As everyone knows, the Red Sox have dealt 4/5 of their opening day rotation in the last week, and have also brought in a few pitchers.
I think we can all agree that the best use of the remainder of the 2014 season in Boston is to get a sense of who can and can't help in 2015. I thought it would be worth taking a look at the top layers of the minor leagues and see what the Sox should do with all of this B-/C+ starting pitching. As well, there are several roster considerations, which I won't necessarily get into, but this time of year there are some roster crunch considerations due to draftees signing pushing guys up the ladder. You can see some evidence of this if you go over to the Soxprospects Organizational Roster Page here.
Boston:
- Clay Buchholz. Obviously you can only hope he can pitch his way out of his doldrums. He seems to not be injured.
- Joe Kelly. I think his future is in the bullpen, but because of his baserunning injury earlier this year, he hasn't pitched much, and it would be good to give him the innings and the shot at earning a rotation spot. As well, the Red Sox pretty clearly have stated he is going to start here.
- Brandon Workman. I'm honestly not sold on Workman as anything more than a back of the rotation starter or bullpen arm, but he has pitched well enough to keep this spot.
- RDLR. He has held his own. the concern here is that he has already thrown 25% more innings than he did in his injury shortened 2013. I'm not sure how many more starts he will make.
I-95 Shuttle:
- Allen Webster. Still the highest ceiling guy they have other than Buchholz. Has almost 3.5 years of AA/AAA experience now, so at some point you have to see if he'll play in the majors. In the Boston rotation for now.
- Anthony Ranaudo. Almost interchangeable with Webster, with worse stuff but better command. Similar age/experience. If he dominates the Yankees tonight then he might stay while Webster goes back south. I almost think the best thing is to demote Webster now, keep Ranaudo up for 3 starts, then swap them, and then bring them both up in September while shutting down RDLR.
- Steven Wright. First guy in for emergencies.
Pawtucket:
- Matt Barnes. Just need to keep pitching him and hoping to see some improvement
- Edwin Escobar. Will be happy to get out of the PCL and Fresno and see if he can re-establish some hype.
- Chris Hernandez. Not much of a prospect, but pitching well enough to not lose his spot.
Portland:
- Henry Owens. Many people might say it is time to push him to AAA and I could see it, but the advantage of getting him more time against more advanced AAA hitters is mitigated a bit by having him lead a team into the playoffs, and sometimes (not often, but sometimes) major league clubs that don't have a lot to gain will stall a promotion to reward a minor league team. Portland's last winning season was 2008. So I can see the Sox letting Owens stay and give the Sea Dogs a chance for the EL crown.
- Brian Johnson. Having a good 2014 that has elevated his stock a bit.
- Eduardo Rodriguez. Many thought he might contribute in the majors this year, but he has struggled and is still young for the Eastern League.
- Luis Diaz. Promoted from Salem earlier in the year, shown some promise, probably longer term a bullpen guy, but should keep his spot.
- Justin Haley. Recent Salem promotion (7/29).
I think you could make the aggressive play and start separating out some chaff, demote Hernandez to the Pawtucket bullpen, and promote Owens and maybe I wouldn't argue too much with that.
In terms of looking forward to 2015, under the assumption the Red Sox will sign a few players to fill out the major league roster, I think 2015 will see some significant trade activity.
I think we can all agree that the best use of the remainder of the 2014 season in Boston is to get a sense of who can and can't help in 2015. I thought it would be worth taking a look at the top layers of the minor leagues and see what the Sox should do with all of this B-/C+ starting pitching. As well, there are several roster considerations, which I won't necessarily get into, but this time of year there are some roster crunch considerations due to draftees signing pushing guys up the ladder. You can see some evidence of this if you go over to the Soxprospects Organizational Roster Page here.
Boston:
- Clay Buchholz. Obviously you can only hope he can pitch his way out of his doldrums. He seems to not be injured.
- Joe Kelly. I think his future is in the bullpen, but because of his baserunning injury earlier this year, he hasn't pitched much, and it would be good to give him the innings and the shot at earning a rotation spot. As well, the Red Sox pretty clearly have stated he is going to start here.
- Brandon Workman. I'm honestly not sold on Workman as anything more than a back of the rotation starter or bullpen arm, but he has pitched well enough to keep this spot.
- RDLR. He has held his own. the concern here is that he has already thrown 25% more innings than he did in his injury shortened 2013. I'm not sure how many more starts he will make.
I-95 Shuttle:
- Allen Webster. Still the highest ceiling guy they have other than Buchholz. Has almost 3.5 years of AA/AAA experience now, so at some point you have to see if he'll play in the majors. In the Boston rotation for now.
- Anthony Ranaudo. Almost interchangeable with Webster, with worse stuff but better command. Similar age/experience. If he dominates the Yankees tonight then he might stay while Webster goes back south. I almost think the best thing is to demote Webster now, keep Ranaudo up for 3 starts, then swap them, and then bring them both up in September while shutting down RDLR.
- Steven Wright. First guy in for emergencies.
Pawtucket:
- Matt Barnes. Just need to keep pitching him and hoping to see some improvement
- Edwin Escobar. Will be happy to get out of the PCL and Fresno and see if he can re-establish some hype.
- Chris Hernandez. Not much of a prospect, but pitching well enough to not lose his spot.
Portland:
- Henry Owens. Many people might say it is time to push him to AAA and I could see it, but the advantage of getting him more time against more advanced AAA hitters is mitigated a bit by having him lead a team into the playoffs, and sometimes (not often, but sometimes) major league clubs that don't have a lot to gain will stall a promotion to reward a minor league team. Portland's last winning season was 2008. So I can see the Sox letting Owens stay and give the Sea Dogs a chance for the EL crown.
- Brian Johnson. Having a good 2014 that has elevated his stock a bit.
- Eduardo Rodriguez. Many thought he might contribute in the majors this year, but he has struggled and is still young for the Eastern League.
- Luis Diaz. Promoted from Salem earlier in the year, shown some promise, probably longer term a bullpen guy, but should keep his spot.
- Justin Haley. Recent Salem promotion (7/29).
I think you could make the aggressive play and start separating out some chaff, demote Hernandez to the Pawtucket bullpen, and promote Owens and maybe I wouldn't argue too much with that.
In terms of looking forward to 2015, under the assumption the Red Sox will sign a few players to fill out the major league roster, I think 2015 will see some significant trade activity.
