With less than two weeks until Opening Day, rumors are beginning to erupt with the Red Sox possibly pursuing another arm for the rotation.
Easter is around the corner and the Red Sox may have found the ‘Golden Egg’. That’s if they were to acquire RHP James Shields from the San Diego Padres via trade.
MLB Network Insider, Jon Heyman tweeted this yesterday about the Padres and the on going talks with other teams.
"“A few teams have talked to padres about James shields. O’s are one. Red sox have talked to SD about SP; shields logical.”"
Also, Heyman mentioned that the Padres were willing to eat up some of Shields’ contract if the deal was good enough.
"“Padres are willing to pay some of shields’ backloaded deal (21M per now), how much depends on return. Nothing thought close.”"
In my opinion, I’m thinking why not? Ever since the Red Sox signed David Price to a mega deal worth $217 million, fans, like myself, still think that the rotation has question marks in the 2-5 spots. Other than Joe Kelly and Price having strong a Spring, everyone else is either trying to get back in the swing of things or sidelined due to injury when the season gets underway.
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With Eduardo Rodriguez still healing from his knee injury and not being ready for Opening Day, you’re going to need someone to fill in for him in the rotation. Personally, I don’t want Steven Wright, Henry Owens, or Roenis Elias to be our only candidates for the job. Clay Buchholz and Rick Porcello aren’t having the best Spring as well, so you would think that the Red Sox should consider going after an experienced veteran like Shields.
Shields is coming off a season where the word ‘inconsistent’ defined his 2015 campaign. In April of last season, Shields went 2-0 with an ERA just under 3. Then next month, his ERA skyrocketed well over 4, but with great run support he was able to go 7-0 after his first start in June. At the end of his first full season with the Padres, he went 13-7 with a 3.91 ERA.
Even though Shields didn’t have his best season last year, I strongly believe that he would be a great fit for Boston simply because he has a lot experience pitching against the A.L. East. With his years pitching for the Tampa Bay Rays and Kansas City Royals, he has a lot of experience facing the teams he would pitch against if he were to go to Boston.
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If Shields were to go to Beantown, he and Price would reunite. The two pitchers played with each other in Tampa Bay from 2008-2012. So with Shields already knowing someone he would be working with, it would only make him adapt to Boston ten times easier. One thing that Price and Shields have in common is that they are both inning eaters. Shields has punched in over 200 innings every year other than his rookie season. With Buchholz, Wright, Kelly and Elias having never pitched over 200 innings in a season (Porcello did it once in 2014), I believe that Shields, along with Price, would save the bullpen by going late into games every time he gets the ball.
The big question to this situation is: who will the Sox trade away for Big Game James? Well, the first person I think of is obviously Pablo Sandoval. The Padres were the other team fighting against the Sox for Sandoval last offseason so they may still have some interest in him despite his poor 2015 season. Knowing the Sox gave Sandoval a contract bigger than his gut, they may have to eat some of the contract if he were to go to San Diego. The Red Sox would probably have to give up a high prospect or two knowing that the Padres are already rebuilding for the future.
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Adding James Shields to the rotation would definitely be a great acquisition for the Red Sox. His experience in the A.L. East, a guaranteed 200+ innings pitched every season, and having a lot of playoff experience are all great reasons why the Sox should make a serious offer with the Padres. The Sox are in a “win now” mentality and if they were to acquire Shields, it would only convince not just me, but all of Red Sox Nation that they will serious contenders in 2016.