Ken Rosenthal Thinks The Red Sox Are Losers

The story.
All talk, no action.
G.M. Theo Epstein made much of his roster available, spent time concocting three-team trade scenarios, even dabbled in potential deals for Braves center fielder Andruw Jones and, reportedly, Astros right-handers Roy Oswalt and Roger Clemens.
And in the end, his only move was to acquire right-handed reliever Bryan Corey from the Rangers for Class AA right-hander Luis Mendoza.
Epstein couldn’t find a starting pitcher better than Kyle Snyder? Couldn’t find a hitter like Matt Stairs to replace the injured Trot Nixon? Couldn’t find a reliever better than Corey to reduce the load on rookie relievers Manny Delcarmen and Craig Hansen?
Not Theo’s finest hour.
Dear Mr. Rosenthal,
In your most recent article about trade deadline losers, you were incredibly scathing of the Red Sox. Before I refute your three main points, I just wanted to point out that all talk, no action is better than no talk, no action, or even all talk, all bad action. Larry Andersen will let you know that he’s most known for a trade than his effectiveness as a pitcher.
Your three questions are:
“Epstein couldn’t find a starting pitcher better than Kyle Snyder? Couldn’t find a hitter like Matt Stairs to replace the injured Trot Nixon? Couldn’t find a reliever better than Corey to reduce the load on rookie relievers Manny Delcarmen and Craig Hansen?”
The first question should be answered first. The starting pitchers traded at the deadline were:
Cory Lidle – 2006: 8-7, 4.74 ERA, 1.36 WHIP in the NL. Age: 34. Salary: $3.3M in 2006. His National League numbers translating to the AL are not good at all.
Kyle Lohse – 2006: 2-5, 7.07 ERA, 1.65 WHIP in the AL. Age: 27. Salary: $3.95M in 2006. The Red Sox scouted him for months, and there’s a reason why we never obtained him.
Greg Maddux – 2006: 9-11, 4.69 ERA, 1.29 WHIP in the NL. Age: 40. Salary: $9M in 2006. He wanted to stay in the NL, and go to the West Coast.
Oliver Perez – 2006: 2-10, 6.63 ERA, 1.83 WHIP in the NL. Age: 24. Salary: $1.9M in 2006.
Kip Wells – 2006: 1-5, 6.69 ERA, 1.76 WHIP in the NL. Age: 29. Salary: $4.15M in 2006. Major injury concerns, the Sox passed on him.
KYLE SNYDER – 2006: 3-2, 6.00 ERA, 1.63 WHIP in the AL. Age: 28. Salary: ~$350,000 in 2006. May I also add that he just pitched 4.1 IP of one hit, no walks, and six strikeouts last night.
Call me a naive Red Sox fan, but I’d take Kyle Snyder over everyone else when you factor in salary, age, statistics, and what league these statistics are put up in. Also, the excuse that the Red Sox have plenty of money to get pitching and that shouldn’t factor in this discussion is incorrect. The Red Sox will not spend money on ineffective players.
The second question is why a hitter like Matt Stairs could not be found to replace Trot Nixon.
Matt Stairs is 38 years old, hitting .261/.353/.429 in 226 AB. He’s played 1B 11 times, LF two times, and DH 49 times. Notwithstanding the fact he’s not even an outfielder anymore, here’s someone better.
The guy I have in mind is 24 years old, and is hitting .333/.389/.532 in 126 AB. He’s played four games in left, 22 in center, 17 in right, and DH’d twice. His name is Wily Mo Pena. I have no interest in adding Matt Stairs over Wily Mo Pena.
Now, you want the load lightened on Manny Delcarmen and Craig Hansen. This point is on the face of it, true. But once you think about it, it’s not.
Manny Delcarmen has thrown 32.1 IP so far of a 4.18 ERA and 1.45 WHIP. These numbers inclue the recent spate of runs he’s given up due to being day-to-day with inflammation.
Craig Hansen has thrown 20.2 IP so far of a 4.79 ERA and 1.40 whip. These numbers don’t even show that Hansen is dominating in his first inning of work, but not the second.
Rudy Seanez has thrown 41.1 IP so far of a 3.92 ERA and 1.50 WHIP, but has been buried in the bullpen due to a penchant for giving up home-runs at the wrong time.
Julian Tavarez has thrown 57.1 IP so far of a 5.02 ERA and 1.57 WHIP, and is wholly ineffective.
Add into the fact that it’s been made abundantly clear by Theo and Francona over the last couple months that the “kids are up here to play,” I fail to see why we would want to limit their innings. It’s been widely known Francona met with all the young pitchers and told them they’d be pitching more innings and in an increased role. So far, Delcarmen and Hansen have outpaced Seanez and Tavarez. We don’t need to find a reliever better than Corey to lessen the load on Delcarmen and Hansen because we don’t want to lessen the load. Any other reliever than Jeremy Affeldt who was traded (to Colorado) I would have no desire to add to our bullpen, much less take innings away from Delcarmen and Hansen, who have stabilized the bullpen with effective innings. Why would you want to change what’s working?
Mr. Rosenthal, sometimes no change at all is a good thing. Kyle Snyder is at the very least, on par with every starting pitcher traded. The only thing the other pitchers have going for them is the ever elusive tag of being a veteran. The only thing Matt Stairs has that Wily Mo Pena does not is the tag of a veteran. The only pitchers that could supplant Hansen and Delcarmen ably are veteran relievers with history of success, and there were either none available, or the price was far too rich. Veterans do not mean a winning ballclub. Veterans can sometime mean the downfall of a team.
The Red Sox are winners. They are winners for choosing Kyle Snyder over every other pitcher dealt just like Snyder. Why trade value to get a pitcher who you already have? They are winners for playing Wily Mo Pena over Matt Stairs. They are winners for relying on the young guns to outproduce veterans (which they have). They are winners for not sacrificing their future. They are, lastly, winners because they are in first place.
Sincerely,
Evan Brunell
Fire Brand of the American League