After the trade winds
I suppose this is the definition of good trade: I like the player the Red Sox acquired, but lament the departure of the players they dealt.
I’m glad for a number of reasons that Victor Martinez is now with the Red Sox, but I do wish Theo Epstein could have pulled it off without including Justin Masterson. I’d have much preferred Michael Bowden be part of the package, particularly since Masterson’s departure leaves a void in the bullpen.
But you’ve got to give to get, and the more I considered the idea of Martinez in Boston, taking away at-bats from the injured and the ineffective, the more I liked it. And his five-hit, four-RBI game yesterday certainly helped deliver the final verdict: Smooth move, Theo.
As you’ve probably gathered, I’m playing catch-up as usual around here. So here are a few conclusions we can draw from recent Red Sox events:
Management believes in Clay Buchholz: Or, at least they did until his Wes Gardner Tribute Concert on the mound yesterday at Baltimore. Now Theo is probably wondering why he didn’t offer him to the Yankees for Chien-Ming Wang when he had the chance.
OK, I kid. The truth is that yesterday’s forgettable performance, during which Buchholz allowed nine hits and seven earned runs in four innings while nearly punting away a 7-0 lead, is unlikely to affect their perception or long-term hopes for him, even though his ERA ballooned to 6.05 and Mark Buehrle could throw four perfect innings in the time the deliberate (skittish?) Buchholz takes between pitches.
As aggravating as it was to watch, he reasonable take — at least for now — was that it was just an isolated meltdown.
After all, it was encouraging and telling that the Sox chose to part with three young pitchers, including the versatile Masterson and big lefty Nick Hagadone, rather than sending Buchholz to Cleveland straight-up for Martinez. If that isn’t a vote of confidence — something Buchholz himself has admitted he has required from time to time in the past — then I don’t know what is.
The flip side is that the Red Sox, with 42-year-old John Smoltz looking like Catfish Hunter circa 1979 and 43-year-old Tim Wakefield suffering from one of those injuries that tends to affect a 43-year-old, the Red Sox are now counting on him to pitch up to the level of his ability.
The Red Sox showed their faith in him by not sending him elsewhere last Friday. There is no better time than now for Buchholz to justify it.
The Red Sox farm system is deeper than the Atlantic: I think the only person more disappointed than me to see Masterson go was Joe Castiglione, who seems intent on telling us what a swell kid Masterson is every few innings for the remainder of the season.
He is by all accounts a wonderful guy, but it also bears noting that the 23-year-old is a pretty darn promising pitcher as well. Despite problems against lefthanded hitters that, in a worse-case scenario, could relegate him to lifetime of righthanded relief-specialist work, I still think Masterson has a better career than Buchholz. It shouldn’t be overlooked that he was excellent in the postseason last year, while Buchholz still hasn’t shown he can handle pressure.
But I know my place. The important thing is that the Red Sox preferred Buchholz to Masterson, and they have a pretty fair track record of identifying which prospects to keep and which ones to deal.
And we can’t forget the big picture:
In the end, the Red Sox ended up getting a three-time All-Star switch-hitting catcher without giving up Buchholz, Daniel Bard, Casey Kelly, Lars Anderson, Josh Reddick, Ryan Westmoreland, Junichi Tazawa, or any of their other elite Baseball America darlings.
It’s precisely the kind of trade only an organization of the Red Sox’ riches and resources can make. The trade deadline isn’t nearly as fun for others as it is for us.
Reddick can play a little: There aren’t many things more enjoyable about baseball than watching a wide-eyed prospect come up and make an immediate difference.
Even better is when it’s a prospect you didn’t expect to see for another year or two.
And even better is when he’s oblivious to the shaving-cream-pie-in-the-face tradition of hazing a rookie during an interview.
Yes, it’s been an eventful first few days in the bigs for the likable 22-year-old outfielder, who just a few days ago was patrolling the outfield for the Sea Dogs while wearing a ridiculous mustache straight out of a 1975 Dennis Eckersley Starter Kit (made by Ronco).
But after two starts in the big leagues while filling in for the injured Jason Bay and the perpetually creaking J.D. Drew, the player rated as the second-best prospect in the organization by the smart folks at soxprospects.com is batting .364 with a pair of doubles and a home run, and virtually every one of his at-bats his been impressive.
You get the sense that the Red Sox called him up knowing this could be more than a cameo.
I’ve been trying to think of a player he reminds me of, and so far without much luck. The stance is similar to Grady Sizemore’s, and the swing is reminiscent of Mike Greenwell’s, but there has to be a more obvious comparison.
Help me out here, people. TATB has a new binky.
The Daniel Bard story is not getting enough play: In 2007, his first season in pro ball after the Sox plucked him in the first round out of North Carolina the previous June, Bard was a disaster of epic proportions.
In 75.1 innings between Single A clubs Lancaster and Greenville, he allowed 76 hits and 59 earned runs while walking 78 — yes, seventy-eight — and striking out 48.
That was barely two years ago.
In that brief span since, he’s gone from a potential victim of Steve Blass disease to a trusted rookie flamethrower who seems poised to be the Mariano Rivera to Jonathan Papelbon’s John Wetteland during the postseason.
(Think Papelbon ever peeks up at the radar gun readings during Bard’s appearances, sees “101,” and thinks, “Damn, the Sox aren’t going to pay me, are they?”)
It’s been a remarkable turnaround, and both player and team deserve credit, Bard for his resilience and the Red Sox pitching coaches for having the wisdom to properly tweak his mechanics and arm slot properly while converting him to a reliever after the ’07 season).
He has a 2.01 ERA, a Pedroesque 0.96 WHIP, a .182 batting average against, 39 strikeouts in 31.1 innings. Yep, sure am glad the Yankees didn’t sign him in 2003.
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