Theo says “the answer lies within”…
Obviously we all know the Sox bullpen is a mess. Even the big gun of Papelbon has had his issues throughout the season even though he is not by any means a problem. What I am referring to, however, are the bridge guys getting to Pap. Right now if you look at stats, the Red Sox most effective reliever over the last six weeks has been left-handed specialist Javier Lopez. That is pretty scary as this team heads into a playoff race with New York and Tampa. After reading some of management’s comments, it appears the Red Sox won’t be adding anything to the mix in order to fix their pitching staff. Epstein believes that untested prospect Michael Bowden will add the relief help the Sox need for the stretch run. It’s risky to lay all of your chips on a 22 yr. old who has never thrown a single pitch at the major league level. I am not saying Bowden could not be an answer. Its just that I am just clinging to the fact that the Sox may be asking too much out of an up and coming rookie.
The other available pitching names on the market include Huston Street of the A’s, Brian Fuentes of Colorado and former Red Sox reliever Ron Mahay of the Royals. Theo has said that the price is way too high for these guys and he doesn’t feel that they are worth giving up future prospects to acquire their services this season. The ideal guy in which the Sox might actually give up talent for is Oriole closer George Sherrill but owner Peter Angelos hates trading within the Division. Angelos has already said the only way he trades Sherrill to Boston is if he is wowed by the offer. Not much of a chance for a trade with the O’s. As far as adding hitting, look for the Sox to keep Manny for the final two months and see how things play out. Right now it looks like they’ll either dump or deal him before the November 9th deadline. Re-signing him just seems like too much of a longshot. The Sox also feel their offense is good enough now to win the American League and advance back to the World Series. I may agree with the Sox brass on that one, however, as far as bullpen help goes a deal has to be made. I think the Red Sox have a boatload of young pitching. So giving up one or two guys for a lights out big league reliever may be the one step that saves their season. Let’s hope they have better luck this year dealing than they had last summer with the ill fated Eric Gagne trade !
Possible solutions could be that Michael Bowden, Justin Masterson, and Clay Buchholz end the year as reliable bullpen bridge guys to Pap with Lopez and Okajima filling out the left handed roles. A lot will probably depend on the health of Bartolo Colon. If Colon can come back it will give the Sox the leverage to move Buchholz to the pen to provide some relief help. If the Sox feel that their best plan is to see if their young guns can get it done then I am willing to give Theo the benefit doubt on this one. I know I have said in the past they need to make a move and I believe they still do I am willing to let this thing ride out and see where we go. Theo has earned the right to make the decisions for this team by winning two World Series titles in the last four years. Only time will tell how everything plays out. I don’t expect a big deal for the Sox by Thursday. Reguardless, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for another blockbuster like the one that he pulled off with the Nomar trade !
MLB Trade Deadline- Thursday July 31st 4 PM Stay Tuned.
The Brain