Red Sox shopping for outfield trades
Matt Kemp being looked at to bolster Red Sox outfield? |
Contributing Writer
The rumor mill is churning and the Red Sox have one of the worst offensive outfields right now.
Boston began the year with five outfielders on its roster: Shane Victorino, Jonny Gomes, Daniel Nava, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Grady Sizemore.
It looked pretty good on paper, but so far these five players are batting a combined .219 (161-for-734).
Brock Holt has recently added some life to the outfield, hitting .400 in 25 at-bats since moving there, but they need more pop out there than that.
Any outfielder they might consider attainable would have to possess good speed and power to help Boston's plight immediately. The Red Sox have stolen only 24 bases this year, the third-lowest total in MLB. Their 63 percent success rate (24-of-38) also ranks third from the bottom.
Another problem has been that Boston has a total of just 50 home runs this season—only four other clubs have fewer.
There have been quite a few hints given that the Red Sox were taking good long looks at the Dodger outfielders, such as Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp.
Over on fullcount weei they reported that, "a major league source" stated nothing is going on between the Dodgers and the Red Sox.
Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti even told The Boston Globe that Matt Kemp is not on the market.
Even if the Red Sox could have Kemp, the right-handed-hitter will have five years and $107 million on his current deal after the 2014 season.
The 29-year-old is hitting .278 with seven home runs and a .793 OPS. He has been hot as of late, hitting .410 with a 1.106 OPS in his last 10 games.
Not the deal that the Red Sox need to be saddled with.
Is there another Scott Boras move in the works?
Will the Red Sox make a desperation attempt to fill a void by throwing cash at the problem like the Stephen Drew deal?
Post a comment or via twitter @ericschabell with your thoughts.
More by Eric D. Schabell