Heyman On Gresh & Zo: Red Sox Eyeing Dempster?
CBS Baseball Insider Jon Heyman joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's Gresh and Zolak on Tuesday about the all things Red Sox.
Taking a break from all the injury talk -- don't worry, we'll get to that -- the guys discussed the MLB trade deadline, which is just two short weeks away.
The Red Sox are rumored to be interested in the Cubs' Ryan Dempster, who is 5-3 with a 1.86 ERA in 14 starts.
How would he fare in the American League though, and are the Red Sox really targeting him?
"I think Ryan Dempster is fabulous. I'm not sure how 'hot to trot' they are after him though," said Heyman. "My understanding is they're monitoring any of these very good starting pitchers, Dempster included. (Minnesota's Francisco) Liriano is another guy they're looking at and I won't rule out (Philadelphia's) Cole Hamels."
"My understanding is they are not aggressively pursuing Dempster at this point. I don't think they had any (scouts) at his last start," said Heyman. "It's possible they still need another pitcher... but right now they have six viable starters with Morales and Cook. Keep an eye on them -- I'm not sure they're going to last. But they will also have an innings limit on (Felix) Doubront."
"They may look for a starter later, and they may get a starter later, but right now I don't believe they're about to get Ryan Dempster," concluded Heyman.
Should the Sox land a starter, who is the odd-man out of the rotation.
"That's a great question; that's why I'm not sure they're going to get one immediately," said Heyman. "I'm not sure right now they can answer that question."
Carl Crawford and Jacoby Ellsbury are back in the Red Sox' outfield, but the team lost yet another player to injury in Monday night's win. David Ortiz suffered a right Achilles injury while rounding second base on an eighth-inning home run by Adrian Gonzalez, and will likely be sidelined over the next few days. Should the Sox throw Ortiz on the DL just to be safe?
"It looked the way he was limping in that it was fairly serious and I wouldn't be shocked if this was a DL situation," said Heyman. "He's a big guy. A foot injury is not easy; I think they will play it cautious."
This injury talk led to a conversation about injuries around the league. The Reds' Joey Votto needs knee surgery, and Jose Bautista is out for the Jays with a wrist injury. How will these injuries effect the trade market as the deadline draws closer?
