| 16 July 2010
Coming out of the break, Red Sox GM Theo Epstein had a choice to make:
a) Ignore the CBT tax and sign an impact player or two before the deadline to help his team make a playoff push.
b) Sit tight and hope that all the players coming off the DL will be enough to make a playoff run.
99% of the time, the Red Sox will make the necessary moves to ensure a playoff sopt, but we find ourselves in a unique position in 2010. The farm system has a gap in it and we don't really have any prospects that are ready to make an impact for another team in 2011. Knowing this, Theo built the 2010 squad with money during the offseason, signing guys like Lackey, Beltre, Cameron and Hermida... but now the Sox don't have the means to rent a player like Jayson Werth without being forced to pay the CBT luxury tax.
So what should Theo do?
Last night's loss to the Rangers proved that the Band Aids that worked through June and early July just aren't working anymore. The Sox are now 5 1/2 games out of the division lead and 3 1/2 behind the Rays in the Wild Card race. Clay Buchholz will be back next week, and Josh Beckett shortly thereafter, but the real need on this team right now is offense.
I know, I know... we lead the majors in runs scored! That's true, but after averaging 5.5 runs oper game through June, the Sox have scored just 3.7 RPG in July (when you remove the 14-run game in TOR). And even if you don;t remove it, it's 4.8 RPG through 10 games this month.
Getting Ellsbury and Pedroia back in early August should help. It will stretch the lineup with Ells and Scutaro at the top and bottom and get Pedey working the counts again along with Ortiz (4.44 P/PA, 2nd) and Youk (4.29, 9th)... but guess who else is on the Top10 list for seeing the most pitches?
Jason Werth (4.38, 5th)
Werth is a power hitting outfielder making almost $8M this season with the Phillies. He'll be a free agent in the offseason, but the Sox could use him in the outfield and in the lineup right now. At first glance, his 85 strikeouts in 85 games has me thinking he didn't fit in Boston, but his 41 walks and P/PA numbers fall right in line with Big Papi... and look real nice next to his 13 HRs and 49 RBI.
If Victor Martinez can bounce back from his broken thumb, he could make this argument irrelevant. But we're already hearing that the whole "tape it up and shove it in the glove" theory isn't going to fly and with a pretty serious lefty/righty split (.431/1.266 vs LHP, .230/.642 vs RHP), I don't see V-Mart contributing big numbers down the stretch...
Even if the Red Sox manage to split the 16 games that close out this month, I fear that they will still be 5+ games out of a playoff spot come August. If they're 6-8 games behind the Yanks and 5 games out of the WC, Epstein will have no reason to pay the CBT tax to add a player to a floundering team (see 2006).
But if he wanted to go for broke this year, and support the guys that battled through a plague of injuries in the first half, Werth would be the guy to shoot for. Yes his salary is going to put the Sox over the limit, but for a measly $2-4 million in fees, Theo could have a rotation built for the playoffs and a lineup that would probably lead the league in runs scored - despite some key injuries. I really don't wanna hear the Red Sox tell me they can't afford and extra 3M bucks... do you?
Bottom Line: Theo may not have the prospects to make a trade for Werth, but if the Sox can keep pace through the rest of the month, shouldn't he at least make the call?
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
