05/29/2003
Baseball Perspectives
Tom Singer, MLB.com
Though at the moment they still repose in second place, the Yankees, having taken consecutive series from Boston, appear to have a leg up in this perennial skirmish.
The Red Sox, conversely, now have an arm up.
And it's quite an arm, attached to Byung-Hyun Kim, who strenghtens the Sox's efforts to submarine the Yankees' hopes of a sixth consecutive American League East title.
But never mind that intermediate step. So stoked was Boston general manager Theo Epstein to land what he called "an impact pitcher," he got carried away to using the "W" word.
"This trade is about winning the World Series," Esptein said, "to put us in the best possible position to do that."
References to World Series aren't something Boston people drop casually, given that they haven't won one since 1918.
At first consideration, the 24-year-old Korean native may not be your top choice of reinforcement against the Yankees, who during the 2001 World Series subjected him to a once-in-a-lifetime comeback ... on consecutive nights in Yankee Stadium.
Kim still thinks they play in The Haunted House that Ruth Built.
However, looking beyond those meltdowns, you see one of the liveliest, toughest-to-hit, and certainly most versatile, young arms in the Majors.
This is how versatile: Byung-Hyun holds the Arizona franchise record for saves -- 70, 69 of them the last three seasons -- and the Red Sox could use a bona fide closer. Yet they will swear him in as a citizen of Red Sox Nation as a starter, beginning Tuesday in Pittsburgh.
"As the season unfolds, we'll see what are the needs of the club, " Epstein said, leaving a definite door ajar for Kim's return to bullpen duty. "There is a chance we'll switch him to the closer role.
"We're privileged to have someone who is an impact pitcher both as a starter and a closer. He provides us with versatility."
This is how lively: Since the start of the 2000 season, Kim has rung up 349 strikeouts in 295 2/3 innings.
This is how tough to hit: As a starter this season, spoofing expectations that repeated exposures to his sidewhip delivery would help batters solve him, Byung-Hyun has held opponents to a .214 average.
That mark instantly ranks him seventh among AL starters, ahead of such as Mark Mulder, Roger Clemens and -- well, lookie here -- Bartolo Colon.
If Epstein had gotten his wish, Colon of course would've been the one acquired for Shea Hillenbrand during Spring Training.
Hillenbrand responded gallantly, and productively, to his double-slash role. He was a fixture last year at third base, where he made an AL-leading 154 starts -- not counting the one in the All-Star Game. But this season Hillenbrand had three primary positions. He played at third, at first and in limbo.
The Mesa, Arizona native's reward for hitting .303 is getting to go home. Until the ninth inning of the Red Sox's most recent game, Hillenbrand also led the team in RBIs (he now has one fewer than Nomar Garciaparra).
But Boston is perhaps the only team which could afford to deal away such a hot bat.
For one thing, Esptein hoarded heavy-hitting corner infielders in the offseason, anticipating Hillenbrand's departure. The new third baseman (Bill Mueller) is even hitting 79 points higher than Shea, and the new primary first baseman (Kevin Millar) has only seven fewer RBIs.
"We were able to make this trade because of our depth," Epstein concurred. "We do lose an element of the club that will be tough to replace, but we'll still be dynamic offensively."
For another, making their runs count was of greater concern to the Sox than making their runs grow.
Wednesday night's loss in Yankee Stadium, in which their four-run ninth-inning rally was in vain -- Hillenbrand, who had homered in the eighth, contributed a run-scoring single to that surge -- was the ninth time the Red Sox had lost while scoring 5-plus runs.
They didn't need Bill James' Sabermetrics to tell them that was not a good trend.
With Kim, and with the obvious struggles the Yankees starters have experienced, Boston may lay claim to the division's toughest rotation.
Right now it reads, top to bottom, Derek Lowe, John Burkett, Casey Fossum, Tim Wakefield and Kim, who will join the Sox Friday in Toronto.
When that other guy ... whassisname? ... oh, yeah, Pedro Martinez ... comes off the DL, either Kim or Wakefield will pull up a chair in the bullpen.
Ignore Kim's 1-5 record. It comes with a 3.56 ERA, a victim of the comatose offense which Hillenbrand will now jolt. This may seem incredible, but do you know how many runs the Diamondbacks scored while Kim was on the mound in those five losses?
One.
Byung-Hyun certainly comes well-rested. He has pitched once in the last month, having gone on the disabled list on April 30 with a bruised right ankle. After his comeback start Tuesday night in San Francisco, a couple of Boston scouts in attendance salivated so much, they had to don bibs before phoning in their reports.
Wonder what impressed the bird dogs more? That Kim had an easy time with Barry Bonds, striking him out once and getting him on soft pops twice? That Kim held the Giants to one run in seven innings? Or that at the same time the Yankees were hanging an 11 on the Sox on the other coast?
For Boston, the biggest risk is how Kim will react in the event Brandon Lyon falters and Grady Little decides he needs an experienced closer. Kim did that job grudgingly in Arizona, while Matt Mantei slowly recovered from a torn elbow ligament.
He also did it well, peaking with 36 saves last year.
He spent the offseason moping for a change of scenery. Bob Brenly consented with a spot in his rotation.
Would Kim rebel at being asked to again relieve? Nonsense. You could not think of a more dramatic change of scenery than going from the bullpen in The BOB to the one in The Fens.