On the heels of an utterly humiliating loss at home to the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox find themselves in the middle of a trade with the Chicago Cubs.
So, while Theo Epstein may not have been involved in the 100 year anniversary of Fenway Park, his name is linked to the team on this historic weekend.
The Boston Red Sox have sent Michael Bowden and a player to be named later to the Chicago Cubs for center fielder Marlon Byrd and cash (via ESPN).
Numerous questions come to mind; however, the two most pressing are:
“Is this a desperation move?”
“Will Jacoby Ellsbury be out longer than expected?”
Addressing the first one, it seems hard to say no considering how absolutely terribly the team has played this weekend.
The loss at home on Friday followed by an insanely unpredictable finish to Saturday’s game leads one to think that general manager Ben Cherington and Co. are desperate and trying to piece things together.
Is Marlon Byrd going to be the answer to their problems? Obviously not, considering his 0.70 batting average in 13 games so far this season.
The team hopes to see him return to his career .278 form of course, but adding Byrd while sacrificing any pitching, albeit Michael Bowden, seems counterproductive at this point, does it not?
In addition, one has to ask, how injured is Ellsbury?
If the front office feels compelled to add another outfielder, Ellsbury‘s injury has to be more significant than what the team has let on.
Obviously this is only another chink in the armor.
The team is hurting across the board. The Yankees are having their way with us, the manager is a laughing stock, half the team is injured and there is no light in sight.
But, hey, at least we can all still sing along to “Sweet Caroline” in the middle of the eighth.
Good times never seemed so good, so good, so good.
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