Obviously, we are sensing the proverbial next shoe is about to drop. If it is Adrian Gonzalez (with an outside shot at Miguel Cabrera), which would be a ginormous move by the Red Sox to cap what would be an eye-popping offseason, then what is there not to like? Well, one thing: if one of the players going to San Diego is Jacoby Ellsbury.
If Ellsbury is the hot name from the San Diego side, then Theo Epstein should just say no.
Give up Ryan Westmoreland, and include a better prospect or two at the end of the deal. Ellsbury is a special player who hit .301, stole 70 bases, and scored 94 runs last season, and one who plays a very good center field and is just 26 years old. He’s a game-changer who turns singles into doubles, doubles into triples, and who alters pitching patterns and enables batters coming up after him to see more fastballs when he’s on base. And while his on-base percentage in 2009 was a pedestrian .355, it was .388 in September and October. He was hitting the ball the other way more, and as he matures, he’ll be slapping doubles off the Wall.
This is a guy you want in the lineup with Gonzalez.
You can understand Padres rookie general manager Jed Hoyer wanting both Clay Buchholz and Ellsbury to sell trading Gonzalez to his fan base. Gonzalez is popular in San Diego and talk of a trade hasn’t sat well. When we first reported in Sunday’s Globe that the Sox and Padres had been talking about Gonzalez, we mentioned the deal wouldn’t get done unless Casey Kelly, Westmoreland, or Daniel Bard were included. Now you can add Ellsbury.
The Padres would need Ellsbury as a poster boy for their future. In enormous Petco Park, it would be a sign to fans that the philosophy is changing and that the Padres are going with speed and pitching. In Petco, Buchholz would likely succeed. Hoyer said at his introductory news conference that he would tailor the team to the ballpark. Well, Ellsbury, a player drafted by former Sox director of amateur scouting Jason McLeod, who has joined Hoyer in San Diego, would be the beginning of that.
Epstein was correct to say yesterday that the Red Sox aren’t desperate to do something, because in his heart he knows trading Ellsbury is a mistake. After all, there’s nothing wrong with going into the season with a starting rotation of Josh Beckett, John Lackey, Jon Lester, Buchholz, and Daisuke Matsuzaka, and using Tim Wakefield as a spot starter who could back up a pitcher in need of rest. In fact, that’s pretty impressive. The Red Sox need to address third base, which Gonzalez could do with Kevin Youkilis moving to third, but they must first wait to see whether Mike Lowell comes bouncing back to them if Texas renegs on the Max Ramirez deal.
