About 4 outings now and two good but two bad, really bad ... so was Pomeranz a flash in the pan and the Padres smart to sell at the top?
Now comes this ...
Silverman: Did Red Sox get damaged goods in Drew Pomeranz?Michael Silverman Saturday, August 06, 2016
Credit: AP photo
LOS ANGELES — In his first four starts — 0-2, 6.20 ERA, 1.672 WHIP, five innings per start on average — Drew Pomeranz has not made a compelling case for being the savior the Red Sox were expecting when they traded their best pitching prospect, Anderson Espinoza, to the Padres last month.
Yesterday, a new and potentially far more sinister concern popped up about the Pomeranz trade. According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Red Sox have concerns that San Diego did not share all the relevant medical records it should have when it came to Pomeranz’ health.
In other words, in addition to continuing to wonder how good Pomeranz really is, the question of whether he is damaged goods now has to be asked as well.
The report specifically said the Red Sox were not seeking a remedy or do-over on the trade.
Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski would not talk about it.
“I really can’t comment on that report or on Drew, I just can’t,” he said.
Manager John Farrell made it clear he is not qualified to speak about any medical cover-ups or non-disclosures. All he can do is pitch Pomeranz every five days.
The expectations for those starts seem pretty low — six innings per start — for a pitcher that commanded such a high price in Espinoza.
“To my knowledge, he’s gone through his work between starts, he’s taken the ball as we anticipated,” said Farrell. “By looking at the game logs, I think it’s given some guidance on how to use him inside of a game. I’m unaware of what’s behind the report. I look at the guy that walks to the mound and is probably going to give you six innings as it stands right now.”
Yeesh. Six innings per start! That’s actually one inning more than Pomeranz has given them so far in what has been a small sample size to be sure.
For his part, Pomeranz was amused by the idea that he could be hurt.
“I haven’t had anything going on, I’ve been fine,” said Pomeranz, who walked six while allowing only two runs in six innings in Seattle Thursday night. “I’ve made all my starts all year. I don’t know what that report could be about.”
Pomeranz had not seen or read the ESPN report, although he has been impressed by some ESPN reports before.
“I didn’t even know I was traded to the Red Sox until six hours later. It was on ESPN before I heard about it,” said Pomeranz.
So, said Pomeranz, the report that he has or had a medical issue that the Padres knew about but did not tell the Red Sox is news to him.
“I have no idea what it’s about but who knows?” said Pomeranz. “Maybe we’ll find out sometime.”
The ESPN report said “according to sources, the Red Sox have become aware of medical information with Pomeranz that they believe was not properly disclosed during trade talks.”
Key to the report is a trade the Padres made with the Marlins last month that led to a direct and dramatic reversal of the deal.
The Padres traded pitchers Colin Rea and Andrew Cashner to Miami for a package headlined by prospect Luis Castillo, but in the middle of Rea’s first start, he exited with an elbow problem. The ESPN report said that, according to sources, Rea told the Marlins trainers that he had been treated for the elbow condition in San Diego. The Marlins reportedly never heard about the elbow issue or treatment.
Castillo was then sent back to Miami and Rea was returned to San Diego, while Cashner remained with Miami.
San Diego has yet to comment on the report, which also stated that Major League Baseball is aware of the concerns and reviewing the trades, and that the incidents could lead to a reworking of current protocols concerning the sharing and disclosure of medical records.
Whatever the outcome is at the executive levels of the game, the ramifications are clearly significant with regard to the Red Sox’ short- and long-term pitching outlook.
Pomeranz may very well turn out to be just fine physically and in turn will settle in and become a more effective and durable addition to the rotation. That’s the best and rosiest case, but we’re a long way from reaching that.
In the meantime, there’s a whiff or two of suspicion lingering around the Pomeranz deal.
Did the Red Sox get cheated? Should they be pursuing a remedy? Why did they not pursue this further? Did they get snookered into trading for a hurt pitcher, or one who may not be as good as they thought?
So many questions.
So few satisfactory answers for a story that looks as if it will not go away quickly.
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