June 20, 2006
Snow Removal
The Red Sox designated J.T. Snow for assignment.
This season, Snow only had 7 starts, but he had been used as a late-inning replacement several times (accumulating 102 1/3 innings). So does this mean Youk will be getting an extra 5 AB's a week? I'd say so. It doesn't look like there's anyone on the farm that they'd want to bring in (other than Hee-Seop Choi). Maybe they're comfortable letting Ortiz play first when Youk needs a day off. Who knows... but bottomline, Youkilis has shown mgmt that he's a viable MLB first baseman and in doing so has secured himself his first season of ~600 ABs.
Choi's drawing a lot of walks but not hitting well at AAA. Still, the Red Sox know the value of walks, and he'd be a good defensive replacement. Snow was unhappy with his playing time, so this really works out well for everyone involved.
This has been in the making for a while. Snow asked the FO for a trade a few weeks ago. I would imagine that Epstein tried to find a deal, but were unable to get equal value from another club.
JT will certainly be picked up by another team. He still has a good bat, and is a tremendous fielder.
Does he really still have a good bat though? I know he couldn't find playing time since Youk and Lowell were doing well, but the big outlier in the past few years was 2004, when he hit surprisingly well.
He also doesn't look to be in the greatest of shape.
Choi would be good as a defensive replacement? Really? Having watched Youkilis all season, I'd have to say he's not the type of player I'm even vaguely worried about playing the field in the late innings. That's what made this move much more of a no-brainer - they didn't need Snow's glove.
Count me as much happier with this transaction (claiming Snyder off waivers and DFAing Snow) than the earlier one (Lopez for Riske).
Snow was of little (if you buy into the theory of late-inning defensive replacements) to no use. Snyder is a former 1st round pick who has been stuck in an org. known for poor management. He's certainly a bit of a long shot. But the risk is low (since Snow is the tradeoff and b/c the back-end of the Sox' rotation is in disarray) and the potential reward is high. If Synder's poor MLB performance is in part due to coaching, he could turn into the pitching equivalent of Ortiz. Even if coaching wasn't a major problem, it's not uncommon to see solid SP's struggle through their first few MLB years.
Jason - Snyder's problems were due to 4 (I think) arm surgeries over the past few years. He's never been healthy for any decent stretch of time. The risk is low, though, and if he can stay healthy for a while, it is certain possible the Sox can get some mileage out of him.
Yeah, Hee Seop Choi always kinda seemed like DH material to me.
