Moving salary to sign Roy Oswalt may be impossible for Red Sox
The Red Sox have reportedly been in “steady dialogue” with free-agent pitcher Roy Oswalt, according to Rob Bradford of WEEI. The news that the two sides are talking is reassuring to Red Sox fans, but wait the news isn’t all good.
Again the threat of an exceeding payroll is affecting the Red Sox ability to improve their ball club. As we’ve heard all off season, the Sox are concerned about the tax threshold and want to remain as close to the $178 million limit as possible for the 2012 season. In order to sign Oswalt, committed salary would have to be unloaded reports Bradford, making the reality of Boston signing the former Astros’ ace less likely.
Cherington has waited all off season for the price of Oswalt and others to drop before getting serious about signing them. Hiroki Kuroda‘s price dropped and the Yankees jumped at the opportunity. Oswalt’s has reportedly dropped to the $8 million dollar range for one-year and still Cherington is gun shy.
Where in the world could the Red Sox unload some rich contracts that wouldn’t be detrimental to their club? Consider Adrian Gonzalez, Dustin Pedroia, Carl Crawford and David Ortiz basically untouchable for various reasons.
Jacoby Ellsbury will likely sign a one-year deal and if the possibility of trading the all-star center fielder becomes reality, now is not the time for that. Mid-summer would make more sense if he can continue to put up stellar numbers and drive is value even higher. Unless of course a Felix Hernandez was available but Seattle balked at moving him to either Boston or New York.
It doesn’t make any sense to look at unloading a Jon Lester or Josh Beckett, after all this whole scenario was created in an attempt to improve the pitching staff.
The right field options are thin as it is so shipping any of them away wouldn’t make much sense. The same goes with the catchers, Saltalamacchia, Shoppach and Lavarnway.
So we’re down to a few names that are reasonable possibilities, but let’s call them long shots.
First and the most obvious is third baseman, Kevin Youkilis. He’s set to make $12 million this season and has a club option for $13 million for the 2013 season. Clearing his salary would more than allow for the Oswalt signing, but is it worth it when you think of what you’re giving up? Raw power and an on-base percentage a lot of teams would love to have. Known as the “Greek God of Walks” Youkilis has the uncanny ability to get on base and also drive in runs, making him a great hitter in the clean-up spot.
But his body is breaking down as evidenced by the increasing number of games he’s missed over the past few years. And some have said his attitude is disruptive in the clubhouse, something we’ll never be able to confirm, so we’ll either choose to believe it or deny it.
Now would be the time to deal the three-time all-star, moving him when his value is still relatively high. But to whom and for what? The Mets? They have their own made of glass third baseman in David Wright so forget it.
What about Oakland? Billy Beane loves Youkilis, but he doesn’t exactly fit their plans of rebuilding. Besides, that window was closed when Youk wasn’t part of the Bailey deal.
The Colorado Rockies were said to be interested early on this off season, but they’ve made an abundance of moves and appear to be done tinkering with their club.
Which brings us to the next possible trade candidate; Marco Scutaro. It was once reported that Scutaro may be of interest to the Rockies, but again the Rox could be done wheeling and dealing for anything significant.
By dealing away Scutaro the Sox wouldn’t want a major name in return. Low salary would be a must, which would then put pressure on Mike Aviles and Jose Iglesias to step up and fill in the shortstop position. Neither of them are ready and Aviles is a third rate player to begin with. While Iglesias would be a great defensive replacement, his offensive inabilities would become a liability. Count Scutaro out.
This is one more reminder of what Theo Epstein left behind. Think of the players that the Red Sox have to pay big bucks to this year that won’t contribute to the team’s success on the field. John Lackey will make $15 million for doing nothing. Daisuke Matsuzaka will make $10 million and will maybe pitch for two months at best. Bobby Jenks is set to earn $6 million and if we’re lucky he’ll be ready for Spring Training, but even that doesn’t mean he’ll be able to contribute. If we see a repeat of last year then it’ll be a wasted $6 million.
Those three players alone account for $31 million for the upcoming year. That could have been Oswalt and C.J. Wilson had the Sox not have the baggage of the above three.
In the end, Oswalt appears to be out of reach, even at a steal of $8 million for one-year. Forget Edwin Jackson, he’s out of this world when it comes to affordability for Boston. Here’s to hoping Carlos Silva and Aaron Cook can regain their form and stay healthy, cause the Red Sox are going to need them to eat some innings. With an offensive juggernaut behind them, maybe we’ll be ok.
Thoughts?
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