Red Sox Still Unwilling To Move Clay Buchholz
January 9, 2009 by Mike
From Ken Rosenthal:
The Red Sox’s willingness to trade right-hander Clay Buchholz for Rangers catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia does not figure to be any greater now that the team has signed free-agent right-hander John Smoltz.
Buchholz remains an important part of the Sox’s future, and the value that club officials sign to him should not change due to the addition of a 41-year-old veteran coming off major shoulder surgery.
Smoltz, Brad Penny and Tim Wakefield are signed only for next season. Penny also had health issues last season. And Josh Beckett is a free agent after 2010.
The Red Sox, rival executives say, are more open to trading Michael Bowden and Class AA reliever Daniel Bard in a package for Saltalamacchia. Bard, the team’s No. 1 pick in 2006, is coming off a big season and might be at peak value.
“They’re doing everything they can to trade him,” one rival executive says.
The Sox and Rangers have not spoken since the winter meetings in early December.
Mike Hindman of the Dallas Morning News has a good idea:
The prevailing thought has long been that Texas wants the Nederland, Texas native Buchholz (Nolan Ryan let it slip that he thought Buchholz would look good in a Rangers uniform) and Boston wants the Carrollton native Taylor Teagarden.
Both Texas and Boston have given indication that those players are not available. My guess — and it’s just a guess — is that Jon Daniels and Theo Epstein are quibbling over what extra piece(s) Texas would have to add to Jarrod Saltalamacchia in order to get Buchholz.
How this all plays out for Texas may depend on what happens with veteran catcher Jason Varitek. If Boston can land him on a two year deal, I suspect that they will pull back, limp along with the declining leader for another couple of years and then pounce on Minnesota catcher Joe Mauer when he becomes a free agent after the 2010 season.
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