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After watching the above interview with minor league prospect Clay Bucholz I realized a few things. One: Bucholz is ready to pitch in the big leagues now. Even more ready than I had thought. And two: Maybe having this surplus of pitchers isn’t as good as we all thought. Okay, now I sound a little bit unappreciative. It’s not like we are one of the many major league teams searching for pitching due to injuries and under-performers right? The problem here is someone is going to get screwed. There are numerous options, but can we think of one where everyone is happy?

The first option would be trade Brady Penny which has been talked about the most lately. It might make the most sense. We trade him, he still is pitching for a major league team, and Boston hopefully gets a solid player in return. I see one thing wrong with this scenario however. Why trade a pitcher like Penny when we have less talented guys in the rotation already?
That leads me to our next option. Send Daisuke Matsuzaka to the bullpen.

Penny has outpitched Dice-K this year. There’s no doubt about it. Our goal is simple: win the World Series. How can we do that if we are trading away one pitcher and leaving a poorer performer in the starting rotation. Something needs to be done with Matsuzaka and a short bullpen stint could be the answer.

Smoltz is getting closer and closer to returning. He is expected to be put in the rotation sooner or later, but that leads me back to the Penny situation. Penny has proved he can pitch this season and Smoltz hasn’t. How does it make sense to potentially downgrade a starter if Smoltz does not end up panning out like hoped. Its tough, it really is. You could easily say Bucholz hasn’t proved anymore then Penny and you are right. Bucholz has been lights out in the minors, but it’s not the big show. That’s why they call it the minors.

No matter what you do, someone is going to be unhappy. Penny would probably welcome a trade so everything is fixed right? Wrong. You still have one slot and two pitchers ready to break the rotation. You also still have a guy like Dice-K who isn’t earning his spot by any means right now. So easy solution would be trade Penny, send Dice-K to the bullpen and welcome in with open arms Bucholz and Smoltz. Sorry, but that doesn’t quite work out either. What if Smoltz isn’t ready to be a starter just yet? What if Bucholz struggles for a while as he adjusts back to the big leagues? He had his chance last year right and did not perform, right? There are too many question and not enough answers.

Considering the above factors, I still believe the biggest concern should be getting Bucholz back to the majors. In the interview above he almost sounds annoyed. “Whenever they come to a problem they seem like they find a way to fix it without me being in the picture. It is what it is.” The kid feels left out. Most minor league prospects don’t have to work half as hard as he is or put up close to the numbers he has before getting their call back to the big leagues. He feels ready, he looks ready, and I think he is ready. They say never to bring up someone from the minors too soon, but what about leaving them down there too long? It’s a two-sided sword that the Red Sox have to be careful with. Indeed it appears on the surface that we are in an ideal situation compared to most teams in the league, but some type of action has to be made. What’s your next move Theo?
*Bucholz will pitch tonight for Pawtucket on NESN. Check the game out at 7 PM!