Bradford Doolittle hands out grades as the Boston Red Sox acquire LF Kyle Schwarber from the Washington Nationals for RHP Aldo Ramirez.
RED SOX: B
The Red Sox lead the American League East by a narrow margin over the Tampa Bay Rays. At present, they're a half-game behind Houston for the top overall mark in the AL. Despite those sparkling facts, there is also the problem that the first-place, pennant-contending Red Sox rank dead last in bWAR at the first-base position.
And it's not that close. Boston's minus-1.3 bWAR from first basemen is a full seven-tenths of a win behind No. 29 Pittsburgh. The Red Sox's lowest ranking among any other position group is 18th, where they stand in the rotation and in left field.
The primary culprit in this incongruous problem is Bobby Dalbec, who has not been able to make the full turn from emergent young hitter to established big leaguer. He's hitting .211/.253/.379 over 277 plate appearances as a first baseman. His OPS over the last 30 days is .496, so the problem is not getting better.
Boston surely hasn't given up on Dalbec in the bigger picture, but for now, there is the 2021 season to deal with, and the Red Sox have a real chance at making a deep run in the postseason. What they do before the deadline may go a long way toward deciding just how far they can go.
There was no way Boston could emerge from the dust of this whirling dervish of a deadline without another option at first base. Enter Kyle Schwarber.
Schwarber, incidentally, has played all 72 games that he's appeared in this season as a left fielder for the Washington Nationals. He was having a banner season doing so, too, putting up a .910 OPS during those 72 outings before coming up with a lame hamstring in early July.
During the past 21 games Schwarber played in before going on the injured list, from which he is expected to return in mid-August, he was red hot at the plate. He hit .338/.409/.974 during that stretch with 16 home runs. For fun, we'll point out that's a pace of 123 homers over 162 games.
That is not the player BoSox fans should expect to see. It was an epic hot streak, but it ended with his injury two days before the Fourth of July. Nor should Boston really expect the .910 OPS guy, as that is where the number stood at the apex of his spree.
Instead, Red Sox fans should expect the player whose OPS since the start of the 2019 season is .848, whose OPS+ is 123 and who has clubbed 42 homers per 162 games. That player would be a major upgrade for the Red Sox from what they've gotten at first base this season.
Now wait, you might say. Schwarber isn't a first baseman. That's true. He has played there for one fleeting appearance during his entire big league career.
The important thing for Boston is Schwarber's bat. Alex Cora has moved his defenders around liberally all season and now Schwarber will be part of that mix. Maybe he gets some starts at first against righties, while Dalbec still goes against lefties. Maybe he plays some left on days when Alex Verdugo might have started, with Verdugo sliding over to right. Maybe Boston trades for Atlanta third base coach Ron Washington to teach Schwarber how to play first base.
The point is, Boston's lineup has been one player short all season. Now it's not. And for those who love great side narratives, every remaining Yankees-Red Sox game left on the schedule will now feature Schwarber going up against longtime Cubs teammate Anthony Rizzo.
You gotta love the trade deadline.
NATIONALS: C+
Once you've already traded Max Scherzer, Trea Turner and Brad Hand, you might as well keep going. Schwarber was an unexpected boon for the Nationals this season. That's not because it was a surprise that he played well, but because he was available in the first place. The Cubs simply set Schwarber adrift, and he went about the first half of the season proving how ill-advised that decision was.
That said, Schwarber is a corner player who is currently injured and has an expiring contract. The return for him was never going to be splashy. Because of that, it made sense for the Nationals to go the lottery ticket route. Aldo Ramirez qualifies as that.
Ramirez, 20, has put up good numbers in Low-A this season (2.03 ERA), but getting from there to the majors is a long journey. The raw tools are in place. According to Baseball America data, Ramirez works around 93 mph with his fastball and can touch 96 with it. He also throws a changeup and a curve to good effect.
It's not as sexy as the Scherzer deal, to be sure. The Nationals -- who also traded reliever Daniel Hudson to San Diego by the end of the day on Thursday -- are offloading veterans with startling rapidity. Still, this particular transaction is standard fare for this time of the year.