Say what you will about Dave Dombrowski, he certainly isn't taking the Boston Red Sox miserable postseason performance lying down. Today he dropped a bomb on Major League Baseball by wheeling and dealing to acquire all-star pitcher Chris Sale, top relief pitcher Tyler Thornburg and first baseman Mitch Moreland. The Sox parted with Travis Shaw along with top prospects Mauricio Dubon, Josh Pennington, Luis Basabe, Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech and Victor Diaz. This leaves the farm system gutted, but the point isn't to win Minor League championships, its to win the World Series. Just ask the Chicago Cubs who broke an 108 year curse to win the 2016 World Series.
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With the injury to Carson Smith and the overuse of The Orient Express, the Sox were a little thin in the bullpen until Dombrowski went and traded for Brad Ziegler. Ziegler stablized the bullpen and was a key element down the stretch as the Sox made their march to the American League East Division title. Ziegler was just a rental as he expressed his desire to close somewhere else. Thornburg was the Milwaukee Brewers' best pitcher which isn't saying much, but its a good start. The bullpen came together in September apart from Craig Kimbrel and Joe Kelly's meltdown in the Bronx but they're going to need help if Junichi Tazawa joins Ziegler in free agency and Koji Uehara retires. Carson Smith may never be the same again so Thornburg stabilizes the bullpen on paper with Heath Hembree, Kimbrel, Robbie Ross Jr, Kelly and Robbie Scott in the mix.
With David Ortiz riding off into the sunset, the addition of Moreland pretty much solififies Hanley Ramirez as the DH next year, which was the idea two years ago. The shocking solid play at first place was a bonus for Ramirez who now only has to concentrate on hitting without getting beat up in the field. Moreland has never been a spectacular hitter but his numbers are on par with the now departed Travis Shaw. Unfortunately, with Shaw and Moncada gone, that means the third base slot will now be a free for all between the 500 pound Pablo Sandoval, super utility man Brock "Hitman" Holt and the rehabbing prospect Sam Travis, who was headed for a breakout season last year before tearing a knee. If nothing else, Moreland could be a Doug Mientkiewicz type because he's a solid glove at first place.
Last and certainly not least was the gem of the trade, All-Star White Sox starter Chris Sale. It would be unfair to expect Rick Porcello to have another year like he had last year and David Price is another year older. We have no idea if Drew Pomeranz will be any good or if Steven Wright can stay healthy. The addition of Sale to an already formidble rotation could put the Sox back in front of the American League East.
As it stands now, check out this team (not counting free agents).
Sp - Chris Sale
Sp - David Price
Sp - Rick Porcello
Sp - Clay Buchholz
Sp - Steven Wright/Eduardo Rodriguez//Drew Pomeranz
Rp - Craig Kimbrel
Rp - Tyler Thornburg
Rp - Robbie Ross Jr
Rp - Heath Hembree
Rp - Joe Kelly
Rp - Robbie Scott
2B - Dustin Pedroia
LF - Andrew Benintendi
SS - Xander Bogaerts
RF - Mookie Betts
DH - Hanley Ramirez
3B - Pablo Sandoval
C - Christian Vazquez
1B - Mitch Moreland
CF - Jackie Bradley Jr
C- Sandy Leon
3B - Brock Holt
OF - Chris Young
OF - Blake Swihart
INF - Devin Marrero
Unless the Red Sox outbid everyone for Edwin Encarnarcion or Jose Bautista, the offense is going to have a definite dropoff with Travis Shaw and David Ortiz gone. Still, the name of the game is pitching and guys like Thornburg and Sale are going to help limit runs to aid the limited offense.
How does this effect the AL East? The other teams need to make some big moves to keep up. The Toronto Blue Jays can't expect JA Happ to have another year like he had last year where he damn near beat out Rick Porcello for the Cy Young award. They also have to contend with both Edwin Encarnarcion and Jose Bautista hitting free agency. The Red Sox are very interested in Encarnarcion which is going drive his price-tag up. The New York Yankees signed Matt Holiday but he can't carry an offense by himself. If either one of those two sluggers leave, that's a huge blow to Toronto's offense. The Baltimore Orioles had one of the most incredible seasons by having one of the worst rotations in baseball but had one of the best offenses and bullpens. Their offense can pound the ball but what if Mark Trumbo or Chris Davis has a down year? Unless they make a trade or outbid people, they're not gonna have the firepower to match Boston or Toronto for that matter. The Tampa Bay Rays...pfft, forget them. With Joe Maddon out the door this team lost the spark that kept them relevent from 2008-14. They don't have the money to sign guys like Encarnarcion and they aren't churning out prospects like they did in that timeframe. That just leaves the Yankees...oh the Yankees. General Manager Brian Cashman is already shitting bricks as he's been quoting as saying Chris Sale going to Boston is like Kevin Durant going to Golden State. The Yankees refused to part with the prospects they got for Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller and Carlos Beltran so they're going to gamble on a youth movement. They have a boatload of young talent but they need time to develop, which isn't going to be fun to suffer through.
Free agency hasn't kicked into high gear quite yet so there could still be some wheeling and dealing, but as it is right now having Sale, Price and Porcello is downright scary. Maybe David Ortiz should reconsider retirement.
