Red Sox Reportedly Agree To Deal With Mitch Moreland

Can't say I've ever paid much attention to Mitch Moreland as a hitter, but his spraycharts at fangraphs show him to be an opposite-field flyball hitter, so he could be perfect for Fenway.

A fly ball hitting 1B-only with sub-.300 OBPs and barely .400 SLG playing in Arlington? And he got a major league deal? Was Brandon Snyder unavailable?

This is probably the best we could do given the luxury tax threshold. A "fit" Pablo, Chris Young, Brock Holt, HanRam, and Moreland rotating/resting in an optimal way will never replace Papi's production, but it could still produce a top 3 offense overall. There's also a pipe dream of Sam Travis knocking on the door, and doing a decent Kyle Schwarber impression. This keeps the seat warm until the break, or next year's FA class. Keep in mind that the Blue Jays offense won't be as scary, Houston is vastly improved, and Baltimore will likely tread water. In essence, we made the right move by doubling down on pitching, rather than falling into the EE trap that would blow up the luxury threshold AND potentially be a poor value on the back-end.

As for Mitch, particularly, I'm hoping for an OPS of .775-.825 with roughly 20 homers. His offense is good, and his ability to competently handle 1B defensively might boost offensive production for a well-rested, and seemingly rejuvenated Ramirez.

I'm guessing the hope is Moreland rebounds to his 2015 level of hitting while providing good defense. At least on that end, we'll go from below average defense to very good and that should benefit the entire infield. On a one year deal, I have no problem with this. Here's hoping Mitch rebounds

Why?

Moreland had a very fine season in 2015, which is really not that long ago. I don't love this and don't hate it either.

So they signed him to be Travis Shaw without the positional flexibility?

To be fair, if Shaw was going to end up playing a lot of 1B anyways, this is a pretty cheap way of making up for that production.

Yeah, my post wasn't meant as a slam at all, quite the opposite ... with Sandoval and Holt around, you didn't need the positional flexibility as much. This seems like a pretty cheap way of replacing what Shaw would've been for the 2017 Red Sox.

Of course, there's NO WAY to replace what Mauricio Dubon would've meant for this franchise.

I actually like this signing. I'm cool with him splitting time at 1B with Hanley, and letting him sit against lefties, with Chris Young at DH. For 5.5M it's not like we couldn't just cut him if he totally bombs for the first couplease months, but I think he'll be a good fit in Fenway.

At least he is consistent.....consistently mediocre.


On the bright side he has always hit well against the Red Sox/at Fenway, so it's nice to finally have him on our side for once.

If we stay under the cap, next off-season could be a blockbuster free agent year. I'm not sure though how that affects Otani, specifically. It appears the Yankees are also trying to do that.

The ramification here could be the more important consideration.