The MLB Trade Deadline Has Come And Gone, And The Red Sox Did Absolutely Nothing
The 4 o’clock MLB trade deadline has come and gone and the Red Sox did absolutely nothing to better their team. Actually, that’s not true. They got Andrew Cashner! God. Fucking. Damnit.
This past offseason, I remember tweeting something like, “I love how everyone’s freaking out about the Red Sox not having a closer in November, like they’re actually gonna go into the season without one.” No way they’d be that fucking stupid, right! Not only did they go into their title defense season of 2019 without a closer, but the trade deadline just passed and they still don’t fucking have one.
Okay, so let’s say for the sake of argument that this report is true. Fine. But the Red Sox have had NINE MONTHS to prepare for who their closer would be on August 1 once they determined that Craig Kimbrel would not be returning to the club following the 2018 World Series. Nine months. And you know they had the whole nine months (and even more), because they knew that Kimbrel’s salary demands wouldn’t fit into their 2019 payroll plans. They should’ve been thinking about Kimbrel’s replacement LAST July.
You mean to tell me that at no point during the last calendar YEAR that the Red Sox couldn’t have found an even remotely suitable replacement for Kimbrel? That’s impossible. It really is. And honestly, I was on board with going into the 2019 season with this crop of relievers and seeing if somebody could emerge as a potential closer. Matt Barnes has the best K/9 in the American League (16.24), second to only Josh Hader (16.94) for the major league lead. Brandon Workman has a 1.03 WHIP this year. The talent is there, but the results and execution have not been in save situations. Not even a little bit.
In fact, Red Sox relievers have a 5.28 ERA in the 9th inning this season, which ranks 26th out of 30 MLB teams. That doesn’t take into account save situations versus mop-up duty, but the 18 blown saves and the ol’ eyeball test in knowing that there isn’t one guy getting his name called in the ninth inning with the game on the line will tell you that the closer role has been void all year. With that, the Red Sox find themselves 9.5 games back of first place, two games back of the second Wild Card spot, and empty-handed after the trade deadline. It’s truly unbelievable.
I just don’t understand how Dave Dombrowski can sit there after the deadline passes and say things like “we are going for it” and “no, not really” when asked if he has any regrets about the way he’s constructed the bullpen this year. I mean, my God. How many more wins would the Red Sox have this season if not for the bullpen blowing game after game? Realistically, throw a number at me because you can’t assume that a bullpen is going to protect every single lead. Realistically speaking, with this offense, which has outpaced the one that the 108-win 2018 Red Sox had, the 2019 team could have, what, 10 more wins? Maybe more? But no regrets! None!
The 2019 Red Sox have a first-place, World Series-contending offense with a third place rotation and bullpen. When your team has obvious and desperate needs, and you do nothing to fix them, that’s not “going for it”. That’s sitting idly by, hoping that the current roster fixes itself when it’s been four months of the same old shit. Outstanding offense, mediocre starting pitching and a lackluster bullpen. God help us all.