Brandon Nickel knocks down rumors of a Miguel Cabrera trade to the Red Sox:
To assume that the Red Sox are seriously contemplating a trade for Cabrera at this moment in time is ludicrous. Whether the rumor was spurred on by daydreaming fans or not, the Red Sox are not going to replace Ortiz’s bat by any means necessary.
The Red Sox would have to give a hefty treasure trove of prospects to the Tigers just to get Cabrera, let alone his long-term contract. If the Red Sox were double-clutching about signing Encarnacion to a five-year deal, what makes anyone think that a contract that has nine more years on it would look any more attractive?
One reason Ortiz helped Boston a great deal is that his contract was always reasonable. By the time Ortiz was in a position to earn a big contract, he was seasonal age 31. In ten years, he produced 34.3 WAR according to Baseball Reference, and earned about $127 million, or about 3.7 million per WAR. That is a low rate for the time period. Boston received a ton of residual value from Ortiz that they were able to use to help build winners.
Part of that was a lack of trust in Ortiz’s age and weight (the latter less so in recent years). He could have fallen apart at any time in that span, so the Red Sox never stuck themselves with an outrageous contract. It was the smart play.
A full time DH is by definition a limited player. Boston is too smart an organization to waste big money on the position. Their best bet would be to see if Pablo Sandoval can hit again, and try to get some value out of that already bad contract.
from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/2ex4IWg
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