Red Sox: Travis Shaw aims to make former team regret trading him
Third baseman Travis Shaw is thriving with his new team, while the Boston Red Sox are still struggling to fill the void at the hot corner.
It seemed like a good idea at the time. Let’s hope that statement doesn’t come to define Dave Dombrowski’s legacy as Boston Red Sox president of baseball operations.
Some trades work out for the best while others ultimately backfire, but if there’s one thing we can say about Dombrowski it’s that he’s never shy about making a bold move.
The Red Sox needed a reliever capable of locking down the eighth inning setup role. Travis Shaw was coming off of a decent enough season to turn himself into a trade chip, one that Dombrowski found expendable with a slimmer and more motivated Pablo Sandoval back in the mix at third base. On paper, the deal made sense.
Unfortunately, it hasn’t panned out that way so far for Boston. The bullpen has been fine, among the best in the league in fact, although it’s been no thanks to Tyler Thornburg. The reliever the Red Sox acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for Shaw last winter has yet to take the mound this season as he continues to work his way back from a shoulder injury that landed him on the 60-day disabled list.
Meanwhile, Shaw has thrived with the Brewers. He’s already blasted 7 home runs and driven in 24 RBI while producing a career-high .847 OPS through 29 games in Milwaukee.
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The Red Sox sure could use that type of production at the hot corner. Sandoval is back on the disabled list, where he’s since been joined by Brock Holt and Marco Hernandez, leaving the team scraping the bottom of the barrel for fourth and fifth string options at third base.
Boston’s rotating collection of third baseman have combined to hit a putrid .221 this season, while ranking last in the league with a .601 OPS. All three home runs attributed to Red Sox third basemen have come from Sandoval, who still seemed to be a shell of his former self despite a brief unexpected power surge that preceded the knee sprain that has sidelined him since the end of April.
Red Sox third basemen have already committed 12 errors this season, by far the most in the majors at the position. Shaw has been mediocre defensively, with four errors, a .947 fielding percentage and a neutral DWAR, although that’s enough to make him look like a Gold Glove candidate compared to the options Boston has been trotting out at third base.
With the Red Sox heading to Milwaukee for a three-game series against the Brewers, we’re left to wonder if they would have been better off holding on to Shaw. Speaking with WEEI’s Rob Bradford on the Bradfo Sho this week, it’s clear Shaw is thinking the same thing.
“Yeah, I think that happens with everybody,” said Shaw when asked about proving the Red Sox wrong. “You want to win the trade. Everybody is a competitor. I’m a competitor. Obviously going into this year there’s some determination to kind of prove that I’m an everyday player again because I lost that spot at the end of last year. Along with proving I’m an everyday player again. When the trade happens, that’s something I take personally, not personally, but I really wanted to establish as an everyday third baseman again and obviously just win the trade.”
Shaw is certainly winning the trade so far, although it’s fair to question how long that will last. He started out strong last year after wrestling the starting third base role away from Sandoval in spring training, hitting .292 with 7 home runs and 35 RBI through the first two months. Shaw’s production fell off a cliff starting in June and he was relegated to part-time duty in the second half of the season. He hit .194 with a .619 OPS after the break, a second-half fade that may have doomed his future in Boston.
The Red Sox have received dismal production at third base this season, which is no different from last year when they finished last in the league in OPS at the position with Shaw on board.
Shaw blames the mid-season trade for Aaron Hill for his season spiraling down the drain. Bringing in competition at third base seemed to shatter his confidence and by his own admission he began pressing too much in an attempt to win back his starting job, which only made things worse.
“It was when the Red Sox acquired Aaron Hill,” Shaw told Bradford. “At the time I was struggling for a two or three period, four-week period, whatever that was. I wasn’t playing like I was in April and May. At the same time, my numbers, I thought personally were … I’m hitting sixth or seventh in the order at the time. I think I was on pace for 20-plus homers, drive in 80-plus at the bottom half of the order. They make that trade and I stop playing every day. I was like, ‘Why? What’s going on?’ I understand that I was struggling at the time. But I think that’s when I got caught up in, ‘Why did they make that trade?’ Then it was like try to do more and keep that spot to play every day and it spiraled out of control.” More from Red Sox News Red Sox Nation deserves far more from Fenway Sports Group Bizarre trade deadline comes back to haunt Red Sox after Nathan Eovaldi departure Red Sox’ Moneyball-style offseason continues with Corey Kluber contract Rich Hill’s Red Sox departure puts him within striking distance of unique MLB record Red Sox offseason takes another nasty hit with Nathan Eovaldi departure
Hill is gone now, but had Shaw remained in the organization he would still have faced competition from Sandoval, whose bloated contract necessitated giving him a shot to revitalize his career, as well as Hernandez, who was one of the stars of camp this spring. Were the Red Sox supposed to hand Shaw the third base job with a vote of confidence that he was their guy under the assumption that he would go back to hitting the way he did last April when he felt more secure in his role?
It’s easy to look at what Shaw is doing in Milwaukee and think that the Red Sox would be better off with him still on the team, although that argument is a bit shortsighted. While Shaw has provided a decent amount of pop that Boston’s lineup could certainly use, the power from his left-handed swing wouldn’t necessarily translate as well at Fenway Park and his .303 OBP leaves a lot to be desired.
Shaw clearly was never viewed as the third baseman of the future in Boston. At best, he was a placeholder for top prospect Rafael Devers. Dombrowski flipped him for a reliever capable of filling a role that he deemed to be among his top offseason priorities, expecting they would find another third baseman to serve as a stopgap until Devers is ready for the big leagues.
The deal hasn’t worked out well for Boston so far and Shaw has the chance to rub that in when he meets his former team for the first time this week. You can’t blame Shaw for his motivation to make the Red Sox feel seller’s remorse in what amounts to a revenge series for the scorned third baseman, but it’s too soon for Dombrowski to have regrets.
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Thornburg is making progress in his rehab and should eventually return to fill the role he was acquired for, while Shaw’s production could fade similar to last year’s second-half slump. Shaw has the upper hand as he prepares to face his former team, but we have a long way to go to determine who won the trade.