Defensive Indifference

I guess it was too much to hope that the Red Sox would make it through the entire offseason quietly. A week before pitcher and catchers report to Fort Myers, Boston announced that Curt Schilling has a serious shoulder injury, one that could keep him out the entire season if he decides to get surgery.

The Red Sox were the runaway World Series favorites this season, so let’s try and take account for what this all means as I ask myself five salient questions, then answer them all.

In the short-term, what does this mean for Boston?

It means the pitching depth which the Red Sox were careful to protect this winter will be stretched a little bit, but not too significantly. Clay Buchholz, the sixth starter who was likely headed to Pawtucket at least to start the season, is bumped up a spot and could start the year in Boston’s rotation. It also means that it’s very unlikely Julian Tavarez will be traded now. He performed admirably in the Red Sox rotation for much of 2007 and he could be called upon again. He could even be the fifth starter to begin the year.

The real problem is that it’s hard to rely on Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz and Julian Tavarez for 180-200 league average innings. Schilling isn’t what he used to be, but he is relatively reliable.

So should they go out and get another starter?

It’s a little late for that, but even if it wasn’t, no. Kyle Lohse, Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, these are the type of names still out there. They still have Beckett and Matsuzaka, and they still have four other starters ready for MLB duty. In addition they have cultivated some great depth. Devern Hansack and Kyle Snyder are never going to be long-term solutions but they can start in a pinch, and top prospects Justin Masterson and Michael Bowden could be ready by midseason.

So I guess in hindsight they should have traded for Johan Santana, huh?

It’d be easy to say that, but even if the Red Sox did know about Curt Schilling’s shoulder injury when they were negotiating with the Twins, it doesn’t seem like that would have played a huge factor. The prospects and potential albatross contract were more the sticking point for the Sox. I mean, c’mon, Schilling is 41, he threw 151 innings last year, and his stuff clearly regressed, it’s not like they were sitting there counting on him to be Cy Young. “Santana, who needs him? We’ve got 41-year-old Scythehands Voxslayer.”

Maybe they could trade Coco Crisp for pitching then?

Not going to happen. For one, Crisp’s value isn’t that high. For two, I get the feeling the Red Sox have soured on dealing Crisp as the winter has gone on and the Schilling situation is instructive. J.D. Drew and Manny Ramirez aren’t exactly Cal Ripken and Lou Gehrig and Jacoby Ellsbury is a rookie. How is depth a bad thing here? There should be plenty of at-bats for Crisp in Boston’s fragile outfield, and with rosters mostly set around the majors, there isn’t really a logical landing spot for Crisp (Cubs?). Better to wait and see how the season shakes out — and in the meantime have baseball’s best fourth outfielder — than deal Coco for 50 cents on the dollar.

So are the Red Sox still the AL East favorites?

I don’t see why not. Potentially losing Schilling hurts, but Boston is the best-equipped team in the majors to handle that kind of blow and it could even be a blessing in disguise as Buchholz could easily outperform No. 38. Consider that Schilling was Boston’s No. 3 starter and he had a lower ERA than Andy Pettitte, who was arguably the Yankees’ No. 1 guy. An injury to Josh Beckett could tip the scales in New York’s favor, but for now the Sox are still the favorites to win the East, the American League and the World Series.