Of course, the biggest deal of all was back in 2004, when Nomar Garciaparra left in a four-team deal that shook the doldrums off an underachieving team and lit the fuse that led to a championship.
We know that not all of these deals worked out. Gagne was an unmitigated disaster, although that 2007 team did manage to overcome his struggles and win the World Series.
Point is, you can’t knock Theo Epstein for trying. He has pulled off blockbuster deals and deals involving multiple teams. He has addressed offensive needs, pitching needs, even defensive needs.
If he addressed the needs of this year’s team, there probably won’t be a blockbuster trade before Saturday’s 4 p.m. non-waiver deadline. This team needs bullpen help. Even when healthy, the Red Sox are lacking the type of relievers a team needs to win it all. Other than Jonathan Papelbon and Daniel Bard, there have been very few dependable arms to pitch in middle- to late-inning situations.
There is a problem in addressing this need: Just about every other contending team needs bullpen help, too. That means the Red Sox will have to overpay to bring a Scott Downs or Michael Wuertz to town by Saturday afternoon. They’ll have to consider moving one of their better prospects if they hope to bring a pitcher who can truly help them in tight games.
And they should. This is a team that is getting healthier offensively, and will feature a lineup that can compete with most teams in the American League.
More importantly, they finally have a healthy rotation, a group of starting pitchers that was heralded by many to be the best in the game before the season began. Hard to argue that they aren’t right now.
When Josh Beckett gave up three runs in six innings of work on Wednesday, it continued a stretch of starts that has seen Red Sox starters post quality starts in five of the last six games. They have given up just 12 earned runs in the last 48 2/3 innings of work in their last seven starts.
It is the type of starting pitching that can lead a team deep into October. The kind of rotation that can win a playoff series … or two, or three. In 2004, as the Red Sox struggled through a long stretch of .500 baseball, there was always a belief that the team’s rotation was good enough to win in the fall. With Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling, Derek Lowe, Bronson Arroyo and Tim Wakefield, the team felt it could bring out a top-flight starter for just about every game.
This rotation can do the same thing, which means if the Red Sox can get into the postseason, they could surprise some people. But to get there, they’ll need help in the bullpen. If Epstein can land that help, this team might make baseball fun over the next two months.
