But he’s hardly a guarantee, not at 18 years old with a 4.38 ERA at Low A. In fact, if I am the Padres, I make this deal everyday and twice on Sunday. The right-hander can touch 99 miles per hour on the radar gun with his fastball and had some scouts drawing comparisons to Pedro Martinez.
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On the other side, yes, Espinoza is a huge risk simply because he is so young and there is so much that can happen on the road from A ball to the majors. Boston traded for Arizona Diamondbacks closer Brad Zeigler in a deal that sent Drive pitcher Jose Almonte and second baseman Luis Alejandro Basabe to the Diamondbacks.
Going into 2017 with a core of Wil Myers, Drew Pomeranz, a hopefully healthy Tyson Ross, and Melvin Upton, along with a couple quality offseason additions, the Padres could be a competitive team next year. The Tennessee native attended “Ole Miss and was drafted in the first round by the Cleveland Indians of the 2010 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft”. Dombrowski had little choice, then, but to act quickly and pay a steep price.
This is how Dombrowski rolls, quickly and aggressively. He’s actually been cleaning out the Red Sox’s organization, as he also acquired Manuel Margot, Javier Guerra, Carlos Asuaje and Logan Allen from them in the Craig Kimbrel trade. If Drew Pomeranz can get that kind of haul in a trade, what would more proven players get?
That the Red Sox have control over Pomeranz for years to come is an advantage in this market, as Dombrowski portrayed it. He said other teams were asking for the same prospects from the Sox no matter how many years of control the Sox would have had on the pitcher coming back to them. With 102 innings pitched, Pomeranz is already at his career high. As one rival executive put it, “I would really be concerned about his workload for the balance of the year”.
Pomeranz has certainly been a strong pitcher since 2014. 533 opponents’ OPS against the AL East. Well, that’s in only 45 2/3 innings.
Rodriguez was so impressive as a rookie previous year that the Red Sox thought he might emerge as a No. 2 starter this season.
Overall, the deal feels like an exchange that will benefit both teams in the long run. Now signed to a one-year, $1.35M contract, he is arbitration eligible after the season, although he does not hit the free agent market until 2019.
The Atlanta Braves have generally been consistent about not wanting to trade Julio Teheran. He has a very fast arm action without too much effort in his delivery, giving plenty of reason for scouts to get excited about his future prospects.
That’s probably a good thing for the Red Sox.
Dombrowski’s hand is being forced by performance, however, not depth or situation when it comes to his starting rotation.
Of course, for all of Pomeranz’s improvement this season, he’s also had some good fortune, and is likely that he’s going to find it harder to pitch in Fenway Park, where lefty starters have historically had their troubles, but he’s an easy upgrade to the Boston rotation and isn’t expensive, yet.
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David Price, Steven Wright and Rick Porcello have given the Red Sox plenty of innings, but Boston’s fourth and fifth starters were a disaster in the first half.
