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MLB Trade Talk - January 31, 2007
By Michael Robinson: It is only the end of January, but the baseball world was warmed up over the last few days with a rumored trade. Colorado would send Todd Helton to Boston for Mike Lowell, Julian Tavarez, and a couple of Boston’s young pitchers or prospects.Colorado was willing to kick in about $30 million of the $90 million remaining on the five years of Helton’s deal. Ultimately, the Rockies pulled out of the trade for now, as they could not agree on the exact money terms or the additional players.
However, since there is a good chance this trade will be revisited sometime before spring training, it is worth analyzing.
From a Colorado view, this trade makes a lot of sense. They are not likely going to contend this year, and it would be beneficial to free up some salary, and add a couple of promising young players (Lowell and Tavarez are throw-ins).
For Boston, this trade would make them one step closer to becoming the New York Yankees, as the salary difference between the two is getting closer by the day. It also makes it harder for Red Sox fans to keep complaining about George Steinbrenner’s checkbook, as Boston looks to be acquiring All-Stars like toy collectibles.
If Helton is eventually traded for, he would become the fifth hitter behind David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez. Newly acquired right fielder J.D. Drew, and his $14 million salary, would shift down to 6th.
That does make the 3-6 hitters a little too left-handed, as only Ramirez bats right, but each of those players should have an OBP of around .400. That fits right in line with the Red Sox offensive philosophy of staying patient at the plate and taking a lot of pitches.
Helton would put the finishing touch on a batting line-up that is already impressive without him. Boston also got some good news on the starting pitching front when Curt Schilling announced that he will not retire at the end of the year, something that could have been a distraction for the team.
Schilling will be a free agent next year, but he will likely re-up with Boston for another season, good news for both parties.
The Red Sox are 2:1 to win the AL East, 5:1 to win the American League, and 9:1 to win the World Series. In the latter category, the only teams they trail are the Yankees (19:4) and the Mets (7:1).
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