Dombrowski does his job
Addition of Kinsler fills last glaring need of Sox
Dave Dombrowski did his job. Now it’s in Alex Cora’s hands.
More accurately, it’s in the players’ hands.
The Red Sox let the 4 p.m. nonwaiver trade deadline pass yesterday without making any additional moves, but the three trades they already made arguably have filled every hole on the roster of baseball’s best team.
Could the Sox have used another reliever? Sure, and that could be said for every team but the New York Yankees, who are desperate for healthy starters despite being loaded in the bullpen.
The Red Sox’ 3.35 bullpen ERA ranks sixth in the majors. It’s a deep group. And there should be extra starters (Nathan Eovaldi, Eduardo Rodriguez) who can let their stuff play up out of relief in the postseason.
Dombrowski, who completed his third trade deadline as the Red Sox president of baseball operations yesterday, admitted the bullpen could be better, but no team is perfect. To call the Sox’ relief crew a hole would be misleading. Craig Kimbrel and Matt Barnes have been among the game’s best at their jobs, Tyler Thornburg is trending in a positive way, noname Ryan Brasier is throwing 99 mph with a wipeout slider and Joe Kelly could always rebound.
Moving on, what Dombrowski did accomplish was giving a boost to baseball’s highest scoring offense with two lefty-mashing bats in Steve Pearce and Ian Kinsler.
He covered up two positions that have been defensive liabilities all season, second and third base. In one trade, he allows one of the game’s best second baseman in Kinsler to take over for the struggling Eduardo Nunez, who can shift to a more natural spot at the hot corner until Rafael Devers returns.
And Dombrowski rectified a potential problem in starting pitching depth by acquiring Eovaldi, who could touch triple digits out of the ’pen later this year.
All while giving up none of the Red Sox’ few remaining prospects of impact.
“I think we have a good club,” Dombrowski said. “I think it’s a well-balanced club. We do a lot of things well. They’ve played well. They have good chemistry. The manager and staff have done a tremendous job. Just like everything else, it will be settled on the field, how people perform, but I think they have a chance to perform well. And I think we have depth as well.
“Now, if the wrong guys get hurt you never can carry those type of things, it’s after the trading deadline, but I think it’s a good team.”
Kinsler made it to Fenway in time to start at second base last night against Philadelphia. He was 1-for-4 with a single. He also had a ninthinning strikeout with two runners on in the 3-1 loss. He was in St.Petersburg, Fla., with the Angels when he got the news.
“It was a pretty easy trip this morning,” he said. “I think it’s more pressure on my wife than me, so she takes the brunt of it.”
Kinsler previously played in Texas and Detroit, getting valuable postseason experience with the Rangers in 2010-12 and the Tigers in 2014. He’s a .291 hitter with an .848 OPS in the postseason.
And while he’s hit just .239 with a .710 OPS this year, he arrives on a run of 12-for-24 with five doubles and two homers, all while being one of the best defensive second basemen in the league.
“It’s the whole package,” Cora said. “We’re more athletic, a better team defensively today, and deeper. Eduardo (Nunez) is playing great the last few days. Swinging the bat better. Made some adjustments. He’s more direct to the ball. Brock (Holt), he’s playing well. So now the rotation is a lot deeper and we can keep guys fresh.”
What are Kinsler’s thoughts about playing for the Red Sox?
“It’s one of my favorite places to play,” he said. “You better bring your A-game every night. It’s a lot of expectations every night. But at the same time, you need to play relaxed and play your game. Honestly, it makes it easier when you need to play more focused when you have fans like Boston has.”
The Sox were 29th in baseball in production against left-handed pitchers when they designated Hanley Ramirez in May. Since that time, they have turned a corner against southpaws. They added Pearce, one of the game’s best lefty mashers. And with Kinsler that adds a career .298 hitter with an .860 OPS against lefties.
“All of a sudden our lineup vs. left-handed pitching looks a lot different than it did earlier in the year,” Dombrowski said. “Our defense at second base wasn’t great. It was OK. We were hoping all along that Dustin (Pedroia) would come back and maybe he will come back in September, but there are no assurances to that.”
With Kinsler as the final move, the little things were addressed.
The rest is up to the players.