Filling in for Tim again is Daniel Rathman…
Yesterday, the news came out that the Red Sox will recall Clay Buchholz to start Friday against the Orioles, and will meanwhile send Justin Masterson back to Pawtucket to work as a reliever. The goal of the move, ultimately, is to give Terry Francona a dependable, right-handed reliever not named Jonathan Papelbon. And Masterson, as we’ve seen during his brief stay in the rotation, certainly has the stuff to succeed in that role.
Yesterday, also, we were given reason to believe that perhaps Hideki Okajima has turned the corner on a rough first half of the season. Asked to strand the potential winning run on second and another runner at first with one out in the 8th inning, Okajima issued a bases-loading walk to Justin Morneau, but then induced a foulball popout from pinch-hitter Craig Monroe and a routine grounder to second from Delmon Young — two right-handed batters, by the way. And, that the Twins entered last night’s game with the best batting average in baseball with runners in scoring position only makes Oki’s escape job more impressive.
In fact, as I watched him yesterday, my mind wandered back to April 20th of last year; specifically, the ninth inning of the Red Sox’s unbelievable come-from-behind victory over the Yankees. It was in that game that Okajima recorded his first major league save, tossing a scoreless, 22-pitch inning to preserve a tenuous 7-6 lead, Boston’s first of the game. The question is, can Oki regain the effectiveness we saw from him during the first half of last season? He’s been very solid so far this month and, with the exception of his troubles with inherited runners, his only rough stretch was a disastrous June. If Okajima is able to build on last night’s effort, the Red Sox may have an internal option better than many of the relievers available on the trade market.
The Red Sox have been rumored to be interested in a number of different relievers, including Colorado’s Brian Fuentes, Pittsburgh’s Damaso Marte, and Seattle’s Sean Green, among others. Acquiring any of the three would mean shipping out one or two promising prospects, possibly including Michael Bowden. Any of the three could also turn into Eric Gagne 2.0. The Gagne fiasco should’ve taught the Sox a valuable lesson: trading for bullpen help, no matter how effective the target has been, is always a risky proposition.
We obviously have no way of knowing right now exactly what Theo Epstein and Co. are thinking, but the plan to convert Masterson into a reliever over the next couple of weeks, and Okajima’s recent work make me wonder if, perhaps, Theo may consider standing pat. He certainly has the pieces — Brandon Moss, Bowden, and a host of lower-ceiling pitching prospects — to get a deal done, but he may well decide that it isn’t worth the risk.
Despite the painful bullpen meltdowns we’ve seen over the past few weeks, I can’t help but wonder if the components for a successful relief corps aren’t already in place. There’s no reason to worry about our closer, and every one of the other flame-throwing righties on the roster has the makings of a quality setup man. It’s certainly means taking a leap of faith, but I’m not sure I’d be more willing to gamble on Fuentes or Green having the nerves to pitch in Boston than I would on Manny Delcarmen or Craig Hansen finally realizing their potential — especially considering that the former would also cost us a talented young player.
If just one of Delcarmen, Hansen, David Aardsma, Mike Timlin, or even Masterson, steps up, the Red Sox will have the right-handed half of their setup platoon. If Okajima’s recent work is any indication of things to come during the second half of the season, the left-handed half, too, is already in place. The other members of the bullpen may not be as dependable, but few teams can boast a dominant relief corps that’s more than three-deep.
We’ve all, at some point, clamored for the front office to bring in a reliever via trade. I’m sure Theo and Co. have heard the cries for help.
For good or for bad, in light of the recent happenings mentioned above, I’m not so sure they’ll listen.
