A look back, in the wake of Michael Bowden's start last night (and to be fair it did follow a recent relief outing followed by two weeks or more of inconsistent usage) and Jason Varitek's recent 7-for-7 debacle against the Yankees:
The Diamondbacks, who would like another starting pitcher, continue to insist on Michael Bowden for Miguel Montero, and Boston GM Theo Epstein still won't trade Bowden.
Now the argument could be that with Montero in the fold, the Sox wouldn't have traded for Victor Martinez. Of course, the counterarguments could be that 1. the Sox would not have needed Martinez nearly as badly with Montero (111 OPS+) in the lineup, and 2. by not trading for V-Mart, the Sox could have perhaps used the same prospects to acquire Cliff Lee.
To further the Montero-Martinez comparison, Montero has a .927 OPS since turning his season around June 27, while Martinez has an .899 OPS since joining the Red Sox (to be fair, Montero's OPS is .848 in that same timeframe). And obviously, things have worked out just fine for the Sox this year, as Martinez has been a catalyst who has helped drive the Sox to yet another postseason.
But have we mentioned Montero is 25?
3 replies on “The Trades You Don’t Make, Counterpoint”
As with the yankees (and most other teams) the Sox are prone to fall in love with and overvalue their own prospects. In the end it could work out and Bowden may develop into a great pitcher but the fact that the player they would have received back for him was so young makes this non-move more puzzling to me. That coupled with the fact that it was a Catcher which was clearly a spot that everyone knew would need to be addressed.
The only logical thing I can think of, Sam, is that the rumor was false, that it was Bowden plus someone else for Montero. I remember thinking at the time that the Sox should have absolutely made the trade if that was indeed the offer.
yeah, if I’m the Sox GM, I make that trade every day. Might have been some false rumor started to help in another area.