Trade Profiles: Boston Red Sox

SB Nation

Who would have thought that a year after winning the World Series, the Boston Red Sox would be in last place in the AL East and big time sellers on the trade market.  Well, that's what has happened and the Pirates would be smart to swoop in.  The Sox have both starters and relievers the Pirates could be interested in, so I thought I'd profile a few.

Yesterday I profiled Jon Lester along with David Price so most of these guys will be bullpen pieces.  First off, Andrew Miller is a guy I think the Pirates will be most interested in.  His stats indicate absolute dominance.  He has an absurd K/9 of 14.64, BB/9 of 2.75, WHIP of 0.94, and ERA of 2.52.  That ERA is going to get lower however as his FIP and xFIP are 1.77 and 1.82 respectively.  Miller is a rental this year that can be had on the cheap and maybe even brought back next year for cheap.  Miller is a lefty and does perform better against lefties but still dominates the right side of the plate as well.

Next up, we have Junichi Tazawa.  I know what you're thinking.  After guys like Hisanori Takayashi or however you spell it and Akinori Iwamoura, you don't want any more oriental guys.  Well Tazawa might change your mind.  He's having a fairly good year so far.  He has a K/9 of 9.23, BB/9 of 2.25, WHIP of 1.28, and an ERA of 3.15.  His ERA should hover around there with a FIP and xFIP of 2.82 and 3.08.  Tazawa is not a rental as he has two more years of arbitration.  With that in mind I looked at all of his major stats and he is pitching like this every year.  So he is consistently good.  The extra years should make the prospect cost about the same as Miller.

Finally, I want to profile Felix Doubront.  Doubront is a lefty starter and reliever in the Red Sox pen that kind of reminds me of Stolmy Pimental.  This season, his stats are not very favorable.  Split between a few starts and relief appearances, Doubront has a 2-4 record with a K/9 of 6.60, BB/9 rate of 3.68, WHIP of 1.48, and ERA of 5.22 but that does stand to come down to due to a FIP and xFIP of 5.00 and 4.78.  Doubront is interesting because he could compete for a rotation job next year too.  He's cheap money wise and should be very cheap prospect wise.  The only question I have is what would we do with him this season?  He isn't effective at all and we can't add another reclamation project to the bullpen.

So overall, I love the idea of getting Andrew Miller, like the idea of getting Junichi Tazawa, and lukewarm about adding Doubront.  Miller would provide a huge boost in the seventh inning and create a devastating 1, 2, 3 punch with Watson and Melancon.  Tazawa would be a great middle innings guy.  He could replace Gomez or Hughes in that role, pitching in tie games or in the sixth/seventh inning if someone has a day off.  Doubront could be a force next year after spending time with Ray Searage but there's really nothing he can do to help the team now.  So it will be interesting to see if the Pirates grab any of these Red Sox pieces.