Boston Red Sox Rumors: 10 Signings or Trades That Could Clinch AL East Title
It's not even February, however the Boston Red Sox have been all but given their rings as 2011 World Series Champions. Hello? We have to actually play all those 162 games to decide things, people! Cliff Lee be damned, the Yankees are still a pretty solid team, yes? Does it not seem premature to declare the AL East, never mind the Series, as a lock for this Boston team?
While Boston is certainly an early October favorite with their monster offseason moves thus far, they are still a team that has distinct and pronounced weakness.
There is still plenty of wood to be burned in the hot stove, and Theo Epstein is no dummy—he knows Boston weaknesses, and he has the resources, both financially and in the Red Sox farm system, to pull off a trade he wants or sign a choice free agent.
So let's size up the 10 available players the Red Sox could either sign or trade for that would help them seal the deal in the AL East, a major step towards the ultimate achievement—a World Series title.
10. Trade for Chris Ianetta
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Chris Ianetta, like Jarrod Saltalamacchia, is a young catcher who was highly regarded as a prospect yet, however, has not lived up to his expectations at the Major League level. If Salty doesn't pan out, Varitek is honestly too old to handle the everyday catching responsibilities. Building some depth within the organization at the catching position seems prudent for Boston's front office.
There are certainly stronger options out there (more expensive, too)—like now Tiger Victor Martinez (more on him later). The appeal of Ianetta is the remaining possibility he has yet to fully tap his potential coupled with the likelihood he would be available on the cheap.
The Rockies envision Ianetta as their starting catcher for 2011, so, even though getting him would not ostensibly take a lot, trading for Ianetta will likely only happen if the Rockies obtain another catcher themselves or become suddenly confidant in a catching prospect within their organization.
9. Trade Daisuke Matsuzaka
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One of the smartest, and least likely, moves that Boston could make would be to ship off Dice-K and his albatross of a contract—he is two more years left on the six-year, $52 million deal the Sox granted him in Dec. 2006. Trading away Dice-K would be a clear case of addition by subtraction, and it would position the Red Sox not only to gain some spare parts for their playoff push in 2011, it would also clear their ledger for the 2012 season.
Of course, given Matzusaka's marginal performances in recent years, he is certainly nowhere close to worth his contract. He would only be a logical addition for a team that has both the need and the ability to acquire his middling talents and huge contract.
The well-heeled yet under-performing New York Mets are a team that jumps to mind.
8. Trade Jed Lowrie
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Jed Lowrie finally got a chance to prove he can hold his own as an everyday position player at the Major League-level last season. With his wrist fully healed and his bout with mono behind him, Lowrie managed to get into 55 games last year and hit .287./.381/.526/.907 in 197 PA. He got regular playing time at second over the second half of the season when Dustin Pedroia broke his foot in June.
Lowrie turns 27 next April and finally appears poised to play a full season—except the Red Sox currently have him slotted in as their utility infielder. Lowrie probably has the chops to play everyday for many clubs, but it doesn't look like he'll get this kind of chance in Boston. Clearly, the Red Sox value Lowrie's versatility and a knack for being able to hit well off coming off the bench, however his trade value may never be higher, and Lowrie might be more valuable to Boston in a trade for a starting pitcher or a catcher.
While Lowrie might be a better player than Marco Scutaro at this juncture, Lowrie, arguably, has more trade value. Scutaro either has one or two more years left in Boston, with Jose Iglesias in the pipeline. Lowrie, again, arguably, is an overqualified utility infielder. Boston should trade him now and get some value in return.
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7. Go Get a LOOGY
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Hideki Okajima will be back in the Red Sox bullpen in 2011, however, Okie, presently Boston's lone lefty reliever, does not qualify as a true LOOGY (Lefty One-Out GuY).
Mike Myers, Alan Embree and Javier Lopez are among the more successful LOOGYs in recent years, finding a pitcher of that caliber is a weapon many managers value in their late-inning, bullpen strategy.
While there are no prominent LOOGYs available on the free-agent market, it might be worth Boston's while to go out and trade for someone like Lopez (currently on the Giants) or Romero (currently on the Phillies). Boston would probably have to overpay to obtain either of these players or someone of their caliber, however, if it helps the Red Sox on their determined drive toward the AL East title, and ideally, the World Series, such an acquisition begins to make sense.
6. Take a Flyer on Justin Duchscherer
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Remember when the Red Sox signed Bartolo Colon to a one-year deal in 2008? He ended up making seven starts for the Red Sox that year, going 4-2 with 3.92 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. That high WHIP suggest that Colon got pretty lucky keeping his ERA below four, but, regardless, Colon was serviceable that year when Boston needed him that year.
Longtime Oakland Athletic Justin Duchscherer could fit in with Boston in the same capacity. While Duchscherer has missed most of the past two seasons battling various injuries as well as clinical depression, he has nonetheless pitched effectively when healthy. Like Colon, Duchscherer is a pitcher who is looking to reestablish himself as a (relatively) effective and reliable starter. He would be a great low-cost, middle-reward minor league signing, and, given that Duchscherer really needs to prove he still belongs in the majors, this type of situation might be the best that the 2008 All-Star can find.
5. Sign Grant Balfour
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Grant Balfour was someone I said the Yankees should think about acquiring in an article I wrote last month. Balfour made a name for himself in 2008 as a set-up man for the AL-winning Tampa Bay Rays. Since then, his velocity has dropped and, with it, his value.
The Red Sox (just like the Yankees) can afford, and, arguably, justify overpaying someone like Balfour to simply add depth to the bullpen. Last year, Balfour found his groove again after a rough '09, which would appear to indicate he has an improved handle on his secondary pitches, which are a slider, a cutter and a change-up.
Balfour's fastball has accounted for fewer of his pitches every year since '08 when he threw for 91.7 percent of his total pitches. Since then, that number has dropped to 83.5 percent ('09) and 73.6 percent ('10).
While Balfour isn't the shutdown fireballer he was three years ago, he seems, judging by any pitching metric, to have put his troubles of 2009 behind him in looking at his stats from last season.
4. If Bard Is Better, Then Ship Out Paps
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Last month I wrote about how I find the Sox' likelihood to trade Jonathan Papelbon as very low. I feel no differently about this issue, however I have to acknowledge that trading Papelbon in season, when demand is at its highest, is a very salivating prospect. This trade, of course, really only makes sense if Daniel Bard continues pitching at the high level he has been.
If Papelbon is out, Bard slides into the closing role, Jenks and Wheeler stand to be the main options in the eighth inning, and, then, well, hopefully Hideki Okajima rights his ship, and Scott Atchison pitches the way he did in 2010.
Papelbon figures to command significant trade value, so it would not be out of the question for the Red Sox to shore up a questionable catching situation or add another good young arm to a starting rotation, that, like last year, might turn out to be quite bad. Josh Beckett and John Lackey are both in the hot seat starting this April, to say the least.
3. Trade J.D. Drew in July
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J.D. Drew is, mercifully, in the final year of his heavily critiqued five-year, $70 million contract. With Ryan Kalish waiting in the wings, it might be worth their while for the Red Sox to ship out Drew midseason to help address a pressing need at the Major League-level or for a couple of young prospects.
Boston wouldn't stand to get much in return for Drew, however a cash-strapped team on the verge of serious contention might see some worth in obtaining Drew's service down the stretch in 2011. If Milwaukee feels they have a good shot at the NL Central, they might look into acquiring Drew, similar to how they traded for CC Sabathia in 2008.
Drew will likely be a Type B free agent, so Boston would only be compensated with a 2012 sandwich pick in lieu of letting Drew walk. Even a team like the Brewers, with a depleted farm system in the wake of the Zach Greinke trade, could probably find prospects that satisfy Boston's front office.
2. Sign Rafael Soriano
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Why should the Sox settle for the Rays' set-up guy when they can snatch away their closer? Rafael Soriano had a phenomenal one-year stint as closer for the Tampa Bay Rays. Eying bigger and better things, Soriano is likely looking for a big payday to do exactly what he did last year—serve as a stud closer for a contending team.
However, the market for closers, such as it is, may move Soriano, one way or another, towards signing on as a top team's set-up man. Soriano's agent, Scott Boras, has already let on that his client would consider an offer from the Yankees, who would clearly pay him royally to bridge the gap to Mariano Rivera.
There's no reason for the Red Sox not to pursue Soriano's services in the same capacity. Like New York, Boston has the money, and, also like their rivals in the Bronx, they yearn to assemble a deep bullpen that can slog through the exhausting lineups of the AL East.
1. Bring Back Victor Martinez
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The Red Sox' catching situation is arguably the team's most tenuous. An aging Jason Varitek and an unproven Jarrod Saltalamacchia are Boston's catchers at the present. The Sox are also hot on catching prospect Ryan Lavarnway, however he figures to be a year or two from being ready for the majors. If Saltalamacchia is unable to prove himself as a reliable No. 1 catching option, which isn't all that big of an if, then Boston would likely be in the market for a catcher.
The Sox let Victor Martinez walk, and he subsequently signed a four-year, $50 million deal with the Tigers. Might Boston, if pressed (and if Martinez is playing well), bring V-Mart back to Boston next summer with what would have to be a blockbuster deadline deal?
Any grief the Sox front office received for not resigning Martinez was silenced by their twin acquisitions of Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford.
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