Jed Hoyer had matching orders and a plan. The orders were to clean house and bring beck some future. His plan involved trading a three true outcomes infield for a middle infield that was contact and run heavy with good defense. Nico Hoerner was there, injured but expected to be that high contact, solid defense, base running threat 2B. But with Javy Báez gone, Hoerner could slide to SS. Across town Rick Hahn had a guy with speed, D, and a ridiculous bat to ball skill. He was hurt, but maybe for the right price he’s available?
Rick Hahn had marching orders and a plan. The orders were to bring reinforcements and win now. The plan was at least one splash, but at a minimum grab a veteran reliever and fill second base where Nick Madrigal, the guy the rebuild produced for 2B, was lost for the season to a gnarly hamstring tear. Leury Garcia and Danny Mendick weren’t cutting it. Jake Burger wanted it but Tony didn’t like what he saw. Andrew Vaughn is a gamer but not the best idea right now to go beyond the one game he was out there. Fans assumed that 2B would be a splashy trade. Then, enter César Hernandez for AA SP Konnor Pilkington. What was Rick doing? THAT WASN’T A SPLASH.
Next came flipping a limited minor leaguer who might be a reliever in the show to the Cubs for veteran RP Ryan Tepera, who had been a decent but not great setup guy in Toronto and was pitching his career best in 2021. Ok…no need to make a splash there.
Deadline day and nothing splashy. The two biggest names that could play 2B that moved were Trea Turner at the deadline and Adam Frazier days before. Frazier was traded for a prospect that Ben Cherington of the Pirates wanted in the off-season Joe Musgrove trade. Turner, shockingly, was traded to the Dodgers with Max Sherzer in a fantasy baseball style deal for two very high end prospects and two other guys. Neither trade was really something the Sox could compete with. Yet more could happen, because certainly Hernandez and Tepera weren’t all the Sox needed or Sox fans wanted. Could Rick get Whit Merrifield? Can Kris Bryant play second? Would Yoan move back to second to accommodate Bryant? Trevor Story rumors coming to fruition? Surely César was not the only available option.
Then a rumor hit and because it was Bob Nightingale, there was skepticism that the Sox were getting Craig Kimbrel and that Nick Madrigal was being traded for him. It made no sense. Trading a young second baseman, a star in the making, a cult hero and part of the Sox big rebuild for an extra closer? Surely that can’t be real.
But it was real. And don’t call me Shirley.
There was the splash, and Rick certainly yelled “cannonball!” before making it. It makes the team better and scarier in the playoffs. The Sox, for 2021-2022, have the wickedest back end of a bullpen the majors has seen in years. Tony LaRussa has an embarrassment of riches on his pitching staff. Sox games might be 9 innings, but for the opposition it’ll be more like 6 innings. Folks wonder what Tony will do with two closers. The answer, of course, is ram them both down the throats of the rest of the AL and hopefully a World Series opponent.
That’s the fun part of the fallout. Tepera helps that 6th/7th inning even though his first two appearances weren’t good. Liam and Craig both said all the right things and both showed up nasty in their subsequent appearances. Hernandez had been exactly what he’s always been…a generally positive contributor in the field and at the plate.
But for all César is, he isn’t Nicky Two Strikes. Sporting a career low batting average but 18 dingers, Hernandez is the opposite of Madrigal in selling contact for power. In the field it might be more of a draw. Still, between the two one is a star of the rebuild and the other is guy that fantasy baseball players grab from the waiver wire when Marcus Semien is hurt.
So what was Rick’s plan there? A solid journeyman over a budding star can’t be it, unless…
Rick planned to move Madrigal all along.
Not that he viewed Madrigal as a bad player. It would be over simplistic to note Madrigal’s lack of power or his few rookie brain farts as too much to overcome. Madrigal’s reputation is that he’s an intelligent player and given experience, that will show up. The lack of power will never really change, and it is possible that the leg injury will cause him to lose some of the speed that lets him get some hustle doubles. That injury history could be alarming too. But the hitting tool is crazy good on the kid and overall, he has a chance to be really, really good.
That said, Rick is probably looking at Madrigal and seeing a player that has skill but isn’t irreplaceable the way five-tool guys like Luis Robert or more all-around hitters like Eloy, TA and Vaughn are harder to come by. Madrigal is a guy that has a hit tool, has speed but isn’t a 5-tool stud. Still, Madrigal’s skills and age made him valuable on the market, and Rick knew it. He also had to have an idea how to replace those skills. Extreme contact ability? Hard to replicate. Everything else? A 2B with intelligence, speed and defense is easy to come by. Heck, that describes Danny Mendick. But Danny is not the answer to who Rick had in mind to replace Nick. GMs, good ones, don’t take a dump without a plan. What’s Rick’s?
INTERNAL OPTIONS
- Jake Burger – Solid contact hitter? Check. Power? Check. Speed? Ehhh… Defense? Well… Smarts? Yeah. Burger has a problem facing him in that Yoan Moncada, Jose Abreu, Gavin Sheets, Andrew Vaughn and Eloy Jimenez are all kinda in his way. It’s a crowded house on the 26-man for a corner guy with DH power. But, just but, Burger being the cagey fella he is and recognizing that there’s an opening at second, already put himswelf out there this year. Take an offseason and really work at it? Get coached up at the keystone? Teams have done far worse than a competent 2B who can hit 20+ bombs and carry a .280-.300 avg.
- Keep Hernandez – he has an option. He might be just enough to get by until Rick either drafts another Madrigal-type prospect or one of the following develops:
- Lenyn Sosa, Yolbert Sanchez, Jose Rodriguez, Bryan Ramos…these are guys on the top 30 list of prospects who are all in various stages of development. Sanchez is kinda Madrigal-esque in profile, but not quite Nicky Two Strikes. Figure more IF prospects to come.
EXTERNAL OPTIONS
If money is still going to be spent, keep in mind that Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Carlos Correa, Javy Báez, Andrelton Simmons and Jose Iglesias are all free agents this winter. Seager and Story will be pricey, but Seager is a star who ticks off a bunch of boxes. Semien returning from whence he came, Báez making Cub fans sick be donning the Southside uniforms… All fun thoughts. And this doesn’t account for trades, where players like Cavan Biggio, Whit Merrifield, or even an Adam Frazier might be available under less duress.
But think big picture… Craig Kimbrel and Corey Seager for Nick Madrigal. I think Rick is thinking that too…
"Mismatched Sox - The Extra Sox in the Basement" 