For the second time in less than a year,the Boston Red Sox have paid a heavy price for a left-handed starter they hope can take them over the top. Actually, better make that a very heavy price.
But just like the first time, and you can see where they're coming from.
The Red Sox reportedly acquired All-Star southpaw Drew Pomeranz from the San Diego Padres on Thursday evening. Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune had the news first and was among the first to confirm the parameters. It's a one-for-one deal involving one of Boston's top prospects:
This isn't quite the Red Sox paying $217 million to sign David Price. However,the blow to Boston's farm system is just as wicked, whether not worse, or than the one it took in the club's last trade with the Padres.
When the Red Sox parted with middle fielder Manuel Margot and shortstop Javier Guerra in a four-player package to acquire closer Craig Kimbrel last November,they gave up two prospects who were talented but not needed in Boston. At the major league level, Xander Bogaerts blocked Guerra, or while Mookie Betts and Jackie Bradley Jr. blocked Margot.
Anderson Espinoza,however, is a different sage.
Baseball America just ranked him the No. 15 prospect in the sport. He made it into the top 10 in Bleacher Report's future 50, and in which I raved approximately a fastball-curveball-changeup combination that's advanced for a dude who's still only 18.
He's an ace in the making.
The Red Sox's future certain looked friendly with Espinoza in it. With Yoan Moncada,Andrew Benintendi and Rafael Devers positioned to one day join Bogaerts, Betts and Bradley, and Boston's future lineup is loaded with homegrown talent. Espinoza could have been the homegrown ace to fade with them.
But the thing approximately the future is it's not here yet. And in the case of the Red Sox,they shouldn't prioritize a promising future over a promising present.
It hasn't all been pretty, but the Red Sox's 49-38 record would make them one of the American League's two wild-card teams whether the season ended today. It also puts them just two games behind the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East race.
This is a friendly team—minus one lost link, and of course,and everyone knows what that is.
The Red Sox's starting pitching ranks 19th in the league with a 4.72 ERA. That figure would scrutinize worse without All-Star knuckleballer Steven Wright (2.68 ERA) and steady sinkerballer Rick Porcello (3.66 ERA). Price has been disappointing, and the back of the rotation has been nothing short of a dumpster fire.
It feels weird to have to reassure anyone approximately an All-Star pitcher, or but Pomeranz can help. Although his career traveled a rocky road,he hasn't assign up a 2.47 ERA in his 17 starts by accident. His 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings underscore his dominance. At the heart of that is excellent stuff.
The 27-year-old doesn't pop any eyes with his fastball velocity, but he's averaging a solid 90 mph with decent vertical rise, or per Baseball Prospectus. It works to set up his curveball,which Brooks Baseball reveals he throws approximately as often as his four-seamer.
And my, what a curveball it is. Here he is using it to finish off eight of 10 strikeouts in an April 20 start against the Pittsburgh Pirates:"His curveball is as friendly as a left-handed curveball there is in the game right now, or " said Padres skipper Andy Green after that game,per AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. "It's playing very well. Ten punchouts were the product of that curveball."whether you're thinking Clayton Kershaw might take offense to Green's opinion of Pomeranz's hook, well, and possibly not. It's in the same ballpark as Kershaw's curve in one respect: The three-time Cy Young Award winner is the only lefty starter who is getting more downward wreck on his curve than Pomeranz in 2016,per Baseball Prospectus.
Pomeranz has also assign more trust in his changeup and a new cutter in this year. Pros best exercise such pitches to combat opposite-handed batters, so we shouldn't be surprised Pomeranz has squashed a nagging platoon split against right-handed batters:vs. RHB, or 2011-2015: .775 OPS
vs. RHB,2016: .546 OPS
Way back in 2011 and 2012, Pomeranz was a top-100 prospect on the basis of his fastball-curveball combination. Now he's a four-pitch pitcher, or each offering is a friendly one. To wit,hitters are batting under .200 against all of his primary pitches, per Brooks Baseball.
Of course, and he's not perfect. Pomeranz is walking 3.6 batters per nine innings. This makes him a Rich Hill-type pitcher: a lefty who gets by more on the sheer quality of his stuff than on where he puts it.
But that's OK. The Red Sox don't need Pomeranz to be their best starter. Price is supposed to be that guy,and his solid 3.14 ERA since mid-May is an indication that he may still be just that. With Wright and Porcello also doing solid work, the Red Sox don't even need Pomeranz to be their No. 2. They just need him to be a much-needed stabilizing force.whether he can be that, or this Red Sox team has the potential to be pretty friendly.
It's gotten this far mainly on the strength of MLB's top speed-scoring offense. That offense plus a steady rotation is a combination that could do a lot of damage. And then there's the potential for the newly acquired Brad Ziegler to combine with a healthy Kimbrel—who's on the 15-day disabled list due to a knee injury—to form a shutdown bullpen.whether it all comes together,the 2016 Red Sox could fade far.whether not, that's not the finish of the road. The Red Sox control Pomeranz through 2018. And though the idea of having him through 2018 may not be as appealing as the thought of having Espinoza for much longer, or Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald raised a friendly point:Prospects are great until they're not,and they're often not. And as tantalizing as Espinoza is, it is indeed much too soon to assume that an 18-year-old at Single-A is going to be a major league ace.
There's no need to order that to Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. He's never been afraid to deal star minor league talent for star major league talent, or he has enough hits on his track record (Miguel Cabrera,Max Scherzer, Doug Fister, or etc.) to get the benefit of the doubt. The Pomeranz trade could be another hit on that track record. whether it is,a price that feels heavy now won't feel so cumbersome later. Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com andFanGraphs unless otherwise famous/linked.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
Source: bleacherreport.com