The Boston Red Sox officially began making changes in their starting rotation today when they placed Justin Masterson on the disabled list. However, it's unlikely to drastically improve their MLB-worst 5.65 starter's ERA. Can any of their prospects help out?
The trade rumors have been swirling in Boston, but the Red Sox have clearly been unwilling to part ways with some of their top prospects, which is what it will likely take to land one of the better starters on the market. General manager Ben Cherington said earlier in the week that he believes the club has "a lot of the solutions here already."
It's unknown if he meant those currently in the starting rotation or prospects in the farm system, but many have previously suggested youngsters Eduardo Rodriguez and/or Henry Owens, both of whom are at Triple-A Pawtucket, could have a shot at helping the team before a trade is imperative.
However, ESPN Insider Keith Law disagrees.
"How would you fix the Boston Red Sox rotation?" ESPN Insider Buster Olney asked Law on the Baseball Tonight Podcast from Thursday afternoon.
"I think they're going to have to trade for somebody. That's the obvious part, but they might not be able to do that right now," Law said. "What I would do first is see which of their young arms could come up and help them in the bullpen.
"For example, they brought Matt Barnes up ... try to overhaul the bullpen first and see if you can lengthen out the bullpen to try and reduce what you're asking of some of your starters. Their two best starting pitching prospects - Henry Owens and Eduardo Rodriguez - neither one looks like they're ready to step in and take a major league rotation spot.
"The last couple outings from Rodriguez haven't been quite as sharp and Owens has really struggled with control, which is the last thing you want to bring up to the majors right now if you're the Red Sox. I don't think they have the internal options to patch the rotation [right now]."
The problem is that the bullpen also isn't great because it's been suffering from the ineptitude of the rotation, so it's not like they'd be bolstering an aspect of their roster that has already been consistent. Boston's cast of relievers leads the league in innings pitched (122 1/3) and ranks 19th in ERA (3.75), 16th in WHIP (1.34) and 21st in opponents' batting average (.255).
What we do know is Steven Wright is likely to take Masterson's spot in the rotation on Sunday against the Seattle Mariners. Prospect Brian Johnson could also be an option for Boston in the near future, but he also had control issues in recent outings.
Law proposed another idea for the Red Sox.
"If they can hang around .500 into June ... then you go out into the trade market because they might have more tradable assets in their farm system than any other club ... they have a lot of guys that are close to major-league ready ... Garin Cecchini and Deven Marrero have real trade value now because they're so close to the majors, and the Red Sox could probably build a pretty nice package around those guys without having to give up more than one of their top-tier prospects."
But for who? It's unknown what Cherington's thought process is. Nonetheless, changes are probably one the way and the club's top pitching prospects may have to wait.
