The word is that
Ben Cherington does not want to part with top prospects
and $20 million (a fifth year option buyout on top of his existing contract) for 31-year old
Cole Hamels. His strategy may be to go after two or three other (perhaps less expensive) starters—like
Doug Fister/
Jordan Zimmerman from the Nationals and/or
Johnny Cueto/
Matt Latos from the Reds. In most of these trade scenarios,
Yoenis Cespdes heads out of Boston—possibly along with others. Cueto would be the preferred (and pricier) option—since he is very close to a top-of-the-rotation starter. The Fister option
might also be a good one—as far as it goes. The 30-year old righty has a career record of 60-56 over six seasons—with a 3.34 ERA. He has five years of experience in the American League, where he's posted a 3.53 ERA. The last two seasons, he has a better than .600 winning percentage, and has given up almost exactly as many hits as innings pitched over his career. We really need
two prime starters to match with
Clay Buchholz,
Joe Kelly, and whoever else breaks through from
The Kiddie Corps. Getting
both Cueto and Fister would be OK, but still not ideal.
