There are rumors that the Boston Red Sox will go after Phillies pitcher Jeremy Hellickson during the trade deadline. Quite honestly, it’s not worth it.
The rumors of the Boston Red Sox trading for Jeremy Hellickson to “improve their rotation” are downright sad.
We all know the story of the Red Sox rotation this season. Eduardo Rodriguez is learning how to not show the hitters what he will be throwing to them, Sean O’Sullivan just got placed on the DL, and Clay Buchholz should just pick another career because baseball is just not for him. Which means that there are two openings in the rotation. So if the Sox want to make a playoff push in the second half of the season, they shouldn’t mess this up, right?
Well, if they decide to trade for Hellickson, they might just mess up completely. If Hellickson is going to be the “big time trade” to bolster their rotation, that’s just embarrassing.
So far in 2016, Hellickson is having an average year, with a 6-6 record and ERA of 3.92. Not terrible, but if the Sox just so happened to get him, will you be convinced that he’s the answer to all of Boston’s problems? Don’t kid yourself.
Also, don’t let his ERA under 4.00 fool you. You’d think that he is having an alright year, but Hellickson is coming off a horrid month of June where he went 1-3 with an ERA of 5.40.
With Hellickson pitching for Tampa Bay from 2010-2014, I understand what Dave Dombrowski is thinking at the same time. Potentially getting a guy who has a lot of experience pitching to teams in the AL East. It’s just why would you go after a guy with ERA’s of 5.17 and 4.62 in his two final years with Tampa Bay?
With rumors of Boston going after Hellickson, it seems to me that the Sox aren’t willing to give a lot away for a big time pitcher. Which is sad to see, because what happened to the “win now” mentality?
Ever since DH David Ortiz announced he will retire after the 2016 season, Red Sox owner John Henry stated in an article that his team had to make the playoffs for Ortiz and what it would mean if they didn’t make the postseason.
"“Given his track record in the postseason, it would be a disaster.” Henry said. “That’s a strong word, I guess. But a big disaster. It would be terrible if he doesn’t end his career in the postseason.”"
Honestly, the Boston Red Sox are in a pickle. Do they want to risk letting go of some big name prospects for an ace-like pitcher. Or do they want to give away the smallest amount possible for a guy like Jeremy Hellickson who had an ERA in the 4’s and 5’s for three consecutive seasons before the 2016 season began.
Time will tell what the Red Sox do because we are less than a month away until the trade deadline and if the Sox want to play in October, their main priority is getting the starting rotation figured out.