What the Boston Red Sox Need to Do Before Trade Deadline

With the MLB trade deadline looming, it’s time to take a look at each contender’s needs and provide potential solutions for those needs.

We at Bareknucks.com will take a look at a few of the top teams in each league, evaluate the weaknesses in each roster, and look at the options available to strengthen those weaknesses.

Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox are the American League’s most balanced team. With the deepest pitching in baseball and a stacked lineup of proven hitters and exciting young talent, the Red Sox hardly have any glaring needs.

However, they find themselves in a most enviable position. John Smoltz looked very good in his second start with Boston, going back to his Atlanta days by painting the outside corner of the plate with that diving fastball.

Clay Buchholz has been nothing less than dominant in the minors this season and is pegged for an August call-up. Daisuke Matsuzaka is due to return from the disabled list rested and ready to go sometime soon as well.

Combine that with the recent dominance of Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Brad Penny, and Tim Wakefield, the Red Sox find themselves with almost too much starting pitching. It’s not often a team can say that, especially when you consider that they also feature the best bullpen in baseball from both a depth and quality standpoint.

Mark Kotsay, Rocco Baldelli, and the plethora of shortstops at their disposal give the Red Sox plenty of bench depth in every necessary aspect.

It’s no secret that Boston is shopping Penny around the league as most teams are looking to acquire a solid starter for the stretch run.

With Mike Lowell struggling to stay healthy, the Red Sox could use another corner infielder with a solid bat to compliment their already intimidating lineup. Kevin Youkilis’ ability to play both corner infield spots at a Gold Glove level allows Boston to look for potential help from both a regular first and third baseman.

Boston is not in a panic mode when it comes to potentially replacing Lowell, but, as I said earlier, their immense depth of arms allows them to go get someone just in case. I can’t state how advantageous the Red Sox are in this regard.

Possible solution

Stud shortstop Jed Lowrie is currently rehabbing and is set to return to the Red Sox lineup shortly. With the emergence of Nick Green as a dependable shortstop both defensively and at the plate, Julio Lugo could potentially find himself (along with his large contract) as the odd man out.

The Red Sox pride themselves on the way they’ve set up their bullpen.  They are well aware of how important a reliable relief staff is come playoff time, making it unlikely that they part ways with someone like Manny Delcarmen, or anyone else out of that ‘pen for that matter. There’s no need to.

Given the log-jam at the shortstop and the starting pitching positions, a package of Julio Lugo and Brad Penny seems feasible. Although it may be hard to find someone looking to unload a hitter for someone like Julio Lugo who stands to make $9 million this season, you have to consider the fact that he is hitting .370 since the beginning of June, making him considerably enticing regardless of contract issues.

Matt Holliday is a likely option for certain teams as the Athletics find themselves out of contention and most certainly unable to hold onto Holliday after 2009. But you can bet they are going to be looking for young prospects rather than aging players like Lugo and Penny.

Nick Johnson has also popped up in Red Sox rumors recently, but again it’s hard to imagine the worst team in the league looking to add age and large contracts as opposed to youth.

With this in mind, I think Colorado could be the team to provide the Red Sox with their help.

Todd Helton is getting up there in years, and the Rockies are a team of youngsters. Colorado is in contention for the Wild Card in the National League, but then again who isn’t?

They could certainly use some pitching, and Penny’s game could fit well at Coors Field. Helton’s contract isn’t small, so losing that would allow them to pick up Lugo’s similarly sizeable contract. This would give them some infield depth and a solid option off the bench in pinch hitting situations…a very important aspect of any National League club.

Although Colorado doesn’t have a viable option to replace Helton at 1B necessarily, it’s not difficult to acclimate one's self with the position. With Garrett Atkins and Ian Stewart currently fighting for playing time at 3B, they could potentially move one of them to first and give the other the chance to play on a regular basis.

Boston would then find themselves with the power bat they need. With Helton manning first base, Youkilis could move to third to relieve Lowell.

That would also give an already deep Boston bench another solid hitter in Lowell. Kotsay, Baldelli, Green, and Lowell would round out one of the better benches in all of baseball.

It’s not a certainty that Colorado would necessarily be open to shopping Helton while still in contention, but this trade makes sense for both sides.

Pitching wins championships and the addition of Penny and Lugo could make the Rockies a Wild Card favorite.

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