A Trade for Jose Fernandez is Necessary: Here's Why

(Patrick Farell/Miami Herald)

Boy oh BOY, I don’t know about you but I’m tired of seeing this pitching staff getting beaten up.  Look, for what it’s worth this team is performing just about how I thought they would.  Offense was never the question, but the pitching staff was just not strong enough to balance things out despite additions of David Price and Craig Kimbrel.  The Sox had a great run in May where they were literally the best team in baseball, but of course the offensive output was never going to continue forever.  Now the team is starting to expose themselves, dropping 7 of their last 10 to hand them three straight series losses (two of which to very mediocre teams). 

Over the offseason the Marlins seemingly made fools of themselves with an offer to the Red Sox that would send Jose Fernandez to Boston in exchange for basically everybody that had even an ounce of talent in them.  Obviously the deal was rejected at the time and laughed at by many.  But here we are, in need of that pesky little thing called pitching again and Jose Fernandez may just be the guy to end the woes. 

The Marlins in general have definitely not gotten the credit they deserve this season though, finding themselves right in the middle of the playoff picture.  As a disclaimer to this blog, the Marlins may not even be selling Jose Fernandez at the deadline if they have a chance to make the playoffs, likely through the Wild Card.  But what if they’re out of it by then? Here’s five reasons why the Red Sox should make a move for Fernandez if he’s available.  

5. The average age of the other four is 30.

I know the Mets have suddenly become the poster child for young pitching rotations and there’s obviously no way to parallel that.  But there is something to be said for having guys that are not only young but also developed.  The four current everyday Red Sox starters have an average age of 30 (unfortunately for obvious reasons they don’t have an everyday fifth starter) which is not necessarily a bad thing, its just not the most ideal thing in the world.  Again, what the Mets have is special, but there is no harm in at least trying to get younger.  Fernandez is just 23 and already possesses Cy Young talent, something that could be very deadly to compliment a proven pitcher like David Price.

4. He is under control through 2018.

Speaking of Fernandez’ age, he also comes with a couple more years of service.  2018 will mark his sixth year in the MLB, after which he will hit the open market.  The two youngest everyday starters on the Red Sox, Price and Porcello, are both locked in through at least 2018.  Adding a third arm who can pretty much be paid less than he is currently worth for another two years seems like a very attractive option going forward, especially if this rotation is ever going to try to get back to at least above-average.

3. He is a great second half pitcher.

What’s an opinion without facts? Obviously the second half is a tad bit shorter, but Fernandez is just about as good as you can possibly be during that time.  He has a 2.11 ERA and nearly 150 strikeouts in just 120 career innings in the second half. He’s only lost twice.  Now depending on the circumstances in a month, if the Red Sox are still looking to salvage a playoff spot, they should add a reliable arm that has had success in August and September. These two months are what playoff races hinge on and as Mike Lowell said on MLB Network the other day, you need two, maybe three aces on your staff to make a playoff run.

2. The future is now.

It’s really a pet peeve of mine when people don’t realize that you have to spend big to acquire big time talent.  Miami isn’t going to offer Fernandez up for just a pair of prospects for a lot of the reasons I previously listed.  That being said, Miami wants basically the city of Boston for him and rightfully so.  The Sox are stacked down on the farm with position players, but have jack shit for pitching.  A lot of positional talent has already blossomed at the big league level though (i.e. Betts, Bradley, Bogaerts, etc.). 

Many have bought into this team as a playoff team.  You really think so?  Let’s put it this way, say they’re right on the border (which in fact they just about are).  Dombrowski didn’t go out and sign Price and Kimbrel to look forward to next year because he knows Red Sox Nation is a community of instant gratification. He wants what we want: a 2016 World Series victory.  If there's a chance to make something happen, the time to do it should be now.

So what am I trying to say here? You can’t have it both ways guys.  You can’t argue to “save prospects for the future” when the future is staring you right in the face. So much young talent has come together at the same time and their offense has proved they can compete. You bought into this team as a playoff team, so recognize what has to be done in order to not only get this team to October, but also make a run into late October. 

Among others, here’s what I’m comfortable giving up for Fernandez (any sort of combination):

            Jackie Bradley Jr. He’s relatively the least valuable player of the         Betts/Bradley/Bogaerts trio because he’s not as consistent and is the oldest by three years.

            Andrew Benintendi: He’s a Major Leaguer next year, but he’s not the only outfielder out there if you know what I mean.  He can be replaced; a guy like Jose Fernandez cannot.

            Yoan Moncada: I honestly don’t want to give him up but as the #1 prospect in the system he’s a vital chip to throw into the pot if you want to keep Betts and Bogaerts from moving to South Beach.

 

            Rafael Devers: Another great prospect but Travis Shaw is the guy at third base, so Devers virtually has no place to go for the next few years.

            Eduardo Rodriguez: He’s scuffling so his value is low, but he definitely has potential in him. Maybe a change of scenery might be good for him? Miami will also need to fill a spot in the rotation.

            Clay Buchholz: Lol

In reality Miami will probably reject right away when they see Betts and Bogaerts aren’t involved. A guy can dream though right?

1. He has that “it” factor.

The Red Sox have generally had a poor track record recently when it comes to developing home-grown pitching.  The last really successful guy to come through the system was Jon Lester.  Before that...jeeze...Clemens?  Bottom line, there’s nothing to fall back on right now.  The Red Sox have an opportunity to land a pitcher who has a quality about him that I haven’t seen in a Boston uniform since Pedro Martinez.  He’s young, he’s fiery, he’s competitive, his stuff is ELECTRIC, and he has the talent to carry this pitching staff along with David Price.  This next month should be interesting.

My Five Takeaways from the 2016 U.S. Open

"Nobody ever wins an Open. Everyone else just loses it." - Bobby Jones

It's annually the toughest test in golf.  The best players in the world playing under the hardest conditions in the world.  There are always so many storylines surrounding this tournament each year, and just as many when its over.  This year's event proved to be great TV, especially on Sunday.  Here are my five takeaways from the 2016 Open.

5. Jason Day is made for the U.S. Open.

(Golf Digest)

The Aussie was the pick for many, including myself, to win this week.  It wasn’t just his recent success over the last year, but more specifically his success in this tournament that led a lot of people to side with him.  Day’s opening round 76 seemingly took him out of contention, but he battled back very nicely with a 69 on Friday and 66 on Saturday.  Unfortunately he just couldn’t get anything going on Sunday and fired a 71 to finish +2.  Remarkably though, the world #1 collected his FOURTH STRAIGHT Top-10 U.S. Open finish, his 5th in just 6 career tries.  Day has never won a U.S. Open, but it is arguably his best major. He has the mentality, and he certainly has the game, to be able to win one of these real soon. 

4. More disappointment for Sergio.

(Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

I’m honestly torn on Sergio Garcia.  I don’t know whether to root for him or not.  I guess I don’t really have a reason not to? Anyways, it’s starting to look pretty gray for the Spaniard.  This week brought Sergio to a career 0-72 record in major championships.  That being said, he may arguably be the best player in the world to have never won a major.  He has certainly contended in many, but has never been able to close the deal, and you really have to wonder how much each near-miss continues to weigh on him.  He’s still just 36 with plenty of talent in the tank, and there have been older major champions, but you really do have to wonder if he will ever actually finish the job one of these times.

3. Oakmont looked IMPOSSIBLE.

 

(Fred Vuich/Getty Images)

Wow. Oakmont Country Club.  While watching the Open I was caught somewhere between “I’d kill to play Oakmont” and “Oakmont would literally kill me.” Sure, the rain on Day 1 made the course a bit easier than anticipated, but by Sunday everything was as firm as could possibly be.  We saw chip shots from inches off the green end up 20 yards back down the fairway.  We saw four-putts.  We saw balls literally disappearing in the rough.  And best of all, we saw a lot of shocked faces.  The course played as a U.S. Open caliber course should, and was visually the exact opposite of that disgusting track last year called Chambers Bay. Personally I thought the winning score would be over par this week, and it very well may have been had there not been any rain to soften things up a bit.  Bottom line, the best in the world were visibly struggling at times to work their way around Oakmont.

P.S.—No chance I break 100 from the ladies tees under U.S. Open conditions.  Five-putts like you read about.

2. The USGA took an L this week.

As with any USGA sanctioned event, particularly a U.S. Open, there are players that sound off about course setup, rules, etc.  That comes standard, and we saw it from a few guys who missed the cut this week.  But the big story was obviously centered around Dustin Johnson’s 5^th hole on Sunday afternoon.  Johnson walked up to his ball on the green and took a few practice strokes.  He DID NOT address the ball (addressing the ball means grounding the putter behind the ball, which he did not do) but the ball still moved probably a millimeter as seen on camera.  An official was called over who told Johnson to play the ball without penalty, but Johnson was notified 7 holes later that there may in fact be a penalty.

Simply put, the entire handling of the situation was inexcusable.  I didn’t think Johnson moved the ball, and I completely disagreed with telling Johnson not only while his round was still in progress, but also waiting 7 holes to do so.  Additionally, the ball moved backwards which would be physically impossible to do by touching it with a putter.  The USGA eventually slapped him with a one-stroke penalty though, which caused a lot of uproar from many tour players and fans.  There were no winners in this situation, but DJ's multiple shot victory saved a lot of stress on many people. Crisis "averted."

1. Dustin Johnson is finally a major champion.

(Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

It finally happened.  After A LOT of major championship heartbreak over the years, Dustin Johnson has finally captured his first victory.  He becomes the third straight first-time major winner dating back to Jason Day's victory last August.  Coming into this week, I firmly believed Johnson was currently the best player in the world to not have a major victory.  He has the most raw talent of anybody in the world, but could never make putts when they counted the most.  He overpowered Oakmont this week though, striping fairways with obscene length off the tee and executing approach shots the way they needed to be played.  He made clutch putts on the back nine on Sunday, with his biggest two putts coming on 16 and 17 to save par twice.  His final hole was classic DJ, bombing a drive down the middle and firing right at the flagstick.  He finished in style with a birdie, and basically gave the finger to the USGA by going out and doing it on his own.  This is his first, but it definitely won’t be his last.  The first major is seemingly the hardest to win for these guys, and now that he has one, he has the talent to keep them coming.  Congrats DJ.

The Best Current MLB Lineup from Each Power Five Conference

The College World Series is right around the corner so I decided to do something a little different here.  This was fun to do, and it took both my own knowledge and some hard-hitting research to put this together (yeah yeah I know its not totally complete but it’s the best I could do). While it seems like a lot of the talent in Major League Baseball has come both straight out of high school and internationally, there have still been many to come through college.  You all probably know what NFL players came from the SEC, or what NBA players came from the ACC. But what about the MLB? Well, I’ve broken down what I believe to be the best lineups of current players from each of the Power Five conferences. Which conference is the best represented? I have my thoughts, but I’ll leave it up to you. Enjoy!

**Side note: a couple conferences have a player out of position but they were too good to leave off**

ACC

C Buster Posey (Florida State)

1B Mark Teixiera (Georgia Tech)

2B Devon Travis (Florida State)

3B Kyle Seager (University of North Carolina)

SS Brad Miller (Clemson)

OF Ryan Braun (University of Miami)

OF Charlie Blackmon (Georgia Tech)

OF Ryan Zimmerman (Virginia)

P Matt Harvey (University of North Carolina)

P Marcus Stroman (Duke)

Pac 12

C Nick Hundley (Arizona)

1B Lucas Duda (USC)

2B Dustin Pedroia (Arizona State)

3B Jason Kipnis (Arizona State)

SS Brandon Crawford (UCLA)

OF Michael Conforto (Oregon State)

OF Kole Calhoun (Arizona State)

OF Jacoby Ellsbury (Oregon State)

P Gerrit Cole (UCLA)

P Mike Leake (Arizona State)

Big 10

C Josh Phegley (Indiana)

1B ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

2B ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

3B Todd Frazier (Rutgers)

SS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

OF Alex Gordon (Nebraska)

OF Kyle Schwarber (Indiana)

OF Nick Swisher (Ohio State)

P Tanner Roark (Illinois)

P J.A. Happ (Northwestern)

Big 12

C Cameron Rupp (Texas)

1B Brandon Belt (Texas)

2B Jedd Gyorko (West Virginia)

3B Matt Carpenter (TCU)

SS Jordy Mercer (Oklahoma State)

OF ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

OF ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

OF ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

P Jake Arrieta (TCU)

P Garrett Richards (Oklahoma)

SEC

C Alex Avila (Alabama)

1B Pedro Alvarez (Vanderbilt)

2B Ian Kinsler (Missouri)

3B Josh Donaldson (Auburn)

SS DJ Lemahieu (LSU)

OF Jackie Bradley Jr. (South Carolina)

OF Chris Coghlan (Ole Miss)

OF Lonnie Chisenhall (South Carolina)

P David Price (Vanderbilt)

P Max Scherzer (Missouri)

So who comes out on top?

Catcher – ACC. This one is pretty obvious. I’ll take the 3-ring/Rookie of the Year/MVP, Buster Posey.   

First Base – ACC. With a handful of Gold Gloves, a ring, some All-Star appearances, and just under 400 big flies, Mark Teixeira seems like the pick.

Second Base – Pac-12. I have to go with Dustin Pedroia over Ian Kinsler.  A pair of rings, 4 Gold Gloves, 4 All-Star appearances, an MVP and a Rookie of the Year. Sorry Ian, be better?

Third Base – SEC. This was a bit tougher, but I have to pick Donaldson over Frazier.  The reigning AL MVP is, simply put, that guy.

Shortstop – Pac-12. One of the most underrated players in the entire league in my opinion is Brandon Crawford, and he is definitely the best shortstop on this list.

Outfield – ACC. I think I have to give the edge to the ACC over the Pac 12 here because of how established all three of these guys are.  Ryan Braun (yes I know he’s a cheater but I’m strictly looking at numbers) has been a franchise guy for Milwaukee, Blackmon has been VERY solid for Colorado, and Zimmerman was the guy for Washington before Harper and company came along.
Pitching – SEC. Another tough pick but I have to give Price and Scherzer the nod, both of whom own a Cy Young award.