The Boston general manager is looking for opportunities to improve the team as the non-waiver trading deadline approaches.

01:00 AM EDT on Friday, July 29, 2005

BY STEVEN KRASNER
Journal Sports Writer

The clock is ticking.

The non-waiver trading deadline is creeping ever closer, and there's no doubt that Boston Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein has one ear glued to his cell phone and his eyes scouring the scouting reports.

That's the way it is when the deadline approaches. It will arrive Sunday, at 4 o'clock, during the Red Sox' game against the Minnesota Twins at Fenway Park.

Epstein's goal, naturally, is to improve the team for the final two months of the season. But it's more than that. He wants to upgrade this team for the final three months of the season, counting postseason play in October, hopefully, as part of the Red Sox' year.

As the Red Sox are constituted now, they could win the American League East. No team is good enough to run away and hide from any other team at this point. They all are seriously flawed in one area or another.

The New York Yankees are so desperate for starting pitching, for instance, they recently traded for one old pitcher (Al Leiter) who had the worst earned-run average for a starter in the National League, and signed another senior citizen (Hideo Nomo) who had the highest E.R.A. for a starter in the A.L. when he was designated for assignment by the lowly Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

So the Sox don't need to make any moves out of desperation just to keep pace with or close the gap on any division rival. But Epstein's mission is to turn this team into one that can repeat as World Series champions, not just be the best of a mediocre A.L. East, limping into the postseason on a wing and a prayer.

Unfortunately, there are several soft spots on this roster, and the options on the trading market don't seem to be sure-fire cures for what ails Boston.

The Red Sox' needs have been obvious for several weeks. The bullpen could use some strengthening as could the rotation, which, unlike last year, has no dominant

No. 1 hurler the way it did a year ago when Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling were tag-team aces.

The scare survived by Matt Clement (10-3), the Sox' biggest winner, on Tuesday night, when Carl Crawford sizzled a line drive off the side of the right-hander's head, underscores how fragile a pitching staff can be. You can never have enough pitching. And Clement isn't an ace in the Schilling-Martinez mold.

But now Boston has another gaping hole, in right field.

Trot Nixon could be out a long time because of the strained left oblique he suffered Tuesday night. Gabe Kapler is coming back tomorrow, but is he the answer? Nice clubhouse presence, good guy, but he flopped in Japan and is hardly the type of hitter who can fill Nixon's shoes as consistent batting-order protection for the big boys, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez. Rule 5 rookie Adam Stern is the other right-field option.

And that brings up another question. Will Manny play hard the rest of the way? Or how often will he even deign to play? He seemed to be distracted for most of the recently concluded road trip, opting to sit out Wednesday's game against the Devil Rays even though the Red Sox were shorthanded because of Nixon's injury.

But while Ramirez's attitude may irritate some teammates, the man is leading the majors with 92 RBI, and as distracted as he seemed, he still blasted three homers on the trip. So trading him, as he would like, probably is an issue that will be addressed in the offseason, not now.

In the meantime, starting pitchers A.J. Burnett and Jason Schmidt have been mentioned as possible targets on the market. Left-handed reliever J.C. Romero of the Twins has had his name come up in Boston.

How deep, though, should Epstein dip into his suddenly fertile farm system to swing a deal? That's a question only he can answer, and the answer probably won't come until Sunday.

Epstein, though, has shown creativity in the past. Doug Mientkiewicz, Orlando Cabrera and Dave Roberts weren't high-prfile names around the trading deadline a year ago. But Epstein shipped away disgruntled All-Star shortstop Nomar Garciaparra for Mientkiewicz, a first baseman for the Minnesota Twins, and Cabrera, a shortstop for Montreal, and then traded for Roberts, a speedy outfielder.

And three months later, the Red Sox were celebrating their first World Championship in 86 years.

Epstein's job is tougher this year. He does not have Schilling and Martinez at the top of the rotation. He's also attempting to maintain a balancing act of trying to infuse the roster with youngsters for the future while acquiring players who can help the team n win the World Series again.

This is not to say that holes can't be patched beyond Sunday. After Sunday, though, waivers will have to be requested on players before they can be dealt, and that's more problematic because other teams will have shots at those players before Boston, with waiver-claim opportunities being offered in reverse order of the standings.

But other playoff contenders are going to try to make moves by Sunday's deadline, so it's better to be proactive.

It's hard to believe that Epstein won't make some moves. It's just difficult to predict what they will be because this team needs help.

The clock is ticking.