.
Diekman’s Statcast percentile rankings this season are identical to 2021, too.
Four and a half months after Jake Diekman agreed to a two-year, eight million contract with the Red Sox, they shipped him off to the White Sox and did nothing to replace him. But, hey, there might be a few more million to spend this offseason now (strong sarcasm).
The Reese McGuire trade alone isn’t what hurts the Red Sox. What hurts the Red Sox is subtracting from the bullpen and not adding to it. In hindsight, I’d say that was a clear tell by Chaim Bloom.
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