MLB Trade Rumors: Why the Boston Red Sox Need Jair Jurrjens in 2012

Boston Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington has been trying to rebuild a diminished starting rotation this offseason. We know that Jon Lester, Josh Beckett and Clay Buchholz will be guaranteed starters in 2012, but other than that, the other two spots are in questions.

Manager Bobby Valentine has decided to try and transition reliever Daniel Bard into a starter. If that pans out, Boston still needs to find a No. 5. There are a variety of free agents available, but Boston doesn't seem sold on any of them at the moment.

Cherington was in the mix of trying to acquire Gio Gonzalez and Andrew Bailey in a mega-deal, but Gonzalez was just traded to the Washington Nationals. Bailey could still be acquired but that would fill a void in the closer role, and not in the rotation. 

A name that Boston should be considering is Braves starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens. Jurrjens, an All-Star in 2011, had one of the best halves of any pitcher in baseball.

In 16 starts before the All-Star break, the right-hander from Curaçao was 12-3 with a sub-2.00 ERA. The second half of the season was filled with nagging knee injuries that kept him out of 27 games. Regardless, Jurrjens managed to end 2011 with a 13-6 record and a sub-3.00 ERA.

He is not an overpowering pitcher who strikes out 200 batters a season; he is contact pitcher who lets his defense make the plays for him. He has lost some velocity due to his injuries but the Braves say that he has regained some of that velocity back.

Of his 2011 outs, 90 came from strikeouts, 216 from ground-outs, and 272 from fly-outs. Boston was tied for the sixth-best fielding percentage last year, so Jurrjens would play to their strengths. 

Jurrjens has limited experience against the AL East teams but he did throw a complete game one-hit shutout against the Orioles in early July.

According to MLB Trade Rumors, the Orioles wanted Jurrjens, Martin Prado and at least two of Brandon Beachy, Mike Minor, Julio Teheran, Arodys Vizcaino and Randall Delgado. If Atlanta wants an outfielder, Boston has two good ones available in Josh Reddick and Ryan Kalish.

Obviously more would be necessary to acquire Jurrjens, but there are still some good prospects in the Red Sox organization to be used as trade bait.

The Red Sox desperately need another starting pitcher and the Braves have plenty of in-house talent they can use instead of Jurrjens. Bottom line is that Boston should do everything they can to acquire Jurrjens from Atlanta.