McAdam: More deals will likely mean more short-term misery for the Red Sox

As the trade deadline draws ever closer, there's an expectation that the Red Sox will be among the busiest teams in the game, eager to sell off some marketable players in an effort to hasten the roster overhaul that's so desperately needed.

The Red Sox unofficially kicked off the trade season Friday night with a deal that shipped relievers Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree to the Philadelphia Phillies for Nick Pivetta and Connor Seabold.

Unsurprisingly, the trade saw the Sox focused on their area of greatest need -- starting pitching. That's been an area of deficiency for more than a decade for the organization, with the team unable to duplicate its success in developing position players.

The Sox, with the worst record in the American League, have plenty to offer interested teams. Jackie Bradley Jr. and Kevin Pillar, both headed for free agency this fall, will draw interest, as will first baseman Mitch Moreland, also in the final year of his deal.

Indications are the Sox would be willing to take back some of the remaining money on veterans with multi-year deals, such as J.D. Martinez, Christian Vazquez and Nate Eovaldi -- further expanding their list of available pieces to move.

But Friday's deal came with a caveat: in the short-term, such deals are likely to make the Red Sox worse, not better.



It was no coincidence that, in the immediate aftermath of the swap with the Phillies, the Sox dropped two one-run games. On Saturday, suddenly without Workman and Hembree, the Sox lost a lead in the eighth inning and again in the 10th, resulting in a 5-4 loss.

On Sunday, manager Ron Roenicke, in an indirect reference to the heavy workload carried by the bullpen, said he was without the use of four relievers. Again, the Sox lost a one-run game in which the deciding run was scored in the seventh inning.

Because both pitchers obtained from the Phillies were sent to the Red Sox' alternate training site in Pawtucket -- Pivetta is in need of some of fine-tuning as well as a boost of confidence, while Seabold, having never pitched above Double-A, simply requires more development time -- the trade left the Red Sox with two major league roster spots to fill.

The Sox chose to recall lefty Jeffrey Springs and righthander Robert Stock. On Sunday, both made appearances and neither was effective.

Springs inherited a bases-loaded mess from starter Zack Godley and promptly allowed two hits to the first two hitters he faced, resulting in three runs scoring. Stock was handed a clean inning in the seventh but was touched for three hits and two runs.

None of which is meant to be especially critical of Springs and Stock. One appearance does not define a pitcher. But it's probably not realistic to expect much from either. Springs is a 27-year-old with 48 big league appearances to his credit; Stock, 30, is on his fifth organization. Both could accurately be described as journeymen.

If the Red Sox made additional deals over the next week -- as many expect -- the roster vacancies will be similarly filled. The players traded away will see their spots on the roster assumed by placeholders -- players who have had some degree of major league experience, but are not viewed as part of the team's future.

In recent weeks, chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom has repeatedly warned against the dangers of rushing prospects to the big leagues prematurely. That goes double, Bloom has indicated, for pitchers. Promoting them to the majors before they're ready could result in a loss of confidence and actually retard their development.

So if the Red Sox were to, say, trade Eovaldi, his spot would not be taken by someone like Bryan Mata or Tanner Houck, but more likely Chris Mazza, 30, or Dylan Covey, 29.

Similarly, if the Sox were to trade Vazquez, that would elevate Kevin Plawecki to the No. 1 spot, with one of several veteran catchers -- Juan Centeno or Jett Bandy -- promoted to the back-up spot. Connor Wong, meanwhile, would remain at the alternate training site, learning the position.

In all likelihood, the Red Sox will be targeting prospects in any additional trades. On occasion, the team might receive a player with some level of experience in the big leagues. But as has already been demonstrated in the case of Pivetta, the Sox are more interested in getting players on the right development track than they are in winning otherwise meaningless games over the next five weeks.

The major league roster could, for the short-term, be filled with more 4A players rather than promising young players who will be part of the long-term solution for the organization.

In other words, in the short term, there's a good chance things will get worse before they get better.