Trade Kason Gabbard
Hey bandwagon Gabbard fans, did you happen to see the 5th inning of last night’s game? Kason Gabbard blew up. He couldn’t even get out of the 5th in order to earn himself a win. This will happen many times when a pitcher is given such a commanding lead. They sit in the dugout and watch their team get hit after hit (17 total, WOW!) and you assume that the game is pretty well locked up.
Well, it wasn’t. Julian Tavarez had to come in and save his ass. This goes to show that Gabbard still has some growing room and that we shouldn’t be locking him in to the rotation and waving good-bye to Curt Schilling quite yet. Schilling on the other hand, shut down the Toledo Mud Hens to the tune of 14 batters in a row with 12 strikeouts. Word is that Schilling is going to make one more rehab start and come back on August 5. Why? Why have Kason Gabbard pitching in Boston and Schilling pitching in Pawtucket? That simply does not make sense.
Here’s what you do. You call the Royals, tell them that they can have Kason Gabbard for Reggie Sanders and a pitching prospect to be named later. There, problem solved. You have your experienced 4th outfielder, and you have no more issues over who should stay in the rotation when Schilling comes back. Alternatively, you send Gabbard to Oakland for Bobby Kielty and a high-level prospect.
This probably won’t happen becuase Theo Epstein makes trades by using a dart board as far as I can tell. Aside from the Nomar deal, what good trades has he pulled off? What good players has he brought to Boston (He had resigned and wasn’t in charge when the Beckett-Lowell deal went through)? That’s another discussion altogether. We’ll see what happens over the weekend, but I really can’t stand the “we have a long term plan” line anymore.
Stumble it!
July 31st, 2007 at 11:45 am
HA! I was about to write something along these lines to superfan.
Screw Jermaine Dye, don’t do the deal for Wily Mo and Masterson. He’s an average outfielder whose offensive skills are declining due to age (and the fact he’s grossly overpaid for what he did in 2005; Chicago WS fans think he sucks). Plus he probably wants to play everyday and may make a big stink about it. And he might be distracted while playing here because of all the white women. He’s not what we need.
Reggie Sanders is one of the good guys of the game, everyone likes him and is best friends with Schilling and Ortiz. He’s played for all those teams because he was often injured as a starter (although LaRussa and Baker knew how to use him well). He does strike out a bit too much for Theo and Co’s taste (but not as much as Wily Mo), but at least he can hit breaking balls. He was always also on teams who had depth offensively and always finished deep into the postseason (where he excelled, like being the best player on the Giants during the 2002 WS). His defense is average and on par with Dye, yet he makes 5 million less. He understands his role, is a good career pinch hitter, and his right handed bat (esp. in Fenway) can spell J.D. “I suck” Drew when we face lefties. We can also increase depth by getting a good OPS guy like Kielty, who can play 1B as well. I’d rather have 2 above average solid players instead of one (used to be) really good one.
We can send Wily Mo (a guy who I have always liked in potential) to a place where he can play everyday and develop (so when he gets really good he’ll be grateful and we can resign him later) and Gabbard, who has been a nice lefty addition but has a history of walking people and injury problems. And, we don’t have to give up Masterson, another pized pitching prospect that can help us develop a murderer’s row of pitching not seen since the ‘91-’97 Atlanta Braves and the 2003 Florida Marlins.
July 31st, 2007 at 4:20 pm
You are an idiot, getting on your knees to praise Traverez and blasting Gabbard for 1 bad inning. Please, Dice K has 1 bad inning every game and I bet you worship his overpaid ass. We need to drop Taverez and keep the young talent, at least he has potential. Fans like you suck and no one really cares what your opinion is so do everyone a favor and shut the hell up!
July 31st, 2007 at 5:18 pm
I’d say that fans like the guy who is praising the guy we just traded 20 min ago is the one who sucks… Kason Gabbard will be a serviceable pitcher for Texas but he is definitely a guy who is on your playoff roster. Gagne is - good trade.
Thanks for reading my opinion that doesn’t matter though!