With questions about why the Boston Red Sox have not found someone in free agency to replace David Ortiz, a trade rumor for Miguel Cabrera has surfaced.
A hot stove sometimes can overheat and spill boiling water over the side of a pot, creating collateral damage to other things cooking. In this case, the MLB hot stove has big names boiling over to other teams that likely want nothing to do with them. The fact that Boston still have not signed a big free agent to replace legendary designated hitter David Ortiz has people in Red Sox Nation fuming over the holdup. So much so, other options are being discussed as to the cause, be it internal options or a possible trade.
Will Burchfield of CBS Detroit reported that “one rumor that has popped up in recent days, with the General Managers Meetings underway in Scottsdale, , is that Cabrera could be traded to the Boston Red Sox.”
However, Burchfield does not believe in that possibility. He points out that MLB insider Jon Morosi isn’t buying that rumor, either. If anything, Cabrera may be traded to the Houston Astros, not the Boston Red Sox:
Miguel Cabrera has full no-trade clause. Jose Altuve would be key part of sales pitch; they are friends from same hometown of Maracay. @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 9, 2016
Just because the Red Sox have the money to spend on a big masher, it doesn’t mean a trade makes much sense. Just because the Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski used to run the Detroit Tigers, Cabrera’s current team, it doesn’t mean that Dombrowski is the pied piper leading all former Tigers to Boston, a la David Price.
As Burchfield points out, “Cabrera is due an average of $31 million per year through his age-40 season (2023), with vesting options of $30 million per year through 2025. The free-agent is likely to break the $20 million-per-year barrier with his next contract, but he won’t rake in as much money as Cabrera.”
As of yesterday, the Red Sox have not had serious negotiations with Encarnacion’s agent Paul Kinzer regarding his client’s services, according to Rob Bradford of WEEI.com. So, the idea is that the Red Sox brass would actually explore a much more expensive option in Cabrera before they even sit down with the cheaper alternative?
Forget Houston and no-trade clauses for a second. To assume that the Red Sox are seriously contemplating a trade for Cabrera at this moment in time is ludicrous. Whether the rumor was spurred on by daydreaming fans or not, the Red Sox are not going to replace Ortiz’s bat by any means necessary.
The Red Sox would have to give a hefty treasure trove of prospects to the Tigers just to get Cabrera, let alone his long-term contract. If the Red Sox were double-clutching about signing Encarnacion to a five-year deal, what makes anyone think that a contract that has nine more years on it would look any more attractive?
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Red Sox Nation may want someone who can guarantee production like Big Papi Ortiz used to do for the club for so many years; however, Cabrera’s contract would begin to seem more like a nightmare than a dream, choking off any other possible big-name signings in the future. The Red Sox are already nervous about spending too much for too long as it is without making the length of time even worse. It may be time to turn the MLB hot stove on simmer, instead of boiling, for a little bit.