Red Sox: Evaluating best free agency and trade options
By Earl Nash
In the wake of the Stanton trade, Red Sox Nation is anxiously awaiting for the other shoe to drop–what are Dombroski’s best deals?
Waiting hopefully for the “other shoe to drop,” Red Sox Nation turns to Dave Dombroski and asks: “What’s the deal?”
So, let’s imagine the possible deals, from grand to small, that Dom The Don could pull off before the Winter meeting ends in dire disappointment.
Today, Dombrowski will be playing high stakes poker with uber-agent, Scott Boras, who represents J.D. Martinez and Eric Hosmer. If he is loaded with bucks, Dombroski could win the Daily Double and sign both players and solve his first base and righty-hitting DH problems and head to the pool to work on his tan.
But here we are talking real money.
For his best deal, Dombroski might work out a 10-year, $200 million contract for Hosmer and, if Boras is feeling generous, he might get Martinez with a 5-year, $100 million pact. The last time the Red Sox were throwing around that kind of money was for “superstars” like Carl Crawford [7-years, $142 million] and Pablo Sandoval [5 years, $95 million].
Another lesser, but significant, deal would be the “half-and-half” plate: one free agent and one trade. Here, Dombroski signs Martinez for say, 5 years at $100 million and trades for White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu.
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Chicago is in rebuild mode and would likely take four or five prospects, perhaps including Sox No. 3 ranked first baseman Sam Travis and say No. 5, 6, and 7 ranked prospects Tanner Houk, Alex Scherff, and Mike Shawaryn, all RHPs. He may have to include third baseman Bobby Dalbec (No.10), who has a great arm and looks like a kid who could start in the Majors as soon as 2019.
Although it scares fans who love promising “can’t miss” prospects, Dom The Don has a history of trading them for proven Major leaguers and he will not hesitate to clear the pantry for Abreu, who made $18.5 million in 2017 and is in his second year of arbitration eligibility.
The next smallest deal is to sign Martinez and trade Jackie Bradley to the Giants for first baseman Brandon Belt [7-year WAR avg. 2.84]. The Giants must have a speedster with a Gold glove to patrol the vast expanse of center field at home and Belt would be a notch above Moreland.
The smallest deal, which would leave Red Sox fans deflated and disappointed, would be to pass on both Boras clients and trade for Kyle Schwarber to fill the lefty DH role [Ortiz-lite] and make the trade for Belt.
But, don’t expect Theo Epstein to trade his favorite Cub to the Red Sox to make them a contender in the AL East.
Next: Red Sox will meet with J.D. Martinez
Since Dombroski has a penchant for trades over free agent signings, he is most likely to go “a la carte” and take a Boras client, Martinez, for righty DH role, and swap prospects for Abreu to fill the first base slot.
The only bad deal that Dombroski can make is no deal at all.