Red Sox: Could Drew Pomeranz be on the move again?

If Dave Dombrowski has another big move up his sleeve, it could mean that Drew Pomeranz’s time with the Boston Red Sox won’t last long.

Dealin’ Dave may not be done after all.

It seemed that the Boston Red Sox were out of the starting pitcher trade market after acquiring All-Star lefty Drew Pomeranz earlier this month to solidify their rotation, but president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski may not be content with the moves he has already made. He may still have his eye on another opportunity to make a deal. Something big.

ESPN’s Jayson Stark revealed that teams that have had discussions with the Red Sox are indicating that Boston is still looking to make a splash before the Aug. 1 deadline, with the emphasis on a front-line starting pitcher.

Chris Sale is one name mentioned in Stark’s tweet. No surprise there, as Sale has been linked to essentially every trade rumor involving a team seeking starting pitching, especially in the wake of his recent suspension. Whether or not Sale’s feud with throwback uniforms has made the Chicago White Sox more motivated to move him remains to be seen, but it certainly fuels the fires of the rumor mill.

There is no doubt that Sale – or Jose Fernandez, or any other potentially available elite starter – would be a welcome addition to Boston’s rotation, but would it be worth the cost to upgrade what is no longer a significant need?

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The Red Sox rotation appears to be in pretty good shape as it is. While David Price‘s first season in Boston hasn’t exactly gone according to plan, he’s certainly not going anywhere. Steven Wright is having a magnificent breakout season and shows no signs of slowing down. Rick Porcello leads the team in wins while producing a modest 3.57 ERA, which surprisingly puts him in position to live up to the contract that fans bemoaned before the ink was dry. That’s a pretty solid top three. Not the best rotation in the league, but with a powerhouse offense to support them, it doesn’t need to be.

This season has been disastrous for Eduardo Rodriguez, but he’s healthy now and appears to have figured out the mechanical flaws that plagued him prior to his demotion to Pawtucket. In two starts since his return he has allowed a total of only three earned runs over 12 1/3 innings, striking out nine while only walking three. If this is a sign that he’s finally back on track, he deserves a spot in the rotation. He has too much upside to give up on. Besides, you don’t need a fifth starter once you get to the postseason, so giving up a king’s ransom for another elite starter to replace Rodriguez in the rotation makes little sense.

Then there is Pomeranz, who fell flat in his Red Sox debut last week when he coughed up five runs without recording an out in the fourth inning before getting the hook. Not exactly the introduction to Red Sox Nation he was hoping for, but the team would be foolish to banish him from the rotation after one poor outing. They gave up Anderson Espinoza to get him, so they aren’t about to send him to Pawtucket or the bullpen.

But they could trade him.

It would certainly catch the league by surprise to see the Red Sox flip Pomeranz to another team weeks after acquiring him, but there would be a method to this madness. The Red Sox already gave up their top pitching prospect to get him and don’t seem eager to part with Yoan Moncada or Andrew Benintendi. If the Red Sox were to put together a package that doesn’t include either of their top position player prospects then Pomeranz would seem to be their best trade chip.

Ignore what happened in his last start and look at the 2.47 ERA and 10.1 K/9 rate that he produced prior to that with the San Diego Padres. Don’t even tell me that those numbers are merely a product of Petco Park, as his numbers on the road have been even better. He’s an All-Star caliber pitcher, he’s cheap and he’s under team control until 2019.

Pomeranz may not be the proven ace that guys like Sale and Fernandez are viewed as, but he’s a lot more proven than any prospect. If the Red Sox have the chance to acquire one of those upper-echelon arms, using Pomeranz as the centerpiece of the deal could entice a team holding one of those desirable aces into a deal. Upgrading on Pomeranz, even if it means including a few lower-tier prospects, is far more logical than surrendering the top prospects in the farm system to bring in an elite arm that would bump one of the incumbent starters to the bullpen.

Next: The return of El Nino

Tonight will provide Pomeranz with the opportunity to redeem himself, as he takes the mound against the Detroit Tigers. It will only be his second start in a Red Sox uniform, but we can’t rule out the possibility that it will be his last – especially if he pitches well enough to make everyone forget about his last start.

Then again, if he pitches a gem tonight then perhaps Dombrowski won’t want to part with him either.