Column: Reported Red Sox deadline interests are disappointing
With two weeks before the MLB Trade Deadline, the Boston Red Sox appear positioned well as potential buyers.
Following a Game 1 win over the Oakland Athletics that felt even more lopsided than the 7-0 score, the Boston Red Sox are 51-44 and 1.5 games back of the Houston Astros for the final wild-card spot.
What once felt like a pipe dream scenario has become a reality for a Red Sox team that looked like a dear in the headlights just three weeks ago.
Since June 30, they have an MLB-best 11-2 record and are firing on all cylinders –– taking them from two games under .500 to matching a season-high seven games over.
As a result of the recent run of dominance, this team is well-positioned to make a run at October baseball, with a roster built for the ugly conditions it sometimes takes to win in the postseason.
The upcoming trade deadline can really make or break where this team ends up after its regular-season finale at Baltimore on Oct. 1.
However, as reported by WEEI’s Rob Bradford: “The Red Sox seem content in riding with the likes of [Brayan] Bello, [James] Paxton, [Kutter] Crawford and probably some combination of Chris Sale, Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock, with the integration of a Rich Hill-type.”
Bradford also added that they’re in the market for a “seventh-inning righty reliever.”
Great baseball starts and ends with pitching, so it should be encouraging to see the front office prioritizing depth in that capacity. That said, the last thing the Red Sox need is somebody like the 43-year-old Hill, who has a 4.76 ERA in 19 starts with the Pittsburgh Pirates this season.
What the Red Sox need is a legitimate No. 3 starter who can slide into the No. 4 slot when Sale returns from his bout with left shoulder inflammation, not someone who may not even be good enough to crack a potential postseason roster.
In October, the typical rotation is four guys and, if fully healthy, the Red Sox have one of the best one-through-threes in the league with Sale, Bello and Paxton. Where great teams separate from the good ones is that No. 4 slot.
While somebody like Crawford, Houck or Whitlock could give you a steady outing any given day, each of them would be better served in a high-leverage capacity this fall.
Note: those three combine for a 2.56 ERA, a 3.13 FIP and a 20.1% strikeout-to-walk rate as relievers in their careers.
If the Red Sox added Hill, or somebody else of the like, none of the top four, five, six or maybe even seven starters on a fully healthy MLB roster would’ve been acquired at the deadline.
There are four names in particular that make perfect sense for this Red Sox team to make a serious push to the postseason:
LHP Jordan Montgomery | St. Louis Cardinals | 3.23 ERA, 3.53 FIP in 103 innings
LHP Eduardo Rodriguez | Detroit Tigers | 2.70 ERA, 3.27 FIP in 76.2 innings
RHP Marcus Stroman | Chicago Cubs | 2.88 ERA, 3.38 FIP in 118.2 innings
RHP Lucas Giolito | Chicago White Sox | 3.45 ERA, 4.21 FIP in 112.1 innings
Three of the four listed have experience pitching in the American League East while all four average fastballs that could get you pulled over on the New Jersey Turnpike.
They also all come with innings-eater pedigree –– averaging more innings per start than Hill –– but with enough talent to take the ball in a pivotal postseason start and make fans feel comfortable about their ability to win the game.
None of the four listed are coming out of a potential postseason rotation, which only strengthens the bullpen because Houck, Whitlock, Crawford and even Nick Pivetta can all assume multi-inning and/or high-leverage roles.
That also solves the “seventh-inning righty reliever,” as Bradford reported they want.
Acquiring a true back-end starter at the deadline would be a mistake by Chaim Bloom.
This team has shown over the past two weeks it’s worthy of investment. Adding somebody who doesn’t make the Red Sox more dangerous now or in October would make a mockery of their efforts.
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Red Sox will not be be bringing any of those four you mentioned to Fenway. They will be searching for second/third tier starters. It’s taken yrs to get this minor league development situation headed in the right direction. Those 4 mentioned will cost a price Bloom will not deal with. Face it man what you say and what fans think and say has absolutely no skin in what John Henry and Bloom decide for what’s best for this Organization headed forward. This is a last place team in a terrific AL East why sell your minor league system to finish 4/5th. This year with Duran,Casas,Murphy and others is for next yr and the yr beyond. As u know in MA the Arm Chair GM’s have no idea when it comes to Baseball Economics and how to develop your system.