Impact of Red Sox and Drew Pomeranz deal on Blue Jays at the trade deadline

The Blue Jays are up against the Boston Red Sox at the MLB trade deadline in more ways than one

Amid all of the trade deadline news and rumours, the idea of competing with rival teams for similar assets is too often ignored.

This came to light on Thusday when the Boston Red Sox acquired starting pitcher Drew Pomeranz from the San Diego Padres for prospect Anderson Espinoza.

The 18-year-old Venezuelan is a consensus top-5 prospect in the Red Sox system, ranking fourth on MLB Pipeline. The problem for the Toronto Blue Jays here is that, in many weaker farm systems, Espinoza is a number one or two prospect, and the Red Sox have plenty more prospect capital to deal with.

From Yoan Moncada to Andrew Benintendi, and from recent 12th overall pick Jason Groome the 105-MPH-throwing right-hander Michael Kopech,  the Red Sox have built one of the top prospect systems in all of baseball. One that Dave Dombrowski will not be afraid to borrow from as Boston looks to fill similar voids to the Blue Jays ahead of July 31st.

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Dombrowski’s hand is being forced by performance, however, not depth or situation when it comes to his starting rotation. The Red Sox currently rank 19th in the league with a 4.72 ERA from their starters, and given their immense offensive firepower, could really find a new gear if the rotation were to settle.

Even though Espinoza is likely still a few years away from the majors, this represents an elevated bar and a seller’s market over the coming two-plus weeks. This isn’t the Red Sox first impactful move of July, either.

On July ninth, Boston acquired underrated veteran relief pitcher Brad Ziegler from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for Luis Alejandro Basabe and Jose Almonte. They also acquired Michael Martinez and former Blue Jays’ second-baseman Aaron Hill in separate deals with the Indians and Brewers.

In terms of who the Blue Jays will be facing directly in Pomeranz, the left-hander has been no stranger to trades recently. After being drafted by the Cleveland Indians 5th overall in 2010, Pomeranz was dealt to the Colorado Rockies in 2011 as part of the Ubaldo Jimenez deal. He then went from the Rockies to the Oakland Athletics in the 2013 Brett Anderson deal, and from Oakland to the Padres last December for Yonder Alonso and Mark Rzepczynski.

He’s coming off two strong years in Oakland where he posted ERAs of 2.35 and 3.66 (54 relief appearances and 19 starts between the two), and has continued his strong pitching with a 2.47 ERA in 17 starts this year. After working 115.1 innings in 2014 and 88 last season, however, Pomeranz may eventually run into endurance questions as he’s already hit 102 in 2016.

Boston’s pitching needs could stretch into the bullpen, as well, another area where they could act as a potential roadblock to the Blue Jays. Closer Craig Kimbrel, also a former Padre, is out until approximately September after undergoing knee surgery. Carson Smith, who was supposed to be a strong back-end piece, is out for this season and some of the next after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

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The struggle, or perhaps the temptation, now becomes the idea of outbidding rivals for available players. It can be a dangerous game that leads to unbalanced prices on the open market, but with the prospect and financial wealth of teams like Boston, the Blue Jays may need to find 2015’s J.A. Happ instead of 2015’s David Price.