Buy or Sell: Red Sox not looking to upgrade SPs
Rumor: The Red Sox aren’t shopping for a starting pitcher, even though the Padres have plenty to offer and continue to extensively scout Boston’s system. To quote Sean McAdam:
One industry source indicated that the Sox aren’t looking to upgrade their rotation, despite some questions about the Boston starters beyond ace David Price.
Background: In his first offseason in charge of the Red Sox, Dave Dombrowski splurged to bring in David Price, handing over a seven-year deal worth more than $210 million. Dombrowski left the rest of the rotation largely untouched, save for a trade that sent Wade Miley to the Mariners in exchange for Carson Smith and Roenis Elias. At the moment, the Red Sox are projected to fill out their rotation with Joe Kelly and Steven Wright — neither of whom has proven to be a reliable big-league starter (though Kelly has good stuff and the knuckleballing Wright has enjoyed success during his cameos). The Red Sox do have a couple of young pitchers who could claim rotation slots throughout the year, including southpaws Eduardo Rodriguez (currently dealing with a knee issue) and Henry Owens.
On the Padres’ end, A.J. Preller is tough to pin down. His offseason aggressiveness turned into midseason passiveness, as he elected against trading impending free agents like Justin Upton and Ian Kennedy for a prospect haul, opting instead to recoup compensatory draft picks. The Padres have reportedly been shopping James Shields, Tyson Ross, and Andrew Cashner for a while, with Shields — owed some $21 million in each of the next three seasons — being the piece they’d most like to move.
Buy or sell: Soft sell on the Red Sox. Dombrowski must know he has a rocky rotation beyond Price. Rick Porcello and Clay Buchholz are more reliable than Kelly and Wright, yet each has their warts — Porcello is more of a league-average type than anything, and Buchholz has started 20 games or fewer in three of the past five seasons. Dombrowski could be determined to find out what he has in Rodriguez, Owens, and Brian Johnson, and that’s fine. It’s still hard to imagine a proven opportunist like Dombrowski foregoing shopping around.
Hard buy on the Padres. While no one can be certain what Preller will or won’t do, it’s totally conceivable that the same general manager who landed Craig Kimbrel on Opening Day eve last year would be focused on making another big trade before the 2016 season gets underway — particularly with a team who boasts a strong farm system, as the Red Sox do. The question might not be whether Preller trades one of his starters soon, but when and with whom.
Could James Shields change teams before Opening Day? (USATSI)
