Tag: Tzu-Wei Lin

Red Sox Are Calling Up Top Prospect Michael Chavis

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The Red Sox are reeling, currently sitting in last place in the AL East, and Dustin Pedroia has once again been placed back on the Injured List with knee issues. This team is in a bad spot right now so it was definitely in need of some changes. One of those will be the promotion of their No. 1 prospect in Michael Chavis to the major league roster. The Sox took Chavis with the 26th overall pick in 2014 so it’s time to see what the kid’s got.

Visual evidence that I watched Michael Chavis play in AA Portland.

As the Eagle Tribune points out, with the lack of production from Pedroia, Eduardo Nunez and with Brock Holt on the shelf,”Red Sox second basemen have combined for a .337 OPS, by far the worst in the majors.”

Chavis is only hitting .250 but he’s got an OPS of .954 with 4 home runs in 12 games. He did blast 31 dingers in 2017 between Single-A Salem and Double-A at Portland. This was of course before he was popped for PEDs last April and suspended for 80 games though. I worried that may be the end of Michael Chavis the Power Hitting Prospect, but he seems to still be whacking the ball around the yard. He actually had a higher OPS in 2018 as well as in 2019 (granted its a small sample size) than he did in 2017 so thats encouraging as well.

Now I’ve learned from the failed careers of super hyped prospects like Craig Hansen and Cla Meradith to temper my expectations when top prospects get called up, but its hard to not be excited to watch the kid play. He’s traditionally been a corner infielder,  but has been working at second base too so we could see him split time there with Tzu-Wei Lin, who was also called up today.

They’ll have to pry that second baseman’s mitt (I don’t think this is actually a thing) out of the cold dead hands of Christian Vazquez first though.

Congratulations to My Good Friend Rusney Castillo On Making His Second Straight Triple-A All-Star Team

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Rusney Castillo, now 31-years-old, is sneaky having one of the best seasons a Pawtucket Worcester Red Sox player has ever had. He just earned his second straight All-Star nod down in Triple-A and is batting a league leading .323 and if he keeps that up he’d be the first PawSox player to win a batting title since Wade Boggs did it in 1981. May he rest in peace.

This is just another stark reminder of how badly the Red Sox have bungled their roster and their payroll over the past several years. It’s not even all payroll luxury taxes the Sox are afraid of either, its just old fashioned money that John Henry is probably sick of spending. According to Spotrac the Sox currently have $164 million in salaries on the Active Payroll, $36 million in salaries on the Disabled List, and $42 million in RETAINED Salary. Thats $1 million to Allen Craig, $22 million to Hanley Ramirez, and $18 million to Pablo Sandoval. All of whom are obviously no longer on the Red Sox. Woof.

Oh and Manny Ramirez is making $2 million from the Sox this year in Deferred Salary as well.

While Rusney is only a career .262 hitter in 337 plate appearances at the major league level, it’s a goddamn shame the Sox can’t won’t call up a guy hitting the cover off the ball in Triple-A solely because of his salary.

The contract they gave him based off an out of context And 1 Mixtape was absurd, which is why he currently makes $11 million to play at McCoy Stadium. BUT to refuse to bring up a guy who is challenging for the Batting Title in Triple-A because of money is an unthinkable move from a franchise as rich as the Boston Red Sox. He could bat .400 and they wouldn’t call him up because they don’t want to go into the luxury tax.

Yup, I would much rather have Tzu-Wei Lin (career .230 hitter), Tony Renda (career .183 hitter), and Sam Travis (career .250 hitter) coming off the bench in September and October.

Oh well, here’s to you Rusney Castillo, friend of The 300s, Triple-A All-Star, and the highest paid person in the history of Rhode Island.