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Boston Red Sox Should Be Sellers At 2015 MLB Trade Deadline

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Boston Red Sox Should Be Sellers At 2015 MLB Trade Deadline

Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

After a 71-91 2014 season, Boston Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington wasn’t about to let that happen again, so he went out and acquired Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval to come in and provide a spark to the team. Adding top prospect Mookie Betts and having a healthy year of Shane Victorino also added to the excitement.

Do you notice that every player I have mentioned is on offense? Cherington forgot that offense is one-third of the game of baseball.

Cherington added Wade Miley and Rick Porcello via trade and signed Justin Masterson, but did he really believe that a rotation of Clay Buchholz, Porcello, Miley, Masterson and Joe Kelly was really going to take the Red Sox to the World Series? If he did think that, then he should be fired on the spot right now. Miley and Porcello were decent number four starters for their previous teams, but they had never dealt with the pressures of pitching in a city like Boston. Masterson hasn’t been right for years, Buchholz is not an ace, and Kelly has never turned the tremendous stuff into a successful career. The Red Sox’ starting rotation is last in MLB, with a collective 4.94 starters’ ERA.

At least Cherington attempted to do something with the rotation, because he basically did nothing to improve the bullpen. He decided to stick with 40 year old closer Koji Uehara, who began the season on the disabled list, but has pitched decently since returning. Junichi Tazawa has also had a solid year, but outside of those two the Red Sox bullpen is in shambles, as the team ranks 23rd in MLB with a 3.80 bullpen ERA.

Combining all the pitchers together, the Red Sox rank 29th in the league with a 4.54 team ERA, and that’s including bringing up Eduardo Rodriguez, who has a 3.55 ERA (best on the staff) in four games started. It doesn’t look good on Cherington that he thought this was a formidable pitching staff entering the season.

Now, the Red Sox sit at 27-37 and are at a crossroads. There are reports that Cherington refuses to wave the white flag and has been talking to teams about trading for a starting pitcher. My advice to him would be to sell off as many assets as you can, and ask for MLB-ready, or close to MLB-ready, prospects in return, and try again in 2016. This team has way too many flaws, and no matter how many deals Cherington makes, it’s not going to be enough to save the season. Sorry Ben, you get an F for 2015.

Jason Fletcher is a MLB Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @JasonFletcher25, “Like” him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google+.

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