Red Sox front office personnel moves

Veras didn't strikeout like Middlebrooks did/does though. Players with high strikeout/low walk numbers almost certainly have more of a skill deficiency as opposed to a problem with their approach. Players who both walk and strikeout infrequently (and struggle) may be taking an overly aggressive approach. I can't speak to the situation with Veras specifically, though, and I would be pretty shocked that the Red Sox would hire him if his coaching philosophy was "hey, make sure to swing at everything!"

Looking back at Veras's career it reminds me again how weird player development was under the (now-romanticized) Duquette regime. He had a very strong season as a 20-year old with Double-A Trenton in 1998, hitting .291/.319/.468 in 502 plate appearances. Now, his walk total was extremely low (only 15 all season), and the team had John Valentin in the majors and Cole Liniak (who they were supposedly high on) in Triple-A, so I suppose there was some argument for keeping him in Trenton to start the 1999. But then when Valentin got hurt, they turned to Veras, rather than Liniak. If Veras was ahead of Liniak on the depth chart, then why the heck wasn't he with Pawtucket? Why, when Valentin came back, was he sent back to Portland in deference to a player he was ahead of the depth chart? Stop romanticizing Dan Duquette, people.