Gordon Edes, columnist for ESPN Boston, tweeted last night the Boston Red Sox offered outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for left-handed reliever Charlie Furbush and were told no.
I was told this spring Sox offered M's JBJ for Furbush, were told no
— Gordon Edes (@GordonEdes) May 15, 2015
The Red Sox making this offer makes sense. Their bullpen posted the 11th best ERA last season (3.33) and adding Furbush would improve an already decent group. The team is also bursting at the seams with outfield depth. Daniel Nava, Mookie Betts, Brock Holt, Hanley Ramirez and Shane Victorino are all capable outfielders with varying amounts of promise. The team also committed $72.5 million to top Cuban free agent Rusney Castillo last season. Bradley Jr. was expendable despite his potential.
There’s no questioning Bradley Jr. struggled with the bat in his first full season the major leagues last year. He posted a batting average below the Mendoza Line (.198), didn’t get on base (.265) and had absolutely no power (1 homer). His defensive side of the game, however, was just as advertised. Bradley Jr. was one of the best – if not the best – defensive outfielder in the show. It was all second nature for him. It’s the reason he stayed in the lineup for as long as he did, despite his putrid offensive numbers.
He’s also still relatively young, turning 25 just under a month ago.
The Mariners saying no to this deal is the head scratching part for me.
Don’t get me wrong, Charlie Furbush is a valuable reliever. He’s a left-hander who was coming off a 2014 where his per nine inning numbers were absurd. He had a dominant strikeout rate (10.8), didn’t walk anybody (1.9) and had a ERA (3.61) that was backed up by a very strong FIP (2.80). But he’s a specialist, making 67 appearances and only appearing in 42.1 innings.
http://gty.im/472906254
The big question is, why would the Mariners not trade a left-handed specialist for a player with as much potential as Bradley Jr?
The Mariners bullpen was the best in the league last season, posting a 2.59 ERA, holding batters to a stingy .229 average. It’s not like the Mariners were lacking another left-handed option. The ageless Joe Biemel was very solid for the club last season, posting a 2.20 ERA in 56 appearances, although his peripheral numbers suggested it should have been a bit higher.
What made Furbush ‘untradable’ was the fact the Mariners didn’t have any lefties to immediately fill in his dominance in the role. While Biemel re-signed with the team on the minor league deal and made the club, he couldn’t be counted on to replicate Furbush’s gaudy numbers. But could he be replaced in favour of shoring up the teams outfield? Absolutely.
Seattle’s outfield has also been a mess for the most part in 2015. The team has used a mixture of Seth Smith, Justin Ruggiano, Nelson Cruz, Austin Jackson, Dustin Ackley, Rickie Weeks, Seth Smith and Brad Miller in the outfield this season. None of those outfielders have any prowess defensively, but Jackson, Smith and Ruggiano are at least competent out there. Things have muddied a bit with Jackson hitting the 15-day DL. The team has used Weeks and Miller, both natural infielders who’ve never played outside the infield confines, in the outfield this season, which sorely shows the teams lack of depth. While they could use an outfielder with a big bat, they could also use a centerfielder who’s used to being out there.
https://twitter.com/DrewGROF/status/598973241466626050
The Mariners reasoning here seems to be ‘if it’s not broke than don’t fix it’ in regards to their bullpen. That makes sense, but why not sacrifice a small part of your biggest strength to help out your biggest weakness? Furbush is arbitration eligible by seasons end, and is set to be a free agent in 2018, while Bradley Jr. is controllable through 2020.
Who would you rather take a gamble on? A dependable left-handed reliever or a more controllable player who still needs to work it out but could become very good and is already very good in one area of his game. Bradley Jr. is still raw. While capable defensively, he hasn’t shown he can handle big league pitching – but if he can even slightly turn that around, he should be a very valuable piece going forward – and there’s still plenty of time for him to do so.
Ben Cherington is going to look back at this trade, and be glad he was rebuffed.
