A Peter Abraham article this week discussed a Theo Epstein trade before the 2006 season. Apparently believing that the acquisition of Josh Beckett from Miami set up an overabundant rotation, he considered Bronson Arroyo expendable. In spring training, Epstein dealt the 29-year-old righthander to the Reds for 24-year-old Willy Mo Pena. Abraham describes Pena as "a linebacker-sized outfielder with great power but a fleeting grasp of the strike zone." As most fans know, Arroyo has gone on to a fine career in Cincinnati while Pena failed in Boston and was out of the majors by 2011. It points out a bad miscalculation on Epstein's part concerning the strength of his starting staff.
With Arroyo gone, the Sox went into the season with a badly aging group of starters. The trio of David Wells, Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield had an average age of 40. The fourth man, Matt Clement, was basically a journeyman who had his lone standout season for Boston in 05. At age 26, Beckett was the only strong performer in his prime.
The results were not surprising. Wells started only 8 games before drifting to San Diego, while Clement was gone by midseason, never to return. Wakefield had one of his poorest years at 7-11 with a 4.63 ERA. Only Schilling and Beckett were reliable. With a depleted staff, the Sox were forced to rely on subpar performers and not-ready kids. Kyle Snyder started 10 games with a 6.02 ERA. Josh Johnson, approaching the end of his career, was 0-4 and 7.36. Lenny Dinardo started 6 times with an ERA over 7. Kason Gabbard, Kevin Jarvis and David Pauley are other examples of futility. The team faded to an 86-76 record, their poorest in five years and good for third place, a game behind Toronto.
Since the Sox bounced back to take it all in 07, the mistakes of 06 have largely been forgotten. But while Epstein's colossal blunder involving Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzales stands out as Theo's worst moment, the Arroyo move has to stand as a fairly close second. Ben Cherington should be careful about dealing a starter in his prime.
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