At the beginning of the month, the Boston Red Sox were battling for the best record in the American League and had a 99 percent chance of making the playoffs according to ESPN's playoff percentage calculator. That was on September 1.
Two weeks later, the Red Sox are a hot mess and David Ortiz thinks it's time to panic. Boston has lost five in a row, have seen their Wild Card lead dwindle to just 3.5 games (3 in the loss column), and their playoff odds have gone down to 88 percent.
There have been a lot of reasons for Boston's losing ways as of late, but the main reason has been their starting rotation. The Red Sox just don't have the horses right now.
This is why they should call the New York Mets
Someone like Chris Capuano could really help the Red Sox get into the playoffs. Capuano, who started a grand total of 34 games in the past four seasons coming into this season, has had a solid season with the Mets.
He has a 4.49 ERA, 3.89 FIP, 2.5 BB/9, and 7.9 K/9 in 170.1 innings. Capuano also is the owner of the best pitched game of the season by Game Score standards (96) when he shut out and struck out 13 Atlanta Braves on August 26.
While he wouldn't be eligible for the postseason, Capuano would give the Red Sox a pitcher who can give them quality innings down the stretch. That is something Tim Wakefield, Andrew Miller, Kyle Weiland, or even John Lackey haven't been able to produce lately.
Capuano is a free agent at the end of the season and doesn't project to be a Type-A or B free agent, so he doesn't have much value to a Mets' team that has nothing to play for except for a .500 finish in 2011. The Mets could trade him to Boston, get the ever so popular Player To Be Named Later for him, and then re-sign him in the offseason if they wish.
The Red Sox need to do something down the stretch. It's one thing to go into a team slump, but it's another thing to have a complete starting rotation collapse. Capuano would bring some much needed stability to the Boston rotation.