Red Sox Pitching Overstock: Enter Smoltz, Exit...Who?

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•  The team is not close to giving up on David Ortiz. If he had not staged a mini-comeback in recent games, a change at DH might have been a possibility, but not now. Ortiz is too big a presence and symbol on the Red Sox, and they have too much invested in him financially and spiritually, to give his job away now.

• If the team traded for the much-discussed bat, it would have to be an impact slugger who would expect to be in the line-up every day. That can’t happen as long as Ortiz is still viable. The Sox aren’t about to bench or dump Bay, Ellsbury or Drew. Sure, Adam Dunn would look great in the line-up (and to say the Nationals could use the pitching is an understatement), but until he has a place to play every day, it would pointless and disruptive.
• Jed Lowrie is close to a return. The Sox brass think he is a better hitter than he has shown so far and an adequate shortstop defensively. They aren’t going to waste their golden pitching surplus on an established but flawed shortstop like Jack Wilson (and certainly not Miguel Tejada) when a home-grown solution at short is on the way.
• The Red Sox need to find a young starting catcher, but they can’t use one now. With Varitek hitting productively (if not frequently), the eventual package of players it will take to nab a Taylor Teagarden or equivalent won’t be assembled until the off-season, if then.
• Most important of all, the Red Sox are in first place, flirting with .600 and the best record in the league. This is true despite struggles from their 1-3 starters, too many blown plays at short and an offensive void at the heart of the offense.  These problems figure to go away or at least recede, and none of the strengths of the team so far seem likely to prove illusory: for example, the bullpen is probably just as spectacular as it looks. Teams that are on top and getting better don’t make major moves.

 All of this could change by July. If Lowrie shows lingering effects of his injury; if Dice-K continues to struggle; if Varitek is injured or stops hitting; if Ortiz can’t get his home runs into double figures or average above .220; if Lowell or Drew breaks down; if the Yankees or Rays get hot or the Sox fall seriously behind them, any of these developments, all of which are very possible, would force a major trade.

 In the meantime, here are the top moves the Red Sox will not make in the next couple days, all of which have been advocated or predicted ad nauseum

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