Boston has obvious pitching needs ahead of the trade deadline
Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Cooper Criswell (right) awaits a mound visit by pitching coach Andrew Bailey (left) in the fourth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
The Boston Red Sox need another starting pitcher.
As July 30 approaches, Boston’s chief baseball officer Craig Breslow must decide how much prospect capital he’s willing to relinquish in exchange for a starter.
For Garrett Crochet or Tarik Skubal, Breslow would have to give up prospects ranked at the very top of the Red Sox farm system.
The most prudent move for Breslow is probably to aim a tad lower on the market and acquire a very good — though perhaps not elite — starter before the deadline without selling the cream of Boston’s up-and-coming talent.
One name that fits the bill for this plan is Andrew Heaney of the Texas Rangers. Heaney to the Red Sox is an idea that arose Wednesday on Buster Olney’s podcast, “Baseball Tonight with Buster Olney”.
Olney described Boston’s pitching staff as being “on fumes” before allowing his guest, Paul Hembekides, to weigh in on the Red Sox.
“There is no question about it, the Red Sox should buy,” Hembekides said. “This team needs to improve its run prevention … The perfect world scenario is one in which you add a left-handed starter that you feel good about, potentially in a postseason setting ... We know what the pipe dreams are. It’s Skubal and it’s Crochet. This is a team that could very easily settle for Tyler Anderson, (or) Andrew Heaney.”
Although Heaney is 4-10 this season, he’s kept a solid 3.60 ERA and tallied 101 strikeouts in 100 innings pitched for Texas. Furthermore, Heaney won a World Series less than a calendar year ago with the Rangers and would thus provide Boston’s clubhouse with a bit of gravitas.
Adding Heaney might not dominate the headlines, but it would make the Red Sox better prepared for the playoffs.
