The Boston Red Sox have made a significant upgrade to their rotation by trading for All-Star pitcher Drew Pomeranz.
Dealin’ Dave is at it again.
As the Boston Red Sox approached the trade deadline, the front office identified three main areas of concern – the bench, the bullpen and most importantly, the starting rotation. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski moved swiftly to address the first two issues, making deals to add Aaron Hill and Michael Martinez to strengthen the bench. With the bullpen faltering under the weight of crushing injuries and under-performing relievers, the Red Sox went out and got former Arizona Diamondbacks closer Brad Ziegler.
As we prepare to begin the second half of the season, Dombrowski made the boldest trade of his tenure at the helm of the Red Sox, acquiring All-Star starting pitcher Drew Pomeranz from the San Diego Padres.
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The 27-year old Drew Pomeranz is 8-7 with a 2.47 ERA for the Padres this season. He owns a tantalizing 10.1 K/9 rate, but also a troubling 3.6 BB/9 rate. Playing in spacious Petco Park has helped him produce a career-low 0.7 HR/9 rate, but that will be harder to sustain pitching in Fenway Park, which means all those walks are more likely to come back to bite him.
If Pomeranz is able to carry his success to Boston, he’ll provide the Red Sox with a solid No. 3 option to fill in behind David Price and Steven Wright. More importantly, the depth he adds to the rotation means the Red Sox no longer need to continue with the revolving door in the No. 5 spot. As long as Eduardo Rodriguez can get back to last year’s form, he’ll take the final rotation spot behind Rick Porcello. That’s a solid starting five.
This means that barring injury, the Red Sox no longer have to rely on the likes of Clay Buchholz, Joe Kelly, Sean O’Sullivan or Roenis Elias to give them quality starts. It’s nice to have depth, but you don’t want to have to count on those guys down the stretch with the division on the line.
Throwing a bit of cold water on the excitement of this deal is the rumored price tag it will take to acquire Pomeranz. According to the Boston Herald’s Evan Drellich, the Red Sox will surrender top pitching prospect Anderson Espinoza. The 18-year old phenom has drawn comparisons to Pedro Martinez, so you can see why Red Sox fans will be reluctant to part with him.
Source: Espinoza is going to the Padres as at least part of the trade for Drew Pomeranz.
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) July 14, 2016
Espinoza is a steep price to pay, but he’s years away from making it to the big leagues and young pitching prospects are always risky. The Red Sox are looking to win now and Dombrowski didn’t shy away from making a bold move to make that happen.
Making the price a bit more palatable is that unlike some of the other potentially available starters on the trade market, Pomeranz isn’t a rental. He’s making a mere $1.35 million this season before entering his first year of arbitration eligibility next year. The Red Sox will have him under control until at least 2019, giving them a young, cost-controlled talent that should be a mainstay in their rotation for several years.
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The deal is still pending a physical, so nothing is official yet, but a swap of Espinoza from Pomeranz shows Dombrowski is willing to mortgage the future to try to win now. After two last place finishes, not to mention the desire to get David Ortiz back to the postseason in his final year, Red Sox fans can certainly appreciate the effort.