Red Sox look to Cardinals for inspiration
With spring training rapidly approaching, the Red Sox continue to have significant questions at shortstop and a lack of depth in their starting rotation.
But they also realize there still is plenty of time to address their needs.
"We know that teams evolve (during a season)," general manager Ben Cherington said. "The Cardinals are the obvious recent example."
Indeed, the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series despite making major changes throughout the season. In July, they traded for shortstop Rafael Furcal, right-hander Edwin Jackson and relievers Mark Rzepczynski and veteran Octavio Dotel, each of whom were impactful during the postseason.
And it wasn't until late August that Jason Motte took over as the closer.
But while the Cardinals deserve credit for addressing their needs, they also benefited from a September collapse by the Atlanta Braves, who squandered an 8 1/2-game lead in the NL wild card race in the season's final month. The Cardinals capitalized by earning the wild card and reaching the playoffs.
"You can't count on it that you will end up in the same spot they did," Cherington said. "We have the guys we have now, and we'll keep looking for ways to add to that group. We don't know when those opportunities are going to come."
For now, that means utilitymen Mike Aviles and Nick Punto will compete for playing time at shortstop in the aftermath of last month's payroll-clearing trade of Marco Scutaro to the Colorado Rockies.
And the Red Sox will hold an open competition for the final two spots in the rotation. Daniel Bard and Alfredo Aceves will have a chance to make the reliever-to-starter transition, and Vicente Padilla, Aaron Cook and Carlos Silva will try to prove they have something left after injuries derailed their careers within the last few years.
Meanwhile, Cherington will continue to look for help in those areas and others. Along the way, there will be surprises and likely a few outside additions. It's even possible the market for starting pitching will offer more appealing options in July than it has during the offseason.
And if they're lucky, the Red Sox's in-season touches -- not to mention their luck -- will be as positive as those made by the 2011 Cardinals.
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