8/1/2007
How close did the Red Sox come to adding a power right-handed bat to go
along with the power right-handed arm (Eric Gagne) they acquired on
Tuesday?
"We were pretty close on a bat," said Red Sox general manager Theo
Epstein. "We had a few different targets out there, one primary target
that we feel we made a strong offer for."
Though Epstein did not mention the player by name, he was
likely referring to White Sox right fielder Jermaine Dye, who wound up
staying put in Chicago.
"I think, indeed, we had the strongest offer out there on the
player," said Epstein. "We can certainly sleep at night knowing we put
our best foot forward for that player, made a really strong proposal,
and we'll live to fight another day there. I certainly like the core of
position players that we have. ... If the need arises to do some
further tweaking of the bench here or there, due to injuries or other
reasons, I think we can accomplish that in August, both from inside the
organization and potentially from outside the organization."
The Red Sox and White Sox had been in discussions regarding Dye
for several days. The Red Sox were willing to send outfielder Wily Mo
Pena in the deal, but the White Sox also wanted some players Epstein
wasn't interested in giving up -- namely, righty reliever Manny
Delcarmen and right-handed prospect Justin Masterson.
"We felt as though we targeted our guys early on in what could
make the team better," said White Sox general manager Kenny Williams.
"What we were looking for as far as Jermaine was immediate help or
something better in prospects than the Draft picks we would get [if Dye
exits as a free agent]."
Dye, the 2005 World Series MVP, is having a subpar year. He is
hitting .235 with 19 homers and 52 RBIs for the floundering White Sox.
However, Dye has turned his game up a notch since the All-Star
break, hitting .318 with seven homers and 13 RBIs. He could have given
the Red Sox some punch from the right side.
But Dye could have used his no-trade clause to reject a deal
to Boston. The soon-to-be-free agent, uncertain what his playing time
would have been in Boston, might have done just that.
"Probably the most talked-about team was Boston, and it would
be hard for me to fit on that team, playing every day and trying to
show teams out there that I'm a free agent and this is what I want to
do and hopefully you want me," Dye said. "That's probably the most
talked-about team and the least amount of playing time I would have
got."
The Red Sox have a starting outfield of Manny Ramirez, Coco Crisp and J.D. Drew.
