A new playoff format increases the risk of trading young talent for quick help.
Boston Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington has some decisions to make by Tuesday's trade deadline.NEW YORK - Not only must be try to find a match in a difficult trading market, but Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington must consider whether simply making the playoffs is worth it.
He says it is.
"Our goal is always playoff baseball. You've got to get a ticket to the dance, and then you have to do something once you get to the dance,'' the Red Sox general manager said from Yankee Stadium Friday night.
As the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline approaches, the addition of a second wild-card team has altered the playoff format in a way not widely discussed in media.
The two wild-card teams will play each other in a one-game first round format. The winner moves on to the Division Series, but the loser goes home, its playoff experience done in one day.
The Red Sox entere the weekend trailing the New York Yankees by 10 1/2 games. They must also move past at least six teams to make the playoffs as a wild card, but they believe they have a chance.
That leaves Cherington to decide whether trading prized young talent, which exists in Boston's lower minors, is worth it just to rent a player for a playoff run that could end in one game.
"You have to get to the playoffs any first. We'll get there any way we can,'' he said.
Cherington understands the argument that making the playoffs at the expense of trading young talent will be controversial, if the playoff run is over after nine innings.
The playoffs remain the goal, he said.
"No matter how we get there, we just want to get there,'' he said.
That does not mean the Red Sox make a significant trade before Tuesday's deadline.
Cherington acknowledged it was a seller's market, especially for pitching, where the Red Sox are looking most seriously for help.
He said the results of the weekend series at New York will have a bearing on his decisions.
"Where we sit in the standings is a factor, but no matter what happens this weekend or Monday, though, there is always opportunity to improve short-term or long-term,'' he said.
"We needed to pursue those.''
He said if the Red Sox can't pull the trigger on a team, they still believe the playoffs are attainable.
"The way we look at it, there is a cluster of teams ahead of us. We feel we're as good or better than any of them, and have as good a chance as any of them to make a run,'' he said.
"Helping the team (by a trade) makes sense, but we're more focussed on the guys we have here. Starting pitching is an area where we would like to see improvement, but if the guys we have here pitch to their capability, it's a good rotation.''