Boston Red Sox Could Trade Excess Starting Pitching
By Tim Haberin
The blockbuster addition of Chris Sale may allow the Boston Red Sox to explore a trade of one of their extraneous starting pitchers.
Acquiring Chris Sale will help the Boston Red Sox on the field next year any way you slice it, but dealing for the former White Sox ace could have some other benefits as well. The Red Sox now have more starting pitchers than they do rotation spots, and they could consider trading from the excess to address other needs.
According to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, other teams have been reaching out to the Red Sox to inquire about the starters outside of their big three of Sale, David Price and Rick Porcello. The probable candidates include Clay Buchholz, Drew Pomeranz and Eduardo Rodriguez.
Cafardo believes that Boston is most likely to hold on to Rodriguez, and it’s hard not to agree. Though he has been up-and-down throughout his two seasons in the major leagues, the left-hander is still just 23 and under team control for the foreseeable future.
Buchholz has certainly not been the model of consistency either, but with only one year remaining on his deal, someone could be interested in taking a chance on him. His $13.5 million salary for 2017 is a bit pricey given his declining performance (4.60 ERA since 2014), but with the sorry state of the free agent starting pitching market, it wouldn’t be shocking to see a few suitors line up.
Pomeranz is probably the most attractive choice of the bunch. Though he struggled after his midseason trade to the Red Sox (4.59 ERA over 14 outings), he’s 28 and under contract for two more years. The lefty has generated strong results overall the past three seasons, posting a 3.21 ERA and 1.17 WHIP over that span for Oakland, San Diego and Boston. His versatility to pitch both in the rotation and out of the bullpen makes for some additional appeal.
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ESPN.com’s Scott Lauber cautions, however, that the Red Sox have no need to be hasty in striking a deal. As the remaining free agent starters come off the board (i.e. Jason Hammel, Ivan Nova), pitching-needy clubs that miss out could start to sweat and be more willing to pay up for someone like Buchholz or Pomeranz.
Lauber confirms that Boston’s preference is to move Buchholz and his salary, but that team president Dave Dombrowski is playing his cards close to his chest for now. He also says that rather than trade a pitcher to bring in another big league piece, the Red Sox would like to put some more talent back into a farm system that saw top prospects Yoan Moncada and Michael Kopech leave this week.
Though known for using the bargaining chips in his minor league system, Dombrowski admitted, “We have traded a lot and wouldn’t mind replenishing some that we’ve traded.”
Fortunately, adding another bona fide ace in Chris Sale to a rotation that already includes David Price and reigning AL Cy Young winner Rick Porcello gives the Red Sox the freedom to do just that in the weeks and months ahead. They definitely don’t have to trade one of their extra starters; after all, with the near certainty of injuries, you can really never have too many.
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But landing a big prize like Sale provides some considerable security to explore the possibility of future deals. Should the Red Sox trade one of their other starting pitchers? If so, who? Sound off in the comment section below.