Should the Red Sox have traded Koji Uehara at the deadline?

After the Red Sox held on to Koji Uehara through their trade deadline fire sale last month, it was assumed that they planned to re-sign the free-agent closer for next season.  However, Uehara could still be moved this season via a waiver wire deal; remember the blockbuster trade that sent Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford to the Dodgers (read how wrong I was about that one) two years ago happened after the deadline.  But at this point, I'm not even sure if Koji would have that much value.

Uehara has made 12 appearances since July 31, and he's given up at least one hit in nine of them.  For his career Koji has a WHIP of just 0.84, but for the month of August it's nearly doubled (1.59).  His ERA this month is 5.56, and over his last three appearances Uehara has two losses and two blown saves.

Is it possible the 39-year-old is finally wearing down?  A month ago Koji was arguable the best closer in baseball.  Now he's nowhere close.  Maybe the Red Sox missed the boat by not trading him at the deadline?

To be pragmatic, I'll throw in my optimistic view as well: There's a chance Uehara is just fine and his struggles will only mean Boston can re-sign him for less next season.

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