Did the Red Sox make a mistake trading Travis Shaw?

Debate the answer with Chad Finn and Boston sports fans at The Sports Q.

Travis Shaw #21 of the Milwaukee Brewers swings at a pitch during the first inning of a game against the Boston Red Sox at Miller Park on May 9, 2017 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Stacy Revere/Getty Images

By Chad Finn

May 10, 2017

2 minutes to read

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Did the Red Sox make a mistake by trading Travis Shaw? He’s tearing it up for the Brewers and always hit for power here even though he was streaky. They don’t have anyone better at third base right now, either. Starting to think they’re going to regret getting rid of him. – Steve E.

Nick Cafardo wrote quite a bit about this for the Globe this morning. Here’s the key paragraph and information as far as I’m concerned from his piece:

Shaw’s production fell off the cliff in the second half, when he hit .194. He also was horrible against lefthanded pitchers last season, hitting .187 with a .599 OPS, stats that have been flipped to a .323 average and .977 OPS this season.

Yeah, something tells me that .323/.977 isn’t sustainable. And he was truly awful in the second half last year.

The Red Sox could use Shaw now only because he’s got a little home run pop (7 homers, 25 RBIs this year so far) and – let’s see, there was another reason – oh, right, their third base production has been abysmal. Sure, they could use him. They could also use John Valentin, Carney Lansford, even Wade Boggs and his glorious new hair. They could use anyone adequate, really. The position is a mess.

But let’s not lament him as one who got away, a ghost fully capable of haunting. Shaw is a 27-year-old lefthanded-hitting corner infielder with power, limited on-base skills, someone will be good for a .260-ish batting average. There are a dozen players just like him in Triple A right now who are just as good but haven’t received or seized a chance. I’m not sure he’ll ever be better than Brian Daubach was.

Red Sox fans shouldn’t lament trading Shaw. They should be mad that Dave Dombrowski hasn’t found anyone better.

What do you guys say? Did the Red Sox make a mistake trading Shaw. Or are you with me? I’ll see you in the comments.