This past weekend, as all of you who don't live under rocks know, the Red Sox and Dodgers completed what was literally the biggest trade in MLB history. The deal, which I've coined 'The Punto Trade' to save time, saw a total of $270M change hands, with the Red Sox only taking on $12M of that.
Now that the team has money to spend, many fans are crying for the team to make big splashes this winter, specifically in the form of Josh Hamilton and Zack Greinke. Both players, while very talented, are not who the Red Sox should be looking at this offseason. They both come with off the field issues that raise many red flags, and neither would last in a market like Boston.
The winner of the 2009 American League Cy Young Award, there is little doubt that Zack Greinke is one of the more talented pitchers in the game. His abilities made him coveted when the Royals sought to trade him in 2010, and again when the Brewers put him on the block this past trade deadline. However, Greinke is not mentally fit to play in a big market such as Boston. It's well known that he suffers from social anxiety disorder and has had his struggles with depression. Under the constant scrutiny of the Boston media, Greinke's performance would be very poor and would have fans calling for him to be traded and for Cherington to be fired for signing him. As talented as he is, Greinke belongs in a small market. I personally like Baltimore and Colorado for him as his next destination.
Josh Hamilton is a phenomenal player with an even better story. He overcame alcoholism and drug addiction to play in the MLB and he's enjoyed a great deal of success in Texas. However, he's recently had relapses, forcing the Rangers to put negotiations for a contract extension on hold, and it now appears very likely that he will hit the open market. Boston would be a terrible fit for him. Not because he would cave under the pressure, but the numbers of bars, liquor stores, and ways to get drugs around the city would prove to be too much for him. He is a drink or a line away from rehab as it is, and imagine what a big city like Boston would do to a guy like that. He wouldn't last a month before being forced back into rehab, which would make his contract useless and ridiculous. Hamilton is another player that belongs on a small market team, as the temptation to party every night would not present itself the way it would in, say, New York, Boston, or Los Angeles. I still believe he will resign with the Rangers, although it's likely he will hit the open market before doing so.
GM Ben Cherington talked about going back to the way things were, and spending their money wisely. While the Red Sox won't sit back and do nothing, they can't have a bad reaction to one below .500 season and make a big splash in the wrong place as they did with John Lackey, Adrian Gonzalez, and Carl Crawford. Signing rental players such as Hiroki Kuroda and Edwin Jackson while making strong plays for lesser name stars such as Mike Napoli is the way the team should go this winter, and likely is how they will treat this offseason.
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