“Looks like Jesus, Acts like Judas, Throws like Mary.”
Remember when that happened? Well, Judas may be on his way back to Beantown.
The Red Sox have claimed former postseason hero Johnny Damon off of waivers from the Detroit Tigers. Damon has yet to decide whether or not to join his former club, he can veto a deal to the Sox, but lets take a look at the potential impact he could have for this team down the stretch.
Note: Reports seem to be indicating that Damon is leaning toward vetoing a deal, so we’ll also look at some other possible alternatives.
Injuries have held the Red Sox back this season, we all know that, but the replacement players — outfielders specifically — have actually done a decent good job filling in. However, out of Ryan Kalish, Darnell McDonald and Daniel Nava only Nava has an OBP over .340. Even at that, Nava’s .368 OBP is probably unsustainable given his .377 BABIP and strikeout rate close to 30 percent in only 114 plate appearances. Damon, even in the midst of a down season, still has an above average .355 OBP.
With Jacoby Ellsbury out, Marco Scutaro is the de facto leadoff man from here on out with J.D. Drew batting second. Scutaro hasn’t got on base nearly as often as he did in his career year last season and Drew has hit only .183/.275/.300 against left-handed pitchers this season, as opposed to Damon who is hitting .293/.393/.380 against left-handed pitching with no history of issues over his long career. Getting a good OBP hitter with no platoon splits at either leadoff or in the two-hole could help increace run scoring opportunities.
Damon, who’s power numbers are down, would likely see a boost in his extra base hits given the amount of fly ball outs in Detroit that would turn into hits off of the green monster in Boston. While his defense would not be an upgrade in left, advanced stats show Damon as still holding his own this season. Though the “Throws like Mary” Part would still be an issue.
In other words, Damon would be a welcomed addition to the top of the Sox order. However, scoring runs hasn’t been a problem of late or for the entire season for that matter. The Sox rank behind only the Yankees in runs scored this season and have scored the sixth most runs in baseball over the last 30 days. On the flip side, the Sox have allowed the eleventh most runs in the bigs in 2010.
The problem here is that there doesn’t seem to be any impact pitching available through waivers — for the rotation or the bullpen. And even if there were, would it be worth the roster move at this point?
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Since there is a fair chance that Damon does reject a trade to the Sox, what other options are out there?
Brad Hawpe has cleared waivers, but after two straight quality years with the Rockies, 2010 has been nothing short of a lost season. His defense is negligible in the outfield, but he could be a platoon partner with Mike Lowell since Carlos Delgado is already on the disabled list at triple-A. That being said, Hawpe’s SLG and ISO have been lower on the road than at home throughout his time with the Rockies. Hawpe is a .280/.368/.523 hitter with 15 home runs in 318 career interleague plate appearances.
Adam LaRoche has cleared waivers, but would be a long shot at best. There have been rumors that LaRoche is trying to work out a multi-year deal with Arizona. He has a $7.5 million dollar mutual option for 2011 with a $1.5 million dollar buyout, so the Sox would likely be on the hook for some type of payment beyond the rest of 2010.
Lyle Overbay and Geoff Blum are both left-handed bats that could platoon at first base, but neither represents much of an upgrade over Lowell.
It’s clear from this list that the Sox options are limited to left-handed hitting first basemen at this point. There may be a number of other names that have been put on waivers, but have gone unreported. Whatever the case, it doesn’t seem likely that the Sox will acquire anyone that will make a big impact down the stretch, though giving Hawpe a shot to platoon with Lowell might be worth a look.
Damon or no Damon, the Sox and their 13 percent chance to make the playoffs may be better off letting the youngsters play it out.