Yoenis Cespedes-Rick Porcello Trade Answers a Question for the Red Sox, Opens Up More for the Tigers

Sometimes a baseball trade almost seems too obvious for it ever to be consummated. When the Red Sox signed Hanley Ramirez last month, presumably to play left field, it created a logjam in the Boston outfield. Yoenis Cespedes immediately appeared to be the odd-man out and lo-and-behold he was traded to the Tigers for Rick Porcello, which I, along with every single person on the baseball inter webs, suggested in November. (There is news trickling in that the Tigers are potentially adding a starter from the Reds, which changes some of the dynamics.)

Admittedly I’m a Tigers fan and although the trade fills a hole for both teams, the move doesn’t fill me with a lot of excitement on a cold December morning. I’ll get to the Detroit part second and start off writing that the Red Sox are recovering nicely from missing out on Jon Lester. At his peak performance, yes, Lester is better than either Porcello or Wade Miley — rumored to be coming over from Arizona — but the two arms do give the Sox some depth in their rotation.

If you look at the numbers, nothing about Porcello blows you away. He’s basically a league-average  sinkerball guy. Since his MLB debut as a 20-year-old in 2009 he’s thrown 1,073 innings to a 4.30 ERA. However watching him as a fan during the 2014 season there was something different about Porcello. It looked like it was all “clicking” for him and about to turn a corner, as his league-high three shutouts and career-best 3.43 ERA/116 ERA+ would attest. Either way, Porcello was one of the few players on the Tigers roster you could argue hadn’t already posted his statistical or real-life “best” year.

Although he doesn’t have the history with the team like Lester, Porcello is a great haul for the Red Sox at a fraction of the cost, short-term. And Boston fans, don’t hold it against Porcello that he once tossed Kevin Youkilis down like a ragdoll during an on-field dust-up at Fenway Park.

Of course Porcello is a free agent in 2016 and the way pitchers are being paid he was in line for probably something in the range ot $15 million a season or at least a total deal worth over $100 million, which the bloated, top-heavy Tigers payroll couldn’t afford, so they shipped him to Boston for Cespedes, himself a free agent after next season. On paper at least, a lineup with Ian Kinsler, Victor Martinez, Cespedes, Miguel Cabrera and J.D. Martinez is filled with potential.

Cespedes will help the Tigers offensively and fills a definite hole in the outfield. As a fan I like an outfield of Cespedes-Rajai Davis/Anthony Gose(platoon)-J.D. Martinez much more than Davis and Gose each penciled in as regular starters. Adding Cespedes also take a lot of the pressure/expectations off Martinez replicating his totally shocking 2014 where put up a .912 OPS in 123 games, and anyone is an upgrade over Torii Hunter, especially defensively. In a contract year, Cespedes (.269/.296/.423 in 2014) could be in line for a big season if history tells us anything.

As for the Tigers rotation — I don’t even want to get into their still cooling dumpster fire of a bullpen — it’s impossible to say which direction Dave Dombrowski is going, although the rumored Reds deal hints at it. Last year he traded Doug Fister for payroll flexibility to the Nationals in a deal that turned out to be a complete disaster for Detroit. Perhaps the Tigers’ GM figures Shane Greene — acquired last week from the Yankees — is similar enough to Porcello and under team control for a couple more seasons. David Price is still a looming free agent after 2015, Justin Verlander is nothing more than an ordinary (albeit massively paid) fourth starter and Anibal Sanchez is excellent, if injury prone.

If the Porcello trade opens the door to bring back Max Scherzer at his rumored $200 million asking price, despondent Tigers fans already upset the teams has come so close to winning a World Series the last decade or so without taking home a ring are going to need an extra shot or two of Bourbon in their holiday egg nog. As good as Scherzer’s been in Detroit, the last thing the Tigers need is another mega-priced player locked in for the long term to join Cabrera, Verlander and Sanchez. Then again, if the rumors about acquiring a pitcher from the Reds (Mike Leake or Mat Latos?) is true, then it’s doubtful Scherzer comes back, opening up even more questions.

As someone who leans toward pessimism, it’s still hard not to look at what the White Sox have done so far this offseason, what the Twins/Indians are slowly building and what the Royals have already built and worry the Tigers will be an aging roster without any flexibility or hope on the horizon in the farm system. It’s win it in 2015 or bust for Detroit, although that’s nothing new at Comerica Park as of late.

[Photo via Getty]