On June 5th, the Boston Red Sox, after struggling for most of the season and nearly dropping to the Orioles in the standings, made it to .500 after a win against Oakland. With Trevor Story finally hitting, Eovaldi hot, and the core delivering promising stuff, it was the sign of an all-but-predictable uprising for the team, one that would lead them to 2nd place in the AL East.
On July 24th, after a third-straight loss against the Toronto Blue Jays, the Red Sox found themselves at .500 again. 48-48, circling fourth...as their main competitors for the spot, the Baltimore Orioles, were themselves getting exceptionally hot. As I write this, the O's have lapped the Red Sox, the Boston squad is at 50-50, and all hope seems lost.
So, naturally, with the team sinking around July and the AL East picture revising around them, the Red Sox are seriously consider dealing people. They've already notified Xander Bogaerts that he's staying in Boston for the time being, and while I wouldn't put it past the team to renege on this, I don't see them dealing Bogaerts this week. At the same time, there are people on this team, namely J.D. Martinez, Christian Vazquez, Nate Eovaldi and currently-injured Michael Wacha, whose contracts are up after this season and could feasibly be dealt.
Martinez is probably the biggest one of these. Yes, he's been wonderful ever since arriving in Boston, he's solidified his career and made some all-star teams, but this is a team that, I'm guessing, is going to need the DH position freed up down the line, and having the flexibility to start Bobby Dalbec, Franchy Cordero or Rob Refsndyer at DH for the rest of the run could be helpful. Martinez could be of use in places like LA, Tampa or Seattle, who don't have the DH position firmed up and could always use another surefire bat. And I'm sure that, with a .293 average and 9 homers, he's got enough in the tank to help someone compete.
The thing about how well-built this Red Sox team is, as well as how far ahead Chaim Bloom is thinking, is that even if the Red Sox lose some pieces this month, it won't be like the mass exoduses from Washington and Chicago that have happened recently. I don't think the Sox will sell the whole farm. They're losing games now, they don't plan to lose them for the next 2 years, they have people like Jarren Duran, Jeter Downs and Kutter Crawford who are nice future pieces. If people leave, I'm sure there'll be people around to take over and terrorize the AL East for the next few years.
Coming Tonight: One of the many strong arms trying to get Philadelphia into the postseason for the first time in 11 years.
No comments:
Post a Comment