Dyers’ Eve?
As the July 31st trading deadline looms, the talk of the region has centered around the Red Sox contemplating a deal for slugging White Sox outfielder Jermaine Dye, in exchange for Wily Mo Pena and a young pitcher to be determined. Boston is apparently searching for the consistent right-handed power bat that they thought they were getting when they shipped Bronson Arroyo off to Cincinnati for the much-maligned Wily Mo Pena.
There are a few questions we should ask ourselves before even looking at the possible trade-bait going to Chicago:
Q: Are we sure that Dye will be a significant upgrade over Wily Mo down the stretch?
A: Yes, as sure as we can be. After starting out slow, Dye is mashing right now, hitting .295/.377/.689 since the All-Star break. This is coming after a season where he was arguably the best hitter in the league. Jermaine Dye is what Wily Mo hopes to become in 3 years.
Q: Would Dye be a long-term acquisition, or a 2-month rental?
A: He’d be a rental. With a (hopefully) healthier Ortiz in 2008, and two high-priced sluggers at both corner OF positions, there just isn’t any room for the big guy. The Red Sox would just parlay the rental into some draft day compensation in June (a system that they have been very adept at working in recent years).
Q: Well then, where would he play this year?
A: Here is the tough part. My guess is, David Ortiz needs some time off. I’m not sure how much time he needs, as the Sox are naturally keeping that quiet. But, Dye would get some time at DH, he would play RF against left-handed pitchers, and he might even play some LF to let Manny rest his legs. I’d guess he’d start in roughly half of the remaining games on the schedule, in addition to being the first bat off the bench, and would get something like 20 plate appearances per week.
That being said, what does Chicago want? The word on the street is they were asking for one of Justin Masterson (sound familiar?) or Manny Delcarmen. Personally, I wouldn’t do either of those deals, and according to the usual sources, neither will the Red Sox. The key here will be whether or not Chicago GM Kenny Williams is willing to reduce his offer a bit and accept a pitcher with a slightly lower ceiling.
Stay tuned…
