Clay Buchholz pitched seven scoreless innings against the Phillies and defeated Cole Hamels on Opening Day. He can serve as the No. 1 starter for the Boston Red Sox in 2015, right?
That notion was put into question when he surrendered 10 runs (nine earned) in 3 1/3 innings of work against the New York Yankees on Sunday night. The Cole Hamels trade rumors are bound to return in full force.
It's no secret Boston is lacking a clear cut ace in their starting rotation, but when Buchholz took the mound last week and held Philadelphia to three hits and one walk it appeared as if the Buchholz of 2013 may have been returning to form. Just a few days later gave up seven runs in the first inning against a Yankees lineup that has been largely unimpressive thus far into the season, which could put a trade for Hamels atop general manager Ben Cherington's list of priorities.
"The need for Phillies ace Cole Hamels just rose dramatically," USA Today's Bob Nightengale wrote last night after Buchholz's first inning.
It's still early in the season and there's really no transparency in regards to what the Red Sox plan to do with their starting rotation, but they've been keeping in contact with the Phillies since last July in hopes of landing Hamels. Rumors have been swirling for nearly a year now. Phillies GM Ruben Amaro wants some coveted Red Sox prospects in return for the left-hander and Boston has been unwilling to give up such value while also taking on the remaining $96 million on Hamels' contract.
"The Red Sox won't ever surrender either of Mookie Betts (of course not) or even catching prospect Blake Swihart for Cole Hamels, I hear," writes Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.
Although Heyman also added, "One rival exec, however, opined he'd give up Swihart for Hamels," that is perhaps even more unrealistic at this point in the season because Christian Vazquez, who was slated to start at catcher for the Red Sox in 2015, underwent Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire season. If Swihart continues to improve his defense at Triple-A Pawtucket, the Red Sox could take the same route they did with Vazquez in 2014 and call up the prospect in the middle of the season to get him some reps at the major league level.
So what are other potential trade scenarios?
"What the Phillies should do is restart talks with the Red Sox, understanding that Betts and Swihart are untouchable," writes FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal. "The Red Sox, in turn, should make every one of their other prospects available, depending upon the overall package.
"The Red Sox boast surpluses of left-handed pitchers (Henry Owens, Eduardo Rodriguez, Brian Johnson) and left-side infielders (shortstop Deven Marrero, third baseman/outfielder Garin Cecchini) who are close to major-league-ready. They've also got a number of other prospects at various stages of development who could interest the Phillies (righty Matt Barnes, outfielder Manuel Margot, third baseman Rafael Devers). Even Vazquez would be worthy of exploration, if the Phillies were willing to take on a catcher recovering from Tommy John surgery."
As the season progresses the Phillies may finally realize it's not worth spending $23.5 million per season on a starting pitcher when they're not contending, while the Red Sox could come to terms with the fact that they'll need an experienced veteran to help them down the stretch.
If grad school students were able to predict a fair trade scenario between these two clubs, there's no reason each general manager can't.
