Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals: A tale of two trade deadlines
The Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals were two teams who stayed put at the trade deadline and the result has been very different for each team.
Since the trade deadline of July 31st the two teams records are very different. The Boston Red Sox have gone 16-18 while the St. Louis Cardinals have gone 24 -12.
The inaction by the Red Sox almost certainly had something to do with their decision to part ways with Dave Dombrowski, their president of baseball operations.
Both teams represent the opposite sides of the spectrum as to what can happen with a simple trade deadline day and the decision to stand pat.
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Take for instance the Cardinals offense, as far as batting average goes, they are near the bottom of the league. In fact, as a team, they are slashing .248/.322/.412 with 177 home runs and 629 RBI’s good enough for 21st in the league.
The Cardinals only have one position player with an average above .300, Lane Thomas, and he has only recorded 38 at-bats and is on the 60-day injured list. The player with the best batting average is Kolten Wong at .286.
To put that in perspective, the Red Sox are slashing .272/.343/.476 with 225 home runs and 776 RBI’s putting them at second in the league. They have 5 players with a batting average above .300: Rafael Devers, Brock Holt, Marco Hernandez, J.D. Martinez, and Xander Bogaerts.
So where is the difference between the two teams? It is without question they’re pitching! As a team, the Cardinals are 5th in the league with a 3.48 ERA with 45 saves in 58 opportunities.
They are led by starters Jack Flaherty (2.99), Dakota Hudson (3.40), Adam Wainwright (4.16) and Miles Mikolas (4.25). Their two pitchers who have closed games are pitching well, Carlos Martinez and Jordan Hicks.
The Red Sox rank 19th in the league with a team ERA of 4.65 and 28 saves in 55 opportunities. The vaunted starters have been disappointing at best especially in ERA with David Price (4.28), Chris Sale (4.40), Rick Porcello (5.83) and Eduardo Rodriguez (3.73). They also have been unable to find a consistent, reliable closer to replace Craig Kimbrel.
The one conclusion I can make from this is pitching rules all. The Cardinals didn’t need to make any moves there, because they were pitching well. They know that in the playoffs and towards the end of the season, pitching is king.
Next. White Sox historically bad right field production. dark
Unfortunately for the Red Sox and Dombrowski, he didn’t realize it until it was too late and it cost him his job and the team a shot at defending their World Series title.