Red Sox Trade Hopes May Have Hit Brick Wall
As we get set for another MLB trade deadline, the question has been asked. Will the Red Sox be buyers or sellers? Since coming to Boston, Dave Dombrowski was expected to plan for the now instead of looking toward the future. Tyler Thornburg, Carson Smith, Roenis Elias, Chris Sale, Craig Kimbrel are just some of the names that came to Boston over Dombrowski’s time at the helm. Some of the names traded away? Wade Miley, Yoan Moncada, Manuel Margot, and Travis Shaw traded away for the now and eventually a 4th World Series championship since 2004.
The names may not be too impressive, but the Red Sox rank in MLB farm systems? Yeah, that’s not too impressive either. Number 30 out of 30, which puts the Red Sox in quite the conundrum. A team that as of July 25th is fighting for the second wild card spot, is it worth trying to make a push? The Red Sox rank around 20th in MLB bullpen ERA, add in the lack of a true closer and a real setup man maybe it’s time to plan for the future.
Dave Dombrowski has to see that this year’s red sox team is hungover after last year. That’s okay, there are reasons why no team has repeated as World Series champions since 1998-2000. Boston lost their closer Craig Kimbrel and their setup man Joe Kelly to free agency which I have always said, is truly their choice and going for more money is not the wrong thing to do as a pro athlete. Teams have continued to drive Chris Sale’s pitch count up which is a big key for teams facing the Sox ace. There are other reasons why Dave’s hands may be tied ahead of the July 31st deadline.
Unfortunately for Mr. Dombrowski, the Red Sox have had to contend with the injury bug. Dustin Pedroia, suffered a knew injury in 2017 after a slide by Manny Machado. Since then, the Red Sox have had a glorified platoon of players at the position including Christian Vazquez for a game. The Red Sox may have found a temporary fix with Michael Chavis, but after a lot of Dombrowski moves, the pool of talent in the minors is quickly shrinking. Mitch Moreland and Steve Pearce have also missed substantial time on the Injured list forcing more maneuvering around the diamond.
If Boston makes a move for a reliever, maybe even a closer, they are going to have to part with some potential talent. Does the team trade away a talented player like Chavis from the major league team to fix a hole that has been in place since the start of the season. Nathan Eovaldi is going to the bullpen, however after only pitching one inning in Pawtucket, it could take a little while to get acclimated to a bullpen role. In the minors some of the names in AAA aren’t really impressive, so teams trading with the Red Sox may be weary. Players like Sam Travis and Bryce Brentz have over 30 RBI, but their time on the major league club has been unimpressive. Brentz played 34 games over two stints on the major league club in 2014 and 2016 and Travis has played well under 100 games in three seasons in Boston.
If the Red Sox are serious about this year, (In my opinion it’s a lost cause) it’s time to think about the long-term plan. If Mookie doesn’t want to be here for many years to come, you can get a potential haul trading him to a team like Dodgers who have talent at the major league level and even better at the minor league level. David Price said back in April when the Red Sox started off on the wrong foot, “If we don’t start playing better, JD Martinez, Mookie Betts, maybe myself, we could get traded. We’re, what, 30th in minor league systems? We’re dead last. We don’t play better, Mookie Betts will be traded, J.D. Martinez will be traded. It will be tough for a while here.”
Big moves like trading Martinez, Betts or Price would flush this year down the toilet but could build for the future, the only question is will Dealin Dave roll the dice for years down the road.
-John Luck (@jluck_89)