The State of the Red Sox

I'm currently watching the Red Sox on TV out on the West Coast trying to rebound from "that which must not be named". So I thought I just jot down some thoughts about the state of the team.

I am amazed on how some so-called experts continue to miss the obvious. Tom Verducci is normally a very astute baseball observer but I feel he completely swung and missed with his article today. Verducci starts out strong by pointing out they gave up a historic number of runs this weekend but then he completely misses the boat. Tom - who do you think gave up those runs? Verducci names six problems with the Sox and only two concern the pitching (and one only tangentially). Plus Verducci only mentions the bullpen in reference to Terry Francona's handling of it. Talk about not seeing the forest through the trees.

The Red Sox are 26th out of 30 MLB teams in team ERA. Only the Nationals, Devil Rays, Orioles and Royals have been worse. The problem is staring people right in the face. The frustrating thing is I'm not sure what the front office could have done different in assembling the pitching staff.

When you look at what relief pitchers were available as free agents last off season and you make the assumption that the Red Sox weren't going to out bid the Yankees for Kyle Farnsworth (3-years $17 million), the Phillies for Tom Gordon (3-years $18 million) or the Blue Jays for BJ Ryan (5-years $47 million) - the picking were pretty slim. The Cubs rolled the dice and offered the 34-year old Scott Eyre $11 million over 3-years and the 33-year old Bobby Howry $12 million over 3-years. The Red Sox won't make that sort of risky investment out of fear of having dead money on the books that final year of the contract. Giving $13 million to Braden Looper? No thanks. The only bargain it seems that was out there was Joe Borowski. Hindsight is 20/20 but I really can't blame the Sox for trying to fill the bullpen out with Rudy Seanez and Julian Tavarez.

Sure Seanez was a complete failure his first tour with Boston and sure Tavarez is a complete fricken nutjob but giving the front office the benefit of the doubt - it is true that the pickings were slim.

Think back to spring training. The Sox were supposed to have a rotation of Schilling, Josh Beckett, David Wells, Tim Wakefield and Matt Clement. That's a pretty good rotation on paper. Sure Matt Clement isn't worth $9 million per year but on paper he would have been the best #5 starter in the AL (he made the All-Star team in 2005 for cripes sake). Plus the Red Sox had Jon Lester stashed in Pawtucket. The pitching was supposed to be fine. Instead its has sucked. And yet Tom Verducci can't seem to blame the pitching for the state the Red Sox find themselves in.

As I mentioned Verducci did address the pitching twice. The first time was in regard to trading Bronson Arroyo for Wily Mo Pena and the second to take a shot at Josh Beckett. Here is part of what he said about the Arroyo for Pena trade:

Boston so loved its inventory of pitchers that it traded a reliable starter to Cincinnati for a project of an outfielder. The flaw in the thinking was that the staff would stay healthy and that the rookies could help reinforce the staff in a pennant race. Pena, with his awesome power, has a big upside. But his strike-zone discipline is poor and he appears ill-equipped to defend the tricky and large right field expanse at Fenway Park. With visions of Pena, 24, replacing Nixon for years to come, the front office had no interest in assuming all of the contract of Bobby Abreu from Philadelphia, letting him and the necessary but intriguing tariff, pitcher Cory Lidle, both slide to the Yankees.

I guess Verducci thinks the Red Sox should have foresaw David Wells taking a line drive off the knee cap, Tim Wakefield breaking a rib and Matt Clement going down for the season. He also somehow tries to link the trade of Arroyo with the refusal to trade for Abreu. Pena can play all three outfield positions and is only 24. Yes he does have trouble in Fenway's right field (the most difficult right field in all of baseball) but he's 24 and there's plenty of time for him to learn. Just for the record Pena has an OPS of .865 this season compared to Abreu's .892 (and Pena has 1 more HR in half the at bats).

Verducci then threw this shot at Josh Beckett:

Josh Beckett. Beckett is to Boston what Jeff Weaver was to the Yankees: the ace that never was.

That's a cheap shot. Beckett has already won more games this season with the Red Sox than Weaver did in his time in pinstripes. Anyone who has watched the Red Sox this season knows that Beckett has had two major flaws; getting out of the first inning (he has an 11.57 ERA in his first 15 pitches) and giving up home runs (his 32 HR by far are the most in the AL). Both of those problems should be fixable.

Yes the Red Sox pitching staff has been Murphy's Law incarnate this season but what could have been done? The pitchers just haven't made pitches. If the Red Sox do miss the playoffs then the three places where the responsibility will fall will be:

1. The pitchers. Playing at replacement levels should lead to replacement.
2. The front office. Yes I know there is a "plan" and yes I don't want to see another Jeff Suppan cost us a Freddie Sanchez or heaven forbid a Larry Andersen cost us a Jeff Bagwell but there were some relievers out there to be had. Don't tell me acquiring a Rheal Cormier or some of the other relievers dealt would have ruined the plan. Yeah I'm talking to you Theo.
3. The coaches. And I'm not talking about Francona. I'm talking Dave Wallace and Al Nipper. Maybe there's a need for a change there at the end of the season.

How people can look at where the Red Sox are today and not recognize that its the pitching that's the problem baffles me.