The Boston Red Sox had a “relatively quiet day” Tuesday at the Major League Baseball winter meetings, according to president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. It’s a stark contrast from Monday, when the Red Sox kicked off the annual event by completing a four-player trade with the Seattle Mariners.
The Red Sox likely will be mentioned in some rumblings throughout the rest of this week in Nashville, Tenn., but all indications are that Boston has done its heavy lifting. The Sox already addressed their biggest areas of need, so one shouldn’t expect anything too crazy, though you really never know.
Dombrowski and manager John Farrell both met with reporters Tuesday night in Nashville. Let’s go over some notes from their availability.
— The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier reported Tuesday that the Red Sox backed away from trade discussions with the Cincinnati Reds about Aroldis Chapman in November after discovering the All-Star closer had allegedly been involved in a domestic dispute.
It’s interesting given that the domestic violence allegations didn’t surface until Monday night at the winter meetings, throwing a wrench into a reported deal between the Reds and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Nevertheless, it’s not an issue the Red Sox would like to discuss. They’ve since acquired Craig Kimbrel from the San Diego Padres to be their closer in 2016.
— The Red Sox traded from their starting pitching surplus Monday in the deal that sent Miley to Seattle and brought Smith to Boston. It could spell the end of Boston’s rotation maneuvering, but the Red Sox still have a few starters (Henry Owens, Steven Wright, Roenis Elias) outside of the starting five (David Price, Clay Buchholz, Eduardo Rodriguez, Rick Porcello, Joe Kelly) who could interest other teams.
The Sox just aren’t in any rush to move them.
— Expect to hear the Red Sox mentioned in connection with Shelby Miller and Jose Fernandez for as long as the pitchers are available on the trade market, even if it’s purely speculation. It comes with the territory of being a big market team with a loaded farm system.
Take such rumors with a grain of salt, though. The price for either pitcher figures to be high — understandably so — and the Red Sox seemingly like their current situation.
— Buchholz is somewhat of a wild card each year based on his injury history. The 31-year-old never has made 30 starts or topped 190 innings in a single season.
Yet the Red Sox are expecting big things from Buchholz, who’s a very good pitcher when healthy. Farrell doesn’t think 200 innings is out of the question for 2016.
Farrell also pointed to Price and Porcello as candidates for 200 innings, which is much more reasonable given their respective track records.
— Rodriguez seems capable of taking the next step in 2016. It’ll be interesting to see how the Red Sox approach the 22-year-old’s workload.
— Boston’s first base situation could be a fun spring training storyline, don’t you think?
— To end on a positive note, let’s give it up for Farrell. The guy is a warrior and it’s great to see him doing so well.
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
