For the love of God, don't trade Clay Buchholz
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| (David Butler II, USA Today Sports) |
Contributing Writer
As
I’ve written before, Clay Buchholz is the ultimate tease. And there’s a good
chance that he’s teasing us again with his recent pitching brilliance.
Watching
his entire career has been like buying the pretty girl drinks all night then feeling
like an fool as she leaves the bar another man. Buchholz has looked like an ace
some days, only to look like a bum for long stretches.
On
Wednesday, Buchholz was absolutely brilliant against a Baltimore lineup that
has been on a tear, winning 12 of its previous 15 games. He struck out seven
batters and held the O’s to one run in seven innings as the Red Sox beat Baltimore 5-1.
That
outing wasn’t a fluke. His 5-6 record doesn’t show it, but Buchholz has been
quietly putting together one heck of a stretch for the underachieving Red Sox.
He has dropped his ERA from 6.03 on May 4 to 3.68 after Wednesday’s gem.
Throw
out Buchholz’s April 12 stinker in Yankee Stadium — when he gave up 10 runs (9
earned) in 3 and a third innings — and Buchholz has an ERA of 2.93.
As
Gordon Edes points out, Buchholz sure looks like a keeper. He looks an awful
lot like the pre-injury Buchholz of 2013. He’s looking increasingly like, dare
I say it, an ace.
Scouts have been watching Buchholz, and the calls have been mounting for the Red Sox
to trade him while his stock is high.
The
2015 Red Sox have been a major disappointment, and the temptation is to blow
the team up and build for the future. Buchholz, no doubt, would bring a nice
return for the Red Sox, most likely in the form of prospects.
You
can never have enough prospects. But what they need is a proven
top-of-the-rotation starter, and Buchholz is truly looking like one of those
again.
If
Buchholz, who will be 31 in August, was in the last year of his contract like
Jon Lester was last year when he was dealt to the A’s, a trade might make sense. Buchholz, though, is signed through 2017 to a very team-friendly deal.
He is due to make $13 million next year and $13.5 million in 2017. He’s making
$12 million this season.
While
that might make him even more valuable to contending teams, it certainly makes
him more valuable to the Red Sox, too.
It’s
tough enough to watch John Lackey, who is making $500,000 this season because
of an injury clause Theo Epstein put in his contract, pitch so well for the
Cardinals.
That
pain wouldn’t come close to how bad it would be to watch Buchholz win the Cy
Young Award for the Royals or Pirates in 2016. Clay at his best is definitely
Cy Young material. If he could put it all together for a full season — granted,
a very big if — he could certainly add that trophy to his mantel.
We’ve
invested too much in Buchholz, who was drafted with the compensation pick the
Red Sox got for Pedro Martinez signing with the Mets after the 2004 season, to
see him finally be all that he can be in another uniform.
The
pretty girl is smiling at us again. It would be foolish sneak out the back door
before last call when there’s still a chance she will walk out the front door
with us.
