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| (USAToday Sports) |
A catcher? Are you guys nuts? Why would the Red Sox trade for a catcher with
Ryan Hanigan,
Sandy 'Babe' Leon,
Christian Vazquez and
Blake Swihart in the fold? The answer is simple:
more offense. OK, now you're
really nuts (we can hear you all saying). The Red Sox have scored more runs (501) than any other team in baseball—offense is the
least of their worries, right? Well, hold on. As Neil Greenberg of
The Washington Post points out,
FanGraph-type geeks have proven that upgrading a good offense leads to a larger increase in run scoring (or in the immortal words of 'The Pool Lady' in
No Country For Old Men,
"Beer leads to more beer"). Despite Leon's other-worldly run at the plate,
Jonathan Lucroy has a
little longer track record. As we stated back on July 14th, Lucroy is
"a 30-year-old All-Star level catcher who can hit"—with, we might add, an affordable contract. So, maybe
Rafael Devers,
Henry Owens and
Blake Swihart would need to head to
The Brew Crew to get him. But Lucroy would be a
major offensive upgrade
and a solid defensive presence behind the plate. This year, he's hitting .303 with 12 HRs and 45 RBIs and just came off his second All-Star appearance. It may be counterintuitive on the
surface, but it would be a solid move for the Red Sox. He's available. We should make the deal.
