Red Sox: Starting pitcher trade targets
By Sean Penney
The former top pitching prospect of the Atlanta Braves was in All-Star in 2014 before stumbling last season, which took some of the shine off his potential. Now he’s bouncing back, posting a 2.57 ERA that ranks just outside the top dozen in the NL.
Teheran has never been a big time strikeout pitcher, but the career-high 8.4 K/9 he has posted this season is solid. He doesn’t walk a lot of batters, giving him a 3.47 K/BB ratio that ties him with some guy named Jon Lester for 19th in the NL.
Teheran appears to be available, but Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports that Braves general manager John Coppolella will only trade him for a major league hitter of similar quality and age that can help improve their anemic offense that ranks last in the majors in runs scored.
"The days of us trading players like Teheran for prospects is over. We need to get better at the major league level. We would have to be overwhelmed to move Teheran,” said Coppolella."
Perhaps Atlanta would be enticed by Blake Swihart, who could replace struggling veteran A.J. Pierzynski behind the plate. Swihart’s bat still has tremendous upside, but the Red Sox seem to have moved on from the idea of having him be the catcher of the future – that job is secured by Christian Vazquez. If that makes Swihart more expendable then he becomes the ideal trade chip to acquire a pitcher like Teheran from a team that wants a bat that can contribute immediately.
Next: Rich Hill