First things first, WOW does it feel good to sit down at my laptop and write or what. The months of May and June hit me like a ton of bricks once April came to a close but I’m finally back in business, baby. I was hit by AP testing, finals, loads of homework, /graduating high school/, college things, general anxiety/depressive episodes, etc. as a high school senior sadly does. Regardless, as I said, I’m back for the summer and I hope to get back into the swing of things. In April I began recapping Red Sox games and thoroughly enjoyed doing that and I plan on resuming that as I settle into my much-needed summer break. Now, let’s talk about how much I hate the closer-by-committee approach manager Alex Cora has taken this season and how much I despise how long this has gone on for!
Before I jump in, let me make one thing clear: I haven’t been able to sit down and watch a full Red Sox game from start to finish in God knows how long, so I honestly am not as much in the loop as I would like to be and am usually. I’ve been keeping tabs on the Boys of Summer™ through Twitter and watching/reading game recaps and highlights to the best of my ability. If there’s one thing I would like to make clear, it’s that the Red Sox need a closer. Allow me to repeat that one more time just in case you didn’t catch it the first time: THE RED SOX NEED A CLOSER. Like, a real, actual closer. A man who throws baseballs in solely the eighth if necessary/ninth/tenth innings. Not Heath Hembree, not Marcus Walden, not even Matt Barnes. A CLOSER. No more closer-by-committee. I’ve seen about enough of the carousel of random relief arms pitching in high leverage situations and/or save situations.
Last night the Red Sox had the privilege of losing a 17-inning marathon to the Minnesota Twins and blowing not one but essentially two save situations. BECAUSE THEY DON’T. HAVE. A. CLOSER. Last night marked the 13th blown save by Boston’s bullpen this season. Mind you, it’s mid-June. I’m a keep the faith gal until the day I die but I think that at this point in my life I’m intelligent enough to the point where I don’t think that’ll get you very far in the playoffs. I’m not one of these fans behind a keyboard announcing that the season is over in mid-June, I happen to think that the Red Sox will continue down the path of bouncing back and battling with the New York Yankees atop the AL East. The thing is, you need a closer to prevail in those battles and to prevail once October arrives. That’s my main concern and will be until further notice.
I was completely fine with Cora utilizing the closer-by-committee approach to begin the season. Things looked extremely good for the bullpen coming off of a World Series win despite losing Joe Kelly and Craig Kimbrel. Nathan Eovaldi won our hearts over, Matt Barnes looked like he had figured himself out, Ryan Brasier turned into the region of New England’s favorite psychopath. Boston had options and the closer situation was surely going to figure itself out in due time. SIKE!!! It’s June nineteenth (19) and we’re still riding the seemingly neverending carousel of desperation and experimentation. Alex Cora knows this cannot continue. Dave Dombrowski knows this cannot continue. Every Red Sox fan alive knows this cannot continue. So,,,, what’s the holdup?
This collective puke-worthy performance from an entire bullpen is unprecedented, you could say, especially when many of the arms are reigning World Series champs. Nobody could have seen this kind of collapse coming, but it wasn’t totally unpredictable when you consider how rarely a closer-by-committee (I’m sick of me saying this phrase, too, I apologize) actually works out for any stretch of time, let alone nearly three months. This team and its front office are deer in headlights at the moment. The team has called up every minor league arm they possibly can, searching for an answer to this apparently unsolvable problem through the farm system. The trade deadline isn’t until July 31. No seller is going to make a move in the middle of June. We’re coming up on three months of blowing games in the ninth inning left and right and throwing complete no-namers into high leverage situations and it appears it won’t end any time soon.
Based on what President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski had to say in MassLive’s Chris Cotillo’s recent interview with him that was dissected in a two-part article, he isn’t too eager to go outside of the organization to seek answers. He’s still somehow extremely confident in the guys on the 40-man roster and is still going to make do with the cards in his hand, at least for the near future. The likes of Josh Taylor, Josh Smith, Travis Lakins, Mike Shawaryn, Darwinzon Hernandez and Ryan Weber to name a few have graced the mound of Red Sox games with their relief arms and have provided fans and I with virtually zero hope or reassurance. Out of these names, Mike Shawaryn is, I guess, the only guy I would be okay with experimenting with in a closer role. This all despite him making his MLB debut about ten days ago, pitching only 10 innings albeit giving up just one earned run.
Dombrowski appears, also, to just about value his internal options higher than any trade acquisition. This is bananas to me. B-A-N-A-N-A-S. Listen, I have the utmost faith in Dombrowski. I have since the day he was hired by the organization and I will until the day he steps down. Regardless, I need this man to be more confident in his abilities to acquire good and much-needed pitching talent. This dude built wagons of teams in Detroit during his tenure with the Tigers, centering his teams around Cy Young Award winners year after year. He’s snagged names like David Price, Craig Kimbrel, Chris Sale and Nathan Eovaldi in his first few years with Boston, all of whom have played critical roles with the Red Sox. He can go out there and negotiate with teams and get what he wants, it’s a matter of him picking up the phone and making that first move.
The biggest snag in this situation is, of course, the abhorrent lack of a farm system. I‘m truthfully preparing for zero trades to be made this deadline for that reason. Dombrowski has essentially nothing to work with; he would be guaranteed to give up 40-man roster names, which is something I’m sure this franchise has no interest in doing. They also happen to be as wary as ever as to not exceed the luxury tax threshold so if they were to deal for a pitcher, he’d have to be a cheap one, meaning he’s either a veteran, not that good or both. I’m no MLB general manager (thankfully) but I’m not too sure how Dombrowski will or can go about this.
I scrounged up three affordable and not godawful relief pitchers that are likely going to be on the trade block. The first one being Sean Doolittle, Washington Nationals. HIs 2019 numbers don’t exactly jump off the screen and into your face (3.45 ERA, 14 saves, 37 K in 30 appearances) but he’s been one of baseball’s better back bullpen arms since he entered the league in 2012. He’s made a name for himself as a general relief pitcher as well as a true closer, something the Red Sox desperately need. I would love to see Boston trade low on him. He becomes an unrestricted free agent in 2021 and his average salary clocks in at $2.1 million.
The next name is Francisco Liriano, Pittsburgh Pirates. He’s been a starter his entire career up until this season when he was switched over to the bullpen by Pittsburgh and has had a decent showing from his new role thus far. He has a 1-1 record with a 2.14 ERA in 33.2 innings so far in 2019 and could help bring much-needed stability to this pitching staff. He’s under a one-year deal with the Pirates right now and is being paid a mere $1.8 million and I assume would not cost an arm and a leg to acquire.
The last name I came up with is Jared Hughes, Cincinnati Reds. He’s no household name but he’s another guy who could assist in calming the storm that is the Boston Red Sox’ bullpen. He’s been a decent pitcher for a while now and that has carried over into his stint with the Reds. So far this season he’s posted a 3.30 ERA and logged 30 innings in 29 appearances. Hughes has been around the block a few times and still has gas left in the tank. If the Red Sox did trade for him, they would be in a position to keep him for another year as he has a player option next season. He’s under a two-year deal with an average salary of $2.25 million.
Dealin’ Davey, if you’re out there somewhere reading this, a girl is just trying to lend you a helping hand. Take those fellas into consideration. I’m sure they’re nice people and I know they have the ability to not melt down in a high leverage situation. If the Red Sox had a closer in the first place, they would be far higher than a measly five games above .500 and a whopping 6.5 games back of the first place Yankees. Think about it. If Boston had a closer (*AHEM* didn’t let Kimbrel walk *AHEM*) and managed to not blow 13 save-situation games in a matter of fewer than three months, they could be 53-22. Goodness gracious.
Let’s face it, this entire bullpen sorta kinda stinks. It’s not just the closer situation that’s bad. A setup man would be nice, too, but I’m not trying to be overly greedy. There’s a severe lack of talented depth and if a mere single move was made to acquire any kind fo experienced bullpen arm, things would be looking a lot different. I’m cautiously optimistic that both players and their bosses can figure something out here as we begin to approach the All-Star break. I do have faith that by then they will start to look a little better and things will begin to fall into place but in order for that to happen, things are going to have to change.
P.S.: If I see even one tweet worded to the likes of, “Boston had interest in __________ but….” then I will throw a hissy fit. If Dombrowski is going to go out there and make some sort of a deal then he needs to ensure that it happens. Don’t just call up a team for shits and giggles and not go anywhere with it. I’m already getting angry at something that has yet to happen, this is where I’m at right now. In summary: I’m going crazy and I need the Red Sox to soothe me. Pretty please.
P.P.S.: Craig Kimbrel was a free agent for EIGHT (*) months. Can we discuss that for a second? Eight whopping months. In eight months Boston really couldn’t convince him to stay for another year? I find that hard to believe. Perhaps I’m wrong and Kimbrel was seriously adamant on signing a multi-year deal and/or the Red Sox had no interest in bringing him back for more than one year. Regardless, I’m mad online about it.
P.P.P.S.: Call up Dalton Furbush. Just do it.
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