With all the talk about the Red Sox adding Alex Rodriguez to the roster for Nomar Garciaparra, everybody’s been overlooking the club’s real needs: another top-notch starting pitcher and a closer. Well, GM Theo Epstein hasn’t been overlooking it.
Boston.com is reporting that the Sox are in a three-team deal to pick up All-star Curt Schilling and will give up Casey Fossum and some prospects.
Now some people will say that we shouldn’t give up Fossum, who some people say could be an All Star lefthander in the league someday, for a guy who is 37 years old. But I say that the team is ready to win now. Add a few missing pieces to the puzzle and the Sox could win that 7th game of the ALCS and go on to the World Series.
How long do we wait for Fossum to develop? Yes, it could backfire four or five years down the road, but that sting will be a lot less if the Sox have a World Series trophy by then. And what’s the alternative? Let Schilling go to the Yankees?
As for those who hate “the future of the team” go, I have two words: Shea Hillenbrand. Sure, Byung-Hyung Kim wasn’t a great pitcher this year, but losing Shea did some other things. By giving Mueller, Ortiz, and Millar more playing time, we ended up with the best offense in the league this year, as opposed to keeping a guy that everybody said needed more plate discipline and “could be” great.
