Red Sox Trade Rumor For Ervin Santana In Inception Stage
The Boston Red Sox are a part of many trade rumors floating around, since they made some trades last week. Minnesota Twins’ Ervin Santana is one of them.
Remember the movie Inception, with Leonardo DiCaprio and pretty much the rest of director Christopher Nolan’s stable of Hollywood actors? The movie discusses the premise that if one goes deep enough in another person’s mind and plants an idea there, then that person will think the idea was their own and make it happen in the real world. Regardless of the risks or ramifications of said idea.
Right now, a trade rumor is that idea. The trade is for the Twins’ veteran starting pitcher, Santana.
Mike Berardino of St. Paul Pioneer Press reported, “The Red Sox were among the teams that scouted Santana, who still has two seasons at $13.5 million a year left on his four-year contract. Coming off a two-hit, complete-game shutout in his final start of the first half, the veteran right-hander would be exactly the sort of piece contenders would seek this winter, when the free-agent class for starting pitching figures to be unusually thin.”
The words seem interesting, at first. Everyone knows, or believes, that the Red Sox are willing to spend big money for a pitcher, regardless of the contract, right? And, Santana just came off of a shutout. Impressive! Then, what’s the holdup? The Red Sox brass should want to pick this pitcher up in the offseason, as it’s rumored to be ‘unusually thin’ this winter.
Then, something wakes us from that dream. That ‘something’ is reality.
Santana is sitting on a 3-8 record with a 4.12 ERA in 17 starts. That’s not all his fault, as the Twins are the worst team in the American League, with a record of 33-59. In 98.1 innings, he has 28 walks and 73 strikeouts for an opposing batting average of .266. Not terrible, considering a terrible team is around him. However, the numbers don’t necessarily leap off the page as someone the Red Sox want. They’ve already tried throwing money at a problem before, giving them many headaches that includes Pablo Sandoval, a very large third baseman whose weight and poor play was passed over for a rookie to start the season.
Another big factor in this deal not happening any time soon is the fact that the team just fired their general manager Terry Ryan. The Associated Press wrote that “Twins owner Jim Pohlad’s reverence for Terry Ryan has been evident for almost two decades, steadfastly supporting his general manager with a commitment uncommon in today’s game. As the struggles on the field piled up over the last five years, even that enduring respect wasn’t enough to keep Ryan with the Twins.”
Pohlad, himself, said, “I never try to shy away from hard decisions. I own this decision. We like to bring people from within up the organization. If we have to go outside we go outside. There’s new ways of thinking. They’re not tied into old organizational ways of thinking.”
In other words, Pohlad has no confirmed replacement for Ryan as of yet, and he is still trying to gather ideas. Without a definite plan in mind, there is no timetable for any GM operations to resume, which includes anything to do with a possible trade.
More from Red Sox News
- Conflicting report about Mookie Betts trade paints Chaim Bloom in even worse light
- Boston Red Sox setting Trevor Story up for failure amidst Xander Bogaert departure
- Red Sox missed perfect free-agent signing to torment Yankees
- Red Sox finally get validation after Andrew Benintendi-White Sox contract
- Red Sox fans’ concern about Justin Turner signing speaks volumes
Even Berardino admitted that the deal wouldn’t be close to happening, and that was before Ryan’s ejection: “The Twins and Red Sox have talked trade in recent weeks, but so far the teams ‘aren’t a great match at this point,’ said a person that had been briefed on those talks.” A National League scout told Berardino, “Santana isn’t that far overpriced if he were a free agent, but I don’t see any club moving a legit prospect for him plus paying him market value,” implying that the Twins would have to eat some of Santana’s contract to make the deal happen.
Eat some money? The Twins are 21 games out of A.L. Central division, losing three out of the last four games since the second half of the season started. Right now, the Twins’ brass is just looking to keep fans coming to the ballpark. Trading a veteran pitcher like Santana would look like the club’s waving the white flag, giving up on the season, so why would the fans keep buying tickets and showing up?
The first of those losses went to Santana on Friday, against the Cleveland Indians. Santana went 5.1 innings, surrendering three earned runs on six hits, including three singles in a row in the top of the sixth inning. If he wasn’t pulled, it looked like it was going to be a run party for the Indians, with Santana as the host of the proceedings.
Forget the fact that Santana has a fastball just under 93 mph. All one needs to say are two words: Clay Buchholz. The Red Sox already have a veteran pitcher throwing a fastball about the same speed as Santana, who has one more type of pitch in his arsenal than Santana, who has the same amount of wins as Santana, and who has a similar opposing batting average (.269) as Santana. The Red Sox are already paying Buchholz $13 million for him to sit on the bench, with no definite role to play as a starter or as a member of the bullpen. Why would Boston want to trade prospects away to pay another veteran pitcher $13.5 million this season, and possibly for the following two seasons, to do the same thing they didn’t want from Buchholz?
At least Buchholz helped bring them a championship in 2013; Boston has no loyalty to Santana.
There is a reason why a trade would make it five teams that Santana has played for since 2012: he’s not bad, but he’s not great. Does Dave Dombrowski, the Red Sox president of baseball operations, need a pitcher who is ‘not bad’ right now? He’s already got Buchholz, Joe Kelly, and a host of other pitchers under his thumb already whom he could call ‘not bad’ or worse.
Next: Has Jamaal Charles Lost a Step?
Nothing in Santana’s career suggests that Santana is a diamond in the rough, waiting for his opportunity with a big club to dominate MLB sluggers on a consistent basis. Does that make him a fourth or fifth starter? Maybe, but his contract sure doesn’t. And, it’s not like the Twins will want to just give him away, without acquiring solid prospects or proven veteran players in the deal.
If anything, the Red Sox should forget about Santana until the offseason and see where their team stands at that point. Or better yet, maybe the Red Sox should forget this whole thing ever was even suggested.