Aaron Cook, Felix Doubront, Andrew Miller Placed On Waivers

The stream of Red Sox players placed on waivers continued last night as Aaron Cook, Felix Doubront, and Andrew Miller were added to a list already containing Mike Aviles, Carl Crawford, and Nick Punto. I expect that the Red Sox are just gauging interest in Felix Doubront and Andrew Miller– as they’ve been integral parts of any success the Red Sox have had this year. However, their placing Cook on waivers could legitimately be a trade strategy as the 33 year old shouldn’t be in their future plans.

Even though Cook hasn’t quite performed up to expectations, his numbers could certainly look attractive to a few teams. It’s true he’s only 3-6 with a 4.58 ERA and worse peripherals (5.26 FIP and 4.62 xFIP), but his ground ball rate of 62.5% could make anyone think twice. His main problem this year has been the home run ball– as he’s allowed 1.26 HR/9 as opposed to 0.78 in his career. However, some contender with a pitcher’s park certainly could make a low-risk high-reward acquisition like Cook and see how things pan out.

Some teams that could potentially be interested in Cook are the Tigers, A’s, and Pirates. Of the above teams, the Tigers’ pitching in 2012 (15th overall with a 4.00 ERA) is worst and thus, they could be most interested. He’s a solid pitcher that could help most teams though so if the Red Sox are truly interested in trading him (and they should be) then he’ll be moved in the next couple of weeks before the August 31 Waiver Trade Deadline.