The Boston Red Sox have dealt with pitching rotation struggles this offseason and now a trade for players like Cole Hamels, Jordan Zimmermann, Johnny Cueto or David Price could be in the cards moving forward, as the team has fired pitching coach Juan Nieves and may want to upgrade after getting some bad results from Wade Miley and company.
The pitching rotation currently has Clay Buchholz, Wade Miley, Joe Kelly, Justin Masterson and Rick Porcello and overall the team is not performing well. The ERA collectively is above 4.00 and the team was expecting the rotation to be a strength and not a weakness this year. The team got rid of everyone from last season apart from Buchholz and they felt that the depth would make the rotation hard to deal with.
Things have not turned out well so far and according to Hardball Talk, the team likely will look at making a trade this year to add a veteran pitcher. The Boston Globe reported in the offseason that the Red Sox were one of the top teams talking to the Phillies about Hamels and now they could pick up on that again. The report says that the Red Sox were the last team to make a "serious offer" and that the Phillies will wait until they get the package of prospects they like.
The team has added Kelly, Masterson, Miley and Porcello dating back to last season and they traded Yoenis Cespedes to get Porcello. The team already signed Porcello to an extension and while they have confidence in him, Kelly, Masterson or Miley could be pushed back if the team adds another pitcher. Miley comes in with an ERA above seven, while Kelly's is 5.72 and Masterson is at 5.18. Porcello is at 4.38 and he leads all starting pitchers for the Red Sox.
The team announced the firing of Nieves and while that should help things improve, the Red Sox simply need better pitching overall. According to Jon Heyman at CBSSports.com, the Red Sox "remain the favorites" for Hamels and it may come down to the team adding a player like Mookie Betts, Blake Swihart or outfield prospect Manny Margot. The Phillies are prepared to wait for the right deal, but all signs point to the team moving Hamels this year.
Zimmermann is into the final year of his deal along with Price and Cueto and that makes those players potential targets as well. Hamels is 31 years old and he is coming off of one of his best seasons with the Phillies from 2014. Hamels went just 9-9, but he had a 2.45 ERA and struck out 198 batters in just over 200 innings.
Hamels has not dealt with any serious injuries in the past and the Phillies reportedly are willing to get "creative" in a deal, with reports saying they could pick up money on his contract to help convince teams to add better prospects in a trade. The Phillies may also consider moving Jonathan Papelbon and Chase Utley this season, as Ruben Amaro is in the middle of a big rebuild and the team wants some prospects to help bring them back to the top of the division.