It's time for Blake Swihart to go

It's time for Blake Swihart to go

Blake Swihart's agent and I have something in common.

No, I don't know his name or really anything about the guy, but he said something that was very good, according to NBC Boston. They reported that this man requested that the Red Sox trade his client, Blake Swihart. Well, it's about damn time sir.

There's no real reason for Swihart to be on the Red Sox roster. OK, he hit in spring training? Cool. We've seen time and time again, that means literally nothing. Swihart isn't really sound enough defensively and doesn't have the pop to justify taking others out of the lineup. That said, we've basically seen him DH once per week or get an at-bat here and there in a high-scoring game. But they don't play him consistently, nor is there any incentive to.

He has like a .138 batting average in 29 at-bats. The Red Sox have played 42 games. This means he is on pace for 112 at-bats this season. Yeah, Alex Cora doesn't want him on this roster.

This is the chicken and the egg thing all over again. You need AB's to hit but you need hits to AB. Is it worth taking Hanley Ramirez, Mitch Moreland, JD Martinez or Andrew Benintendi out of the lineup to put Swihart in there? At the moment, the answer is clearly no. They don't like his defense enough to let him catch. Dustin Pedroia will be coming back at some point, so the Red Sox will need a roster spot for their second baseman. It doesn't make sense for Swihart to be here. I don't care that he was a first round pick.

So, what would the return on Swihart be? Not good. But you know what? It's better than having someone claim him and getting nothing in return. My ideal return would be a catcher in the upper minors of another org who is competent enough to be on the Red Sox 40-man roster.

Not every draft pick works out well for the team who picks the player. This is one of those cases. I still think he has an MLB career somewhere else, just not Boston.

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