Twins’ Vázquez is trying to hit on a solution

The 2022 trade deadline decision to send Christian Vázquez to the Astros for two prospects, outfielder Wilyer Abreu and infielder

Enmanuel Valdez, roiled the Red Sox clubhouse.

Vázquez was a reliable and respected catcher who joined the organization in 2008. Several players were visibly angry when they heard the news. Others elected not to talk to reporters, worried what they might say.

Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom flew to Houston the next day to meet with the team and explain his reasoning. There were plenty of doubters.

Then Vázquez helped the Astros win the World Series, appearing in six postseason games, and the deal looked even worse.

Now, with the passage of time, the perception has flipped.

“Everybody here loves Christian. But we won that trade,” one Red Sox official said this past week. “Chaim had it right.”

Abreu is projected as an Opening Day starter in the outfield and Valdez is competing to start at second base. Both have shown improvement since the trade.

Vázquez, meanwhile, signed a threeyear, $30 million deal with the Twins before last season and hit .223 with six homers and a .598 OPS. He lost playing time to Ryan Jeffers during the season and didn’t appear in any of the team’s six playoff games.

As the Red Sox seek a fresh start, so is Vázquez. The Twins’ season ended on Oct. 11 last year and Vázquez was in Seattle a few days later to work on his swing at Driveline Baseball.

The data-driven approach was something new for him and came at the suggestion of Minnesota’s coaching staff.

“I was really pleased with Christian’s contributions to our team last year,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Both catchers will be out there on a regular basis. Are there opportunities to grab more games? Of course. But they’ll both be out there.

“Christian has a lot of success in his career. He did a heck of a job defensively and his teammates responded well to him. I do think he’s capable of more offensively. Absolutely.”

The knock on Vázquez as a hitter has long been that he doesn’t hit the ball particularly hard and took advantage of Fenway Park’s cozy dimensions when he played for the Red Sox.

Target Field is much more of a pitcher’s park.

Vázquez’s average exit velocity was only 86.7 miles per hour last season, in the 11th percentile. The Driveline program has been successful at adding bat speed to many hitters.

Vázquez also dropped 7 pounds and added some muscle with an improved offseason training regimen.

“I felt like he had a number of times last season when he had balls hit the wall that could have been doubles or home runs,” Baldelli said. “There’s more there.”

Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey also believes Vázquez will have a better season. Even with the downturn at the plate, his work behind the plate had value.

The Red Sox long ago moved on from that angry afternoon in 2022. Only a handful of players are still with the team and Connor Wong has become a solid catcher. Bloom, who was proved right about that deal at least, was fired last September.

Abreu, only 24, has impressive power to right field and is developing a consistent approach at the plate. Assistant hitting coach Ben Rosenthal, a former Astros minor league coach, said his friends in the Houston organization were surprised Abreu was traded. “The kid can really hit,” he said. “We’re excited about what he could do.”

PICKING UP THE PACE Sox show energy at spring training

There were only small crowds in attendance for the nine days the Red Sox held workouts at Fenway South before the games started.

Part of it was the unusually chilly weather for Florida, but most of it was the team’s lack of star power coupled with low expectations for this season.

It explains why only a handful of fans were watching from behind the backstop at Field 2 for a series of defensive drills on Thursday morning.

With the coaches — including Alex Cora — hitting balls flipped to them to better simulate game conditions, Triston Casas, Bobby Dalbec, Rafael Devers, Trevor Story, and Enmanuel Valdez fielded grounders.

Routine stuff, but there was good energy on the field. Dalbec and Casas took turns covering first base for each other.

Valdez chased down even the mishit balls that landed in the outfield. Devers and Story didn’t let anything through on the left side.

The players were into it and so were the fans after a few minutes. They were cheering along.

“We’re doing certain things differently,” Cora said. “We’re getting more repetitions the way we’re doing it.

We’ve gotten feedback from people outside [the team] and they like it.”

In recent springs, the Sox focused more on individual drills with balls coming out of a pitching machine on artificial turf. The players were able to focus on their footwork and positioning, but every ball was a true hop at the same speed.

Now they’re playing baseball on a baseball field. The Sox also are doing more work inside the ballpark to prepare the outfielders for playing at Fenway.

The dimensions at JetBlue Park aren’t exactly the same, but it’s better than using one of the practice fields.

Cora also has seen Story “taking ownership” of the infield and providing the kind of leadership that should cut down on the mental errors that haunted the Sox last season.

Will these adjustments make the Sox a better defensive team? We’ll see. But if nothing else they’ve been a more energetic team in Florida, and that’s not a bad place to start.

“This is what we hoped,” infield coach Andy Fox said. “We need to keep it up.”

A few other observations on the Red Sox:

■ Masataka Yoshida could help make a little history this season. He’s one of a potential 11 Japanese players who will be in the majors, which would be a record.

“This is something the former players [from Japan] built and I want to do the same for the younger players that are wanting to come here,” Yoshida said via a translator. “I want to create a situation where it will be easier for them.

“I have so much respect for those players before me.”

Yoshida believes his former Orix teammate, righthander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, will be a star for the Dodgers. Yoshida also hopes to face him when the teams meet in July in Los Angeles.

“I have only faced him once, in a practice session a few years ago,” said Yoshida, who acknowledged he popped up a fastball.

■ Teoscar Hernández told the Flippin’ Bats podcast that his final decision in free agency came down to the Dodgers or Red Sox.

He wanted to play in Boston because of his love of Fenway Park and the passion from the fans.

“It feels good to play there,” Hernández said. “I love it. I do.”

But Hernández signed with the Dodgers. The Sox, he said, “didn’t come with a good deal.”

The righthanded-hitting Hernández would have been a perfect fit for the Sox. But he understandably could not pass on a one-year, $23.5 million deal from the Dodgers, even with $8.5 million deferred from 2030-39.

Is Hernández worth that much? That’s a good question. But he was this particular offseason.

■ Righthander Greg Weissert is one of the pitchers the Sox received from the Yankees in the Alex Verdugo trade. The 29-year-old appeared in 29 major league games the last two seasons.

Weissert is from Long Island and went to Fordham. He’s a New Yorker in every way.

“It’s a little funny being with the Red Sox after being a Yankee. But it’s a great opportunity,” he said.

The Red Sox coaches have encouraged Weissert to use his cutter more often. He’s a righty who is rough on lefties and the cutter is a pitch he could use to get back in the count.

Weissert said Ron Guidry was a good influence on him in previous spring trainings.

“With all the analytics, it was good to have a balance and talk to somebody like Gator,” he said.

■ Best of luck to former Red Sox minor leaguer Rio Gomez, who signed with the Wei Chaun Dragons in Taiwan. The lefthander was with the Sox from 2017-23, climbing to Triple A after being a 36th-round draft pick.

Gomez is the son of Pedro Gomez, an ESPN baseball and football reporter who died in 2021.

ETC. Colleran makes big comeback

You don’t normally find a lot of hot draft prospects who also were wrestlers in high school. But it took Dennis Colleran some time to become convinced baseball was his best sport.

“I was invited to a camp in Florida when I was in eighth grade, and held my own,” he said. “That’s when I started to think I had a future in baseball.”

Colleran committed to Northeastern while at North Attleborough High. Huskies coach Mike Glavine is generally fine with his recruits playing other sports, but he asked Colleran to give up wrestling.

“I’m a big multi-sport guy. Basketball, hockey, even football,” Glavine said.

“But wrestling? What if something happened and he popped his shoulder out? I had to say something. Thankfully he stopped.”

Colleran now attacks the batter like an opponent on the mat.

“Same mentality,” Glavine said. “He’s a talented kid who works really hard.”

It shows on the mound. The 6-foot3-inch, 225-pound junior hit 99 miles per hour in his first start of the season at Arizona, creating a buzz among scouts.

Colleran injured his elbow before last season and had Tommy John surgery at the Andrews Institute in Alabama.

He was unable to play for Northeastern all season but came back to pitch a combined 23 innings for Worcester in the Futures League and Hyannis in the Cape Cod League.

Colleran struck out 32 with highend velocity along with a changeup, a sweeper, and a more traditional slider. He’s now one of the top prospects outside of a Power 5 conference.

“I can maintain my velocity now and I’m not spraying the zone as much. I can actually locate,” Colleran said. “After I was injured, I stopped thinking about playing professionally. I just wanted to pick up a baseball again.

Now that I’m being considered, it’s awesome. I’m excited to have the chance.”

With his velocity picking up and Northeastern playing an aggressive nonconference schedule, Colleran could climb into the early rounds of the draft. Junior center fielder Mike Sirota is already one of the top 10 prospects in the draft.

“It’s an exciting year for us,” Glavine said.

Extra bases

There’s no reason to feel sorry for Mike Trout, who’s in the middle of a $426.5 million contract. But it sounds like he has Stockholm Syndrome. Trout told ESPN that he does not plan to ask the Angels for a trade, saying that would be “the easy way out.” Trout still hopes the franchise can rebuild and win a championship. The Angels have not had a winning season since 2015 and last made the playoffs in 2014. Ron Washington is their fifth manager since 2018 . . . What’s the next step for Houston shortstop Jeremy Pena? “Just grow as a player,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “He’s on the right path.” Pena’s power numbers dropped last season, but his on-base percentage rose from .289 to .324. “He had more walks, more patience. When a hitter does that, you’re going to be productive,” Espada said. “He’s very coachable and he’s hungry. I think he’s going to go off this season. He has the same qualities as Carlos

Correa. He can be a leader on the field and in the clubhouse.” Espada was promoted to manager after spending six years as bench coach. He inherited a team that has made seven consecutive postseason appearances with World Series titles in 2017 and ‘22. “It’s not pressure,” Espada said. “I know these players and they know me. I feel very comfortable. We’re preparing for the season with a sense of purpose.” . . . Jackie Bradley Jr. spent time in Miami during the offseason working with Juan Soto

on becoming a better outfielder. Both players are represented by Scott Boras.

Bradley, 33, has been a free agent since being released by the Royals last June but is open to returning and has been working out . . . The players finished

9-6 against teams in arbitration hearings. It was the first winning record for the players since 2019. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. landed the highest deal via hearing, $19.9 million . . . New Yankees outfielder Alex Verdugo continues to take pokes at Alex Cora via the media. Verdugo said he loved Cora “outside of the game” and that their families got along. “It’s just that we were clashing heads,” Verdugo said. Within the Red Sox, many thought Cora showed great patience with Verdugo until his habitual tardiness essentially demanded action . . . Lefthander Shane Drohan, who was taken from the Red Sox by the White Sox in the Rule 5 Draft, had shoulder surgery and will open the year on the injured list. Drohan can go on a rehabilitation assignment but can’t be optioned under Rule 5 rules. He needs 90 days on the active roster to fulfill requirements and stay with Chicago . . . Eric Hosmer decided to retire after dipping a toe into the free agent market. He is owed $13 million from the Padres for this season and next. In one of the more out-of-nowhere trades in recent history, the Red Sox acquired Hosmer on Aug. 2, 2022. He played only 14 games and was released after the season. Hosmer had a .781 OPS and 15.4 WAR for the Royals from 2011-17 before jumping to the Padres as a free agent. He had a .730 OPS and 3.2 WAR over the next six years and made $144 million. Hosmer, who is married to former NESN host Kacie McDonnell, has started a media company. He’s doing a podcast called “Diggin’ Deep” with former Red Sox mental skills coach Justin Su’a . . . Know any aspiring sportswriters? Entries are being accepted for the annual Will McDonough Writing Contest sponsored by The Sports Museum. Students from grades 4-12 can submit their work through March 6. Go to sportsmuseum.org for more information . . . Happy birthday to Danny Cater,

who is 84. Cater was a major leaguer from 1964-75, playing for six teams mostly as a first baseman with some games in the outfield and third base. He also was involved in one of the most infamous trades in Red Sox history. The Sox sent reliever Sparky Lyle to the Yankees for Cater and a player to be named later during spring training in 1972. Lyle went on to collect 141 saves over seven seasons in New York, was a threetime All-Star, and won the 1977 Cy Young Award. Cater hit .262 with a .685 OPS over three seasons in Boston.