Red Sox: Trading for a starter may not be realistic

So there you have it. At this point in the season there are a limited number of teams that might entertain the idea of selling, but none of those teams have a starter to offer that the Red Sox would have more than lukewarm interest in as the No. 2 starter they would like.

If the Red Sox were to pull the trigger on a deal now then it would likely be for a back of the rotation starter, but that’s only useful if they can ensure that the pitcher they acquire is a significant upgrade from the options they already have. Otherwise it’s more of a lateral move, so why give up any assets for that?

Dombrowski acknowledged that injuries have played a part in the lack of depth and the anticipation of some of those players returning is one reason why he is hesitant to rush into make a trade.

That means we’re likely to see Buchholz, with his 5.90 ERA (6.31 ERA as a starter), take the mound again later this week.

"“I anticipate he’ll start for us again,” said Dombrowski after Buchholz took the loss in Sunday afternoon’s game. “I anticipate, but your’e asking me questions and we haven’t even had a chance to get showered, basically, so we still have time to sit down and visit and have all those types of discussions. But I anticipate he will.”"

This isn’t about Dombrowski being delusional enough to expect Buchholz to suddenly return to his 2013 form. He’s merely looking for someone to hold down the fort until a better option becomes available.

Everyone wants to see the blockbuster trade, but we can’t realistically expect that to happen. Perhaps in a few weeks when we are closer to the deadline we’ll find a few more teams dropping out of the playoff hunt, potentially adding more sellers to a weak market. It’s too early for that now, so with so many more buyers than sellers, it’s going to take a premium price to acquire talent that falls short of being considered elite.

Next: Get ready to lose prospects

Dombrowski is well ware that this pitching staff needs to be improved, but he’s not going to rush into a bad deal for the sake of doing something. He’s waiting patiently to see if the right type of pitcher actually becomes available, that’s when he’ll strike.

In the meantime, we need to try to get by with what we’ve got – even if what we’ve got isn’t very good.