Boston and the Six-Man Rotatio - Misfit's Blog

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Boston and the Six-Man Rotatio

Posted on March 29, 2010 at 12:29 PM.

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Thanks to ESPN and their affection for all things Boston and NY I figured the general populace of OS would have little interest in a topic about the Red Sox so I've made this a blog post.

As most know, Boston's biggest acquisition this winter was starting pitcher John Lackey, a guy who when healthy gives a club a ton of innings above league average quality. While it is fair to quibble with the amount of money Boston gave him, few can argue the importance of adding a quality hurler to a playoff caliber club. The only issue arising, however, is how to construct a 5 man rotation with the guys on the roster.

Let's assume that if active Beckett, Lester, and Lackey are no-brainers. That leaves 2 spots for 3 guys; Matsuzaka, Wakefield, and Buchholz. Daisuke will begin the year on the DL as he got a late start this spring due to a muscle strain in his back. This solves the problem temporarily but he isn't expected to be out long. When he returns, Boston has a tough decision on its hands.

It should be stated that both Daisuke and Wakefield have no-trade protection and are on multi-year deals. Buchholz does have one minor league option left though the Sox have stated publicly that he has nothing left to prove at Triple A. Wakefield is recovering from off season shoulder surgery but has suffered no set-backs and has been deemed good to go. He has also expressed an unwilligness to move to the pen.

Some want Boston to employ a 6 man rotation. I consider such talk foolish. A six man rotation takes starts away from the top 3 guys in favor of someone inferior. Unless everyone is pitching at a high level, which is extremely unlikely, this makes no sense. The stat-minder's perspective is likely dump Wakefield as he's the oldest, presents the least upside, and Boston could absorb his deal as a mere rounding error. This would be ignoring the human element which is his role in the clubhouse and organization. He's also quite reliable as a 5th starter as he's likely to give you league average peripherals and plenty of innings when healthy. The health is no small concern though as Wakefield has failed to toss 200 innings every year since 2004.

I see 2 solutions. The safest is to either option Buchholz to Triple A or pitch him in relief. His stuff would work out of the pen and he can back-up notorious 5 inning man Daisuke and Wakefield. Spot start him when it makes sense. The more radical alternative would be to trade Josh Beckett. He's on the last year of his deal and the Red Sox are supposedly interested in signing him to an extension. If one can't be reached, perhaps a trade is in order. Its hard to say what his value would be, but it would be better than a bag of balls (or what they get for Mike Lowell).

Comments

# 1 hawkeye2188 @ Mar 29

I like both of your ideas. I would almost rather trade beckett if he isnt having a stellar year, but if they wait to trade him and his numbers arent good his value will drop. I think bucholz is sent to the pen and used as a starter in injury situations.