December 19, 2007
Would you give up Clay Buchholz?
Some thoughts as the Hot Stove League has cooled down (for now):
One of the latest rumors about the hunt for Johan Santana is that the Twins want Clay Buchholz in any trade with the Red Sox. Boston's answer should be easy. No. Period.
Buchholz shows the potential to become a right-handed Santana. He's only 23 and won't be demanding $25-million a year anytime soon.
Can't blame the Twins for asking. With the Diamondbacks acquiring Dan Haren from the A's, there are not a lot of attractive pitchers available. Someone is going to overpay for Santana (I'm guessing the Mets, because they HAVE to do something to recover from 2007).
Now, would you trade Jacoby Ellsbury in a deal for Santana? Tough call but, if you go with the facts over emotion, then you make the deal. An ace pitcher is that valuable. When the Red Sox were down 3-1 to the Indians in the ALCS, Boston's confidence was still there - not because of any regular player in the lineup, but because Josh Beckett stood on the mound.
As the comment on my last blog stated: Since Andy Pettitte has admitted to take HGH, it gives validity to conditioning coach Brian McNamee's testimony. That testimony includes Roger Clemens taking steroids. So far, Clemens' denials have not been convincing.
Good to see that old friend Jeff Bailey re-signed with the Red Sox. Bailey (Sea Dogs member in 2001, '04 and '05) had a decent year in Pawtucket last year (15 homers, 60 RBI), but the highlight was obviously his call-up for three games with Boston. The qualifies Bailey for a ring.
Posted at 05:20 AM
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Taking 5 minutes to re-read and edit this "blag" would make it more reputable. I noticed a handful of spelling errors and grammatical errors.
Posted by Jack
December 19, 2007 09:32 AM
I would trade Buchholz in a N.Y. minute!! Left handed aces are very hard to come by!! Right handers are a dime a dozen!!
Posted by bbman
December 21, 2007 01:39 AM
kevin,
i love buchholz just as much as the next guy, and you. he will be a cy young type pitcher throughout his career as long as he stays healthy.
but he still hasn't really established himself yet. santana has---and he's still got his best years ahead of him.
if we aquire santana, it would be next to impossible to conceive that the sox would lose a 5 game playoff series with beckett, santana, and dice k. it just wouldn't happen. i firmly belive in 30 years when both players are out of the league, johan santana will be the more acclaimed pitcher. its tough to part with a homegrown pitcher with a bright future, but i think the fenway faithful would quickly become enamored by santana pitching behind beckett every 5th game
Posted by
nickDecember 21, 2007 05:27 PM
Dude, you're a professional reporter - do the research. Santana's Fenway ERA is almost 7.00, he's had a tendency to fade down the stretch, and he's struggled in the postseason.
Not what I want from an ace for $20 million per year. We already had that when Clemens was with the team. Don't need it again.
Keep Buchholz, keep Lester, keep Ellsbury. Let the Yankees overpay for another guy who hasn't shown up in the post-season.
Posted by
Kevin S.December 24, 2007 08:59 PM
Santana's ERA at Fenway is based on 15 innings. His ERA against Boston overall is 3.40. His ERA at Yankee Stadium is 1.16.
He does not fade but actually gets better down the stretch, as indicated by his career 2.60 ERA in the months of August and September.
And his struggles in the postseason are another myth. His postseason stats are hurt by one bad appearance when he was a reliever, and one bad start against the Yankees when he tried to pitch through a leg injury. His other postseason starts:
vs NYY, 4 IP, 0 ER, hurt his leg
vs NYY, 7 IP, 0 ER
vs NYY, 5 IP, 1 ER
vs OAK, 8 IP, 2 ER
That's 24 IP and 3 ER, an ERA of 1.13, with 16 of those innings coming against a potent Yankee lineup.
Posted by
MarkDecember 27, 2007 11:21 AM
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