Red Sox confident there's no need to go Cole mining
FORT MYERS, Fla. - He is 130 miles away, but his presence is felt everywhere here.
You read it in the newspapers atop the countertops of the Boston Red Sox clubhouse. You hear it on the TV sets hanging from the walls.
So, just when are the Red Sox going to trade for Philadelphia Phillies ace Cole Hamels? Or, perhaps, his teammate, Cliff Lee?
For a team that spent $265 million this winter, signing the best two sluggers on the market, and gambling on a talented 19-year-old from Cuba, what's another $94 million to acquire the premium pitcher on the trade market?
Nothing personal, the Red Sox say, but they insist they'll be just fine with the rotation they have.
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Sure, there are no true aces. No one has won 20 games. And Jon Lester is pitching these days for the Chicago Cubs.
Yet, the more the Red Sox rotation keeps hearing about Hamels, and the skepticism questioning whether they can contend without a genuine ace, it only fuels them.
"Not that we don't respect the other guys are out there,'' Red Sox GM Ben Cherington told USA TODAY Sports, "but the guys we expect in the rotation don't feel they have to take a backseat to anybody.
"I think it does motivate them.
"But aside from motivation, we actually do feel like we got a very strong pitching staff.''
The Red Sox rotation, led by Clay Buchholz, say that haven't had a conversation among themselves about Hamels, or anyone else possibly coming their way. Sure, they listen to the speculation. Yet, if you ask every one of them, they'll tell you there's no reason to get anyone else.
"I mean, you hear it,'' new Red Sox starter Rick Porcello says. "You know it's there. But it's not anything you can control, so why pay attention to that? There's no doubt in my mind that with the five starters we have, all are capable of going out there and helping us win a championship. There's a lot of talent in here.''
Yes, and confidence, too.
Joe Kelly predicted in January that he would win the American League Cy Young award. This is the same guy who, with the St. Louis Cardinals, never won more than 10 games, or pitched more than 124 innings. Yet, now that he's established as a full-time starter, and healthy, he believes he's capable of being dominant?
"Hey, if you can pitch in the AL East,'' Kelly says, "you can pitch on the moon. Some of these ballparks just aren't fair for pitchers.
"But I believe in myself.''
He's got plenty of others taking notice this spring, too.
"You see his stuff?'' says new teammate Justin Masterson. "You see how electric it is? You see that 98 mph fastball. There's not a better athlete in this game. He's capable of anything.''
This is a rotation that didn't know one another until two weeks ago. Buchholz is the only starter who was with Boston the entire 2014 season. Kelly came in July. Masterson returns for the first time in six years. Porcello comes from Detroit. And Miley, who's from Loranger, La. (population 1,924), has never pitched at Fenway Park.
"Honest to God, our first workout here, I couldn't believe it,'' Miley says. "There must have been 15,000 fans here. Well, maybe not that many, but a whole lot more from where I come from.
"It just blew me away.''
The Red Sox's eclectic collection of offensive talent certainly has New England dreaming of another duck boat parade. And they've assembled perhaps the most talented minor-league system in the game, and can use their wealth of prospects to acquire anyone on the trade block.
So the biggest issue in New England these days isn't getting to the bottom of Deflategate, but wondering whether the Red Sox's rotation will keep them from winning their fourth World Series title in 12 years.
"Maybe they dealt with some injuries, or deal with some hiccups, and maybe there are some wild cards," says Masterson. "But when you actually look into it, you see a lot of guys who have done great things."
Porcello may have been the No. 4 starter in Detroit, but he was their second-best pitcher, finishing the year with a career-low 3.43 ERA. It just so happened that no one noticed with Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander around.
Cherington called Masterson one of the top pitchers in the game. He was one of the worst last year, bothered by knee inflammation, and yielding a 5.88 ERA. The Red Sox spent $9.5 million on him believing he'll more resemble the ace he was in Cleveland.
Miley, acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks, a 2012 All-Star, pitched 599 innings in his three full seasons, and pitched last year with a dislocated rib for four starts without telling anyone.
"It's just the way I am,'' Miley says. "I'll always take that ball. Arizona knew that.
"I want them to second-guess themselves, now. I want them to say, "Damn, maybe we should never have gotten rid of this guy.' ''
And there's Buchholz, who was a 17-game winner in 2010, and two years ago yielded a 1.74 ERA. He was a disaster last year, going 8-11 with a 5.34 ERA. He's now the old man on the staff at the age of 30.
The Red Sox know they'll have a true grasp of their staff by the end of spring. They'll know whether they have enough pitching, or need to make a phone call to the 215 area code.
The Phillies and Red Sox privately acknowledge they have exchanged names and trade proposals. Yet, with the Red Sox unwilling to part with prized catching prospect Blake Swihart or outfielder Mookie Betts_and the Phillies insisting on one of them_talks have been dormant for weeks.
"We believe in the guys who are here,'' Cherington says, "but our job every day of the year is to think of ways to get better. That never stops.
"We want to identify those guys who have the best chance to be that ace going forward. But until that happens, we know that question and narrative will be out there.''
Oh, will it ever.
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