Zach Britton was a name rumored among many teams within the last few weeks. Britton had arguably the greatest season ever by a reliever just a couple years ago. Its no secret why a team in the pennant race would want to snatch this guy. The race for Britton came between three teams: Houston, New York, and Boston.
Recently, I wrote that the Red Sox wouldn’t have enough for Britton. They were in play for him, no doubt, as this is a team that certainly needs help in its bullpen. Dombrowski knew he had too little pieces to trade to Baltimore in order to get a guy like Britton. Unless they give up the only good prospects left for a rental, no deal can be done.
BRITTON TRADED
So no deal was done, as Britton was traded to the Yankees. As the info released on who the Yankees gave up, it became more of a realization the Red Sox never had a chance. Three years ago, Dombrowski traded four solid prospects to San Diego for Craig Kimbrel. Dombrowski had to give up a lot in that trade because he was getting three years of Kimbrel in return. In this case with Britton, you can’t really do that with a rental. The Yankees did. They didn’t necessarily give up exactly what Boston was willing to give up. But they came awfully close to the deal the Red Sox did as far as the top prospects they had to give away.
So in reality, there was never a shot for Dombrowski to get this deal done. Jeurys Familia, who was an option for the Red Sox, was traded to Oakland. So there’s another guy crossed off the list. The trade deadline is getting closer and closer. Options become more slim and it will be vital to make a deal as this bullpen is becoming more worrisome every day. It’s going to be tough, but we have to put faith in Dombrowski.