| Jeffrey Smadbeck. 25th July, 2005 - 3:29 am
 It looks like the outfield is set, Manny, Damon, Trot, barring injuries. With the new additions, as long as Schilling doesn?t try to play hero and anticipating Foulke?s return, the bullpen could be in worse shape.
Terry Francona has been in full ?Rain Man? mode, and Theo has been working the phones/crunching the numbers with the best of them. Our middle infield just got a nice boost with Tony Graffanino, and as long as Alex Cora sticks to keeping Manny and Ortiz cool with a peacock feather fan, things look productive enough.
So what does this team need? What can possibly put them over the top? As scary as it is to think about, it looks like Theo is going to have to make at least one big move before the trade deadline.
Right now it appears that the Red Sox are probably not the most qualified team to win it all this year. In an attempt to cultivate the Red Sox youth, the Sox went in the direction of cheap and short-term contracts (David Wells, Matt Mantei, Wade Miller), which has become one of the key points for why a second championship in 87 years might be a reach. The Yankees have been surging, and the wild card race is something Sox fans are desperate to avoid. I am not going to say A.J. Burnett is the answer to these problems, but I don?t think adding him will hurt.
As Brian Sprang pointed out in his last piece, it appears Theo?s big plan is to tighten up the starting pitching. It is rumored that the Giants have asked for at least the Prudential Center for Jason Schmidt, so Burnett is the man the Sox have zeroed in on.
I have never complained about Bronson Arroyo, and it will certainly pain some fans to see original Dirt Bike Kid go, but it will take at least him to get the deal the Red Sox need done. Bronson?s numbers have been in a steady decline this year from last year, striking out fewer batters and giving up more dongs (7.2k/9 last year and 4.9k/9 this year, and 15HR already to his 17HR last year, although his control remains with a better walk rate this year with 2.1BB/9), but he has been a workhorse. The other issue is that the Marlins aren?t going to deal Burnett for Arroyo straight up, (Burnet after all has much better rate stats, 3.3BB/9, 8.5K/9, 0.6HR/9) possibly asking the Sox to take Mike Lowell and the rest of his $21 million contract.
If Lowell can get back to where he was before this year, an elite 3rd baseman, the Sox could find themselves with two steals. However, Peter Gammons recently reported on espn.com that highly touted prospect Anibal Sanchez might have to be included in the deal. Being that the Sox have been hoarding their pitching prospects, it might be time to take the risk to win now.
As it stands, the Sox can?t afford to let the teams in their division better themselves before the trade deadline without making some moves of their own. They would have been better off working in some of their prospects than adding hurt but cheap solutions, but that isn?t going to win them another Championship?the Sox fans know how that tastes and will not settle for anything less.
If the Red Sox can pull off the Burnett deal they will get better. If Schilling can get close to his former self, Matt Clement remains his present self, way-back Wakefield focuses on not delivering meatball sandwiches, David Wells enjoys his afternoon cocktails while still bringing the heat, A.J. Burnett pitches the way he should and they all stay healthy, the Red Sox might make the league and the fans believers once again. Till then, it might be a long month of August and tee times come October. |
