Red Sox 'keeper'
Ryan Kalish (MLB)
Complain as you will – as so many sportsradio callers are – but the best thing the Boston Red Sox did at the trading deadline is exactly what they did: next to nothing. And the reasons have nothing to do with their recent late-inning heroics.
Yes, they could have acquired players to replace their more ineffective injury replacements, but imagine the roster logjam than would ensue when their wounded warriors (imminently) return. Plus, it’s not like there were lots of ‘studs’ on the market to be chosen from, merely other spare parts that likely would not have been improvements over the ones they already have. (Does Ramon Ramirez to the Giants for minor-leaguer Daniel Turpen even qualify as a parts exchange? At least it clears the way for Daniel Bard and/or Felix Doubront to man the bullpen later in the season.)
The best news is that the Sox have held onto their top minor league talent and can still use them as chips in trades yet to come or as building blocks for the future. (Even Jarrod Saltalamacchia was acquired from the Rangers for a collection of names best known only in their own households.) One of these prospects, Ryan Kalish, has already been pressed into duty to good effect and, unlike an established trade-ee, will remain with the organization when Jacoby Ellsbury returns in a week/two weeks/one month/who knows. In other fields, that’s known as resource conservation, and there’s much to recommend it in the baseball context as well.
Now, if only the Red Sox would release or trade Mike Lowell already and start making productive use of all 25 of their roster spots …
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