Coming off a bitter end to 2011 and heading into the 100th anniversary season at Fenway Park, you would think the Boston Red Sox would have wanted to improve their team this offseason.
But they haven’t. Instead of showing off their financial might by luring expensive free agents, the Red Sox have turned to the trade market and preached fiscal responsibility. This should not be the case for a club that produces revenue as fast as Starbucks makes coffee.
Can Nick Punto be an everyday shortstop? (AP Photo)
Rookie general manager Ben Cherington’s first two moves were sound. Even if he wasn’t behind the decision, Cherington was instrumental in the offseason’s best managerial hire, Bobby Valentine. Also, Cherington and the Red Sox aren’t likely to regret letting closer Jonathan Papelbon leave rather than pay him $50 million.
It is the rest of Boston’s offseason that has raised so many questions. Giving Daniel Bard a chance to start? Trading infielder Jed Lowrie and outfielder Josh Reddick without upgrading the rotation? Settling on outfielder Cody Ross when Carlos Beltran and Michael Cuddyer were available?
The club’s most questionable move is its most recent. Several days later, I can’t come up with a sound reason for the trade of shortstop Marco Scutaro for a minor league pitcher, and I have considered numerous possibilities:
• The Red Sox think top prospect Jose Iglesias is ready. There is at least one hang-up: He isn’t ready, not offensively anyway. Iglesias, 22, hit .235 at Class AAA in 2011, which was just his second season in the minors. Handing such an unproven youngster an everyday job in the Fenway fish bowl could do long-term damage.
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• They think Nick Punto and Mike Aviles can handle the job. Wrong, again. Punto and Aviles are best suited to be extra infielders, not regular-appearing shortstops on a contender. Combined, they played 22 games at shortstop a year ago, partly because of injuries but mainly because of a lack of range.
• They are planning to make a run at Hanley Ramirez. If so, they forgot to check with the Miami Marlins. They insist Ramirez will be their opening-day third baseman.
• They are trying to lower their luxury tax. Even if you agree with Boston’s move toward greater financial responsibility, this doesn’t make much sense. The Red Sox never have had to pay more than slightly $6 million in penalties in a single season. Pocket change, in other words.
• They have a team policy against the same player starting at shortstop for three consecutive years. Hmm. The position has been a revolving door since Nomar Garciaparra’s departure in 2004.
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• They are trying to lower expectations for 2012. The opposite approach, after all, didn’t work so well in 2011.
As silly as it might seem for anyone who has forked over hundreds of dollars for an evening at Fenway Park, the Scutaro trade was about the money. According to reports, the Red Sox needed to free salary to add a free-agent starter and outfielder. No team was going to take John Lackey or Daisuke Matsuzaka off their hands, even if the righthanders were healthy. Kevin Youkilis and the $13 million owed to him this season didn’t figure very tradable, either.
That left Scutaro and his $6 million salary. But even if reports prove correct and Boston puts the Scutaro savings toward signing Roy Oswalt and Ross, has the team helped itself?
Oswalt is seeking only a one-year deal for a good reason. He knows his back could fail him at any time. Ross was a great story during the Giants’ run to the World Series championship in 2010, but he is coming off his worst season and brings a pedestrian .261/.323/.456 career slash line to Boston. Heck, J.D. Drew could have given the Red Sox that much.
Of course, the Red Sox don’t need to do much to overcome the one-game shortage that cost them 2011. Their top three starting pitchers are as strong as any, their lineup is as dangerous as any and their rebuilt bullpen should have no difficulty overcoming Papelbon’s departure.
There also is the very real possibility that the Red Sox could pull off a surprise move. We know they have the resources, despite their seemingly, sudden aversion to spending.
