The Red Sox/Dombrowski match is probably one of luck — they were looking for a veteran front office leader with some cachet and he got fired at the right time in Detroit — but it really is a good match.
The capital that matters in the game is no longer free agency dollars, at least not the way it has been for the past couple decades. Because of the pre-arb extensions for star players and growing ability for small market teams to spend, the Yankees and Red Sox’s of the world can’t sign free agents to fill all their needs. They can still leverage their financial might to build deep and talented front offices, they can spend wildly internationally and afford to take the best strategic tack in the draft. All the resources going to player development leads to a bit of a prospect log-jam, sometimes, and then it’s a question of making deals to fill needs.
Dombrowski hasn’t been shy about dealing prospects. He’s avoided dealing from the top shelf though. One has to assume there is a probability that the players he has parted with are players the organization doesn’t see highly. I believe they valued Espinoza greatly, but a slight 18 year old pitcher is not without his risks.
It certainly seems that more contending teams are opening the season with “incomplete” rosters. Find me a team without some pretty obvious holes. If they do well in the first half and have the prospects, they can address those needs with a much deeper pool of players than they can in December on the costly free agent market.
Although I hate Espinoza for Pomeranz from a long-term perspective, with the Sox in a win-now mode they can’t be too fussy. Their biggest roster hole is starting pitching, and the dropoff from Hill/Teheran/Pomeranz to the other starters on selling teams is pretty severe. So we have to look at the context of the very moment of the deal to better appreciate the tradeoff that was made.
Considering the amount of young talent the Red Sox have, both on the roster. And in the minors, why are they in win-now mode? Aside from Steve Wright, a patient team can tear the rest of their rotation apart. The Green Monster can really prey on the minds and ERAs of young lefties like Drew, too.
A fan should prefer they spend money and leave the prospects alone. If they had taken Matt Kemp off their hands, they probably could have kept the prospect.
This is simply not true. Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller were elite, can’t-miss prospects who even many casual fans knew of. Maybin was ranked in BA’s Top 10 in three consecutive seasons and Miller was ranked in BA’s Top 10 once.
The Red Sox/Dombrowski match is probably one of luck — they were looking for a veteran front office leader with some cachet and he got fired at the right time in Detroit — but it really is a good match.
The capital that matters in the game is no longer free agency dollars, at least not the way it has been for the past couple decades. Because of the pre-arb extensions for star players and growing ability for small market teams to spend, the Yankees and Red Sox’s of the world can’t sign free agents to fill all their needs. They can still leverage their financial might to build deep and talented front offices, they can spend wildly internationally and afford to take the best strategic tack in the draft. All the resources going to player development leads to a bit of a prospect log-jam, sometimes, and then it’s a question of making deals to fill needs.
Dombrowski hasn’t been shy about dealing prospects. He’s avoided dealing from the top shelf though. One has to assume there is a probability that the players he has parted with are players the organization doesn’t see highly. I believe they valued Espinoza greatly, but a slight 18 year old pitcher is not without his risks.
It certainly seems that more contending teams are opening the season with “incomplete” rosters. Find me a team without some pretty obvious holes. If they do well in the first half and have the prospects, they can address those needs with a much deeper pool of players than they can in December on the costly free agent market.
Although I hate Espinoza for Pomeranz from a long-term perspective, with the Sox in a win-now mode they can’t be too fussy. Their biggest roster hole is starting pitching, and the dropoff from Hill/Teheran/Pomeranz to the other starters on selling teams is pretty severe. So we have to look at the context of the very moment of the deal to better appreciate the tradeoff that was made.
Considering the amount of young talent the Red Sox have, both on the roster. And in the minors, why are they in win-now mode? Aside from Steve Wright, a patient team can tear the rest of their rotation apart. The Green Monster can really prey on the minds and ERAs of young lefties like Drew, too.
A fan should prefer they spend money and leave the prospects alone. If they had taken Matt Kemp off their hands, they probably could have kept the prospect.
> He’s avoided dealing from the top shelf though.
This is simply not true. Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller were elite, can’t-miss prospects who even many casual fans knew of. Maybin was ranked in BA’s Top 10 in three consecutive seasons and Miller was ranked in BA’s Top 10 once.
Espinoza isn’t slight… he’s a solid guy. He’s just not tall.