Boston Red Sox: Time for team to sell and restock
The Boston Red Sox should fold their tent, write off this miserable season and sell, sell, sell before the trade deadline on August 31.
It’s difficult to find any silver lining in this version of the Boston Red Sox so it’s time to sell before the trade deadline.
The Red Sox record is 10-20. They are 9.5 games out of first place and not exactly burning up the league.
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The Sox are going nowhere in a hurry. They have almost no pitching and their hitting isn’t much better.
There is no reason to retain marginal players who don’t figure in their future plans. It’s time to sell these players to contending teams and restock with young players, now.
Chaim Bloom has inherited a sinking ship and he has a monster job to do to right it. It ain’t gonna be easy.
Besides selling off their best player and a top pitcher prior to the season, injury and illness have also contributed to making this one of the poorest examples of a big-market team in recent memory.
At least in Boston. He has a lot of work to do.
Sox fans expect better. It’s time to set the stage for future success. It’s not coming with this team as currently constituted. No way. It’s time to sell and here are some names who should be sent out.
Only a few starters should be off the table this season. Mitch Moreland is one. He’s a cost-effective player having a nice season-to-date. Just keep him.
Of those who should be sent packing, Jackie Bradley Jr. should be one of the first. He’s a great defensive player but an inconsistent offensive one. He may get a decent prospect or two in return.
Andrew Benintendi is hitting .103. He’s never really panned out as a 7th pick in the draft should have. If there are serious takers, it’s time for Benny to go. They may get a very good prospect in return. Or not. It will not hurt the club and it might help the player. A win-win situation.
J.D. Martinez is another starter at DH who just might fetch a decent haul of prospects in a deal. He’s a solid player having a lousy time hitting .219. A club looking to load up for a pennant run might just let go of a good young pitching prospect to get him on board.
Another player who is 29 and a good player who might be of interest is catcher Christian Vazquez. He’s a top defensive guy who has shown he can hit better than anticipated. He may also fetch a good double-A or top single-A pitcher in return.
Any of the non-starters like Michael Chavis and anyone else should be fair game for trade if a decent prospect is available. There’s some risk in trading a player like Chavis but not enough to worry about it.
Get young prospects and move forward. As far as the pitchers are concerned, anyone should be on the table. While it’s not a fire sale per se, this team’s pitching is a disaster. It needs a complete makeover. The more resources, i.e. salary that can be cleared the better for Bloom in the future.
Other than Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers, no one on the Sox should be safe from being moved before August 31.
And if the right deal for one of those two players arises, it should be considered also. Bobby Dalbec is around as a possible third baseman and Jeter Downs is a top shortstop possibility. Don’t rule anything out. Nothing should be off the table.
Time and circumstance have determined that this edition of the Boston Red Sox is not happening. It’s a disaster. The young players from the system who are close to the majors should be given a chance after these trades hopefully take place.
Let’s see what Jarren Duran and other top prospects can do. There’s nothing to lose at this point and everything to gain.
Mr. Bloom was brought in to build a great team that is relatively (this is a BIG-market team after all) cost-effective. He began the restructuring by shipping out Mookie Betts and David Price.
Now, he should go all-out and complete the rebuild. From top to bottom, it’s time to move on from this edition of the Boston Red Sox. Let’s see if he will do what’s necessary to begin the reconstruction of this team.
Things being what they are, a bad record with the promise of a top draft pick or two isn’t that bad of a prospect. It just might bring in a truly great player. Maybe.