Sox Drawer: Trades and deals abound in Beantown

As the MLB trade deadline comes and goes, the Celtics trump the Sox by bringing Kevin Garnett to Beantown; oh yeah, the Sox made some deals, too.

Sox Trade Deadline Tote Board:
Acquired: Eric Gagne
Lost: Kason Gabbard; Joel Pineiro
Failed to acquire: Dye; Teixeira;
Failed to deal: Wily Mo Pena

Sorry I haven't posted in a while but as you can see I have been busy trying to upgrade my site. Also, as you can see, I've still got a few kinks to work out, but I needed to post on the big Boston news, so bugs be damned.

While I was busy trying to improve the look of my blog, the Boston brass was busy upgrading the look of the bullpen as the team heads into the dog days of August with a comfortable yet not insurmountable division lead.

In a flurry of deadline activity the Sox sent starting pitcher Kason Gabbard along with Pawtucket outfield prospects David Murphy and Engel Beltre for Texas fomrer Cy Young winner Eric Gagne, and in a separate deal Boston shipped ineffective and recently demoted reliever Joel Pineiro to the Cardinals for cash and a future minor league prospect.

And just before those baseball deals went down, former Celtics teammates Danny Ainge and Kevin McHale brokered a blockbuster trade that will put 2004 NBA MVP and top 10 talent Kevin Garnett in Celtic green next season in what was the biggest deal for one player in league history.

Wow.

Shit, there's more wheeling & dealing going on in the Hub than at the friggin World Series of Poker.

Being a baseball blog I will just focus on the Sox, although the long-dormant Cs fan in me is ecstatic over the thought of the Big Ticket teaming with PP and Ray Ray next season at the New Garden.

Anyway, the biggest deal of the trade season after the Mark Teixeira to Atlanta deal was made just minutes before the 4PM deadline when the Sox sent promising young starter Gabbard to Texas for Gagne, the 2003 Cy Young winner who has undergone numerous operations since his sensation Cy campaign but has bounced back to become an effective reliever again.

Following his record-setting 84 consecutive save streak spanning 2002-04 Gagne underwent two elbow surgeries including Tommy John surgery plus a back operation in 2005 and 2006.

However when teams saw that the 31-year-old righty was probably healthy again this spring he began drawing interest from a few clubs, one of those being Boston, who courted him for a while when it was unclear who would close with Papelbon headed to the rotation.

But then Paps came to his senses and Gagne inked a 1-year pact worth $6 mil with the perennially pitching-starved Rangers, and now six months later after posting solid numbers this season (2-0, 2.16 ERA, 16 saves in 34 games), he has come full circle and made it to the club in the midst of a potential playoff season.

Funny how things work like that some time.

The price Boston had to pay to bring a veteran setup man to town was high but not astronomical. As I predicted in my post a couple of days ago, Gabbard was a near-lock to leave town with Schill coming back soon and Lester looking totally healed from his chemo treatments, and Murphy and Beltre were also expendable thanks to more coveted prospects like Jacoby Ellsbury and Brandon Moss waiting in the wings.

In smaller deal the Sox rid themselves of onetime potential closer turned horrific bullpen contributor Joel Pineiro for the proverbial bucket of balls.

After bringing him to Boston from Seattle in the offseason, the former starter was thought of as a possible replacement for Papelbon before his change of heart, but Pineiro never adapted to his new role and seemed to allow a run every time he came into a game.

His most memorable meltdown came when he went back to Seattle and allowed the game-losing hit in the 9th against his old mates.

So the Sox bullpen has a whole new look, and while the team didn't pick up the bat it wanted when Tex went to the Braves and the White Sox elected to hold on to Jermaine Dye, it still has a great offensive nucleus and now a bullpen that has been upgraded to the point that it looks like a case of the rich getting richer.

And with Garnett headed to Boston and Patriots training camp underway, the Hub is once again the center of the spoirts universe.

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Sox Drawer: Schill spouts off again; Wiggy to Boston?

Curt Schilling lambastes Bonds, Canseco and other noted juicers--again
Despite a blast of Barry Bonds and other reported steroid users a few months ago that brought a lot of heat & criticism on Schill's shoulders, eventually causing him to backpedal faster than a Tour cyclist away from a doping test, the garrulous one is at it again.

On the latest installment of the HBO series "Costas Now", Curt targeted Bonds, Jose Canseco, Raffy Palmeiro and other suspected juicers when he got off a few 'roid-related rants.

Regarding the allegations leveled at Bonds, Curt said:

"If someone wrote that stuff about me and I didn't sue their [butt] off, am I not admitting that there's some legitimacy to it?"

On Canseco admitting he used steroids for his whole career, Schill pulled no punches:

"Jose Canseco admitted he cheated his entire career. Everything he ever did should be wiped clean. I think his MVP should go back and should go to the runner-up."

Ah, that runner-up just happens to be Boston's own Gator Greenwell, but that's besides the point I guess.

And finally, Schill had this gem in response to Mark McGwire's infamous Capitol Hill testimony:

"It goes to the Mark McGwire thing in Congress. I mean, I'm a huge Mark McGwire fan. But I just always thought it was very simple: If you did something and someone asks you if you did it and you didn't do it, you say no. Any other answer than no is some form of yes, isn't it?"

Please Curt, for everyone's sake, just close your mouth and do what you do best--throw a baseball. There will be plenty enough time to speak your mind and put your foot in your mouth when your career is over and you enter the next phase of your life--politician.

Thank You.

Say it ain't so: Rays might get Wiggy with it
You would think they learned their lesson about acquiring former Devil Rays infielders.

Not content to call the Lugo experiment a potential disaster, the Sox are reportedly in talks with the Rays to acquire mediocre infielder Ty Wigginton.

Living here in the (other) Bay area, I can say that the few who follow the Rays love this guy for his work ethic, attitude, hustle and versatility. He surprised everyone associated with the team when he made the club following a spectacular spring last year, and to his credit he turned that opportunity into a solid season (.275, 24HRs, 74RBI.)

Also to his credit he is having another solid season, batting .273 with 15 homers and 48 ribbies in 97 games, but my question is, who is he going to replace in Boston, and would he be a better fit than what they've already got?

I guess that would be a pair of questions.

Although he has played mainly at second base this season he is considered more of a corner infielder, so that would mean he would be replacing Youk or Lowell. Make that Lowell.

To paraphrase John McEnroe, "Theo, you can't be serious!?"

I'm not even going to get into all the reasons why this would be a horrid move, number one being that this guy looks strictly like a career utility player who is perfect for a shitty team like the Rays but a mismatch on a pennant contending club like the Sox.

But the bigger picture is what troubles me. With rumours abounding that the Sox are interested in Mark Teixeira, Todd Helton and Dodger's Andy LaRoche, it seems like the Boston brass has its mind made up that now is the time to dump Mike Lowell while his bat is hot and the interest is high.

And I guess in the long run if you can replace an again and error prone fielder with a young and explosive hitter like Big Tex or Todd Helton, the deal has to be made.

But to bring in a guy like Ty frigging Wigginton in place of a Mike Lowell?

All I can say is if that happens Theo better dust off the monkey suit!

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Sox Drawer: looming deadline could affect chemistry

I was going to do this post yesterday but I got sidetracked. So of course Carfado did a piece on it today, and now it looks like I'm taking my cues from the Globe.

Anyway, as the trade MLB deadline of July 31 rapidly approaches, every team in contention (by my count at least 19 teams that fall under that large umbrella) will be considering a move that could modify their club just enough to get them over that postseason hump.

Which begs the ultimate annual mid season question:

Does a first place club fuck with the chemistry by altering the makeup of the team, or do they stand pat/make minor moves that solidify the bench and keep the core nucleus intact?

As the team with the best record in baseball and few glaring weaknesses the Sox are in a most precarious situation: Theo could make a Nomar-esque trade that would shock the clubhouse while dramatically changing the team on the field, but he also could tinker with the bench and bullpen in an attempt to fine tune an already well-oiled machine.

My guess is the latter.

Make no mistake the Sox brass will not be innocent bystanders when the deadline approaches. With the rival Stankees having already made the first move, albeit a minor one (picking up veteran catcher Jose Molina), you can be sure Boston will be eager to counter with something that makes it look like they are not getting out-hustled in the front office.

But unlike 2004, when the Nomar deal shook the foundations of the franchise and its faithful fanbase, Boston does not need a major upgrade in the field and/or at the plate and will not make a major move just to do so. Nor will Theo strip the farm system for a short term solution for an already strong club.

But the lack of depth on the bench and surplus of quality starters dictate a move of some sort.

Rumours abound about which direction Theo will take, and potential trading partners include Texas (Mark Teixeira), Chicago (Konerko) and of course the perennial sellers, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (pick a player.)

Here are my theories on who will stay and who will go in the next week.

STAYING:

-Mike Lowell: the Sox have entertained thoughts of dealing the pricey ($9 mil) and aging (33) veteran third baseman for the last couple of seasons, but that was when he was a solid complimentary player.

Now Lowell has become the de facto heart and soul of the offense, leading the team in RBI and second in homers while batting over .300 for most of the year, and with Manny's power numbers down and Papi hurting, dealing this fan favorite and team leader, even for a young offensive force like Teixeira, would be a monumental chemistry changer that the team might not recover from.

-Jon Lester: eleven months removed from his cancer diagnosis and having made a triumphant return to the bigs with an impressive win Monday night, trading this real-life hero would be a MAJOR blow to the players and fans who have stood by and supported the young man for the last year.

Sure baseball is a business and if a team makes the right offer no one is expendable (ahem-Nomar), but my guess is the Sox let this kid ride out the rest of the season in the Hub to see what kind of inspirational lift his return can give the city and the team

-Manny Delcarmen: sure his stock is sky high right now, but why would the Sox want to deal a hot young bullpen arm unless they were going to get a major player in return. He's too young, inexpensive, and has too much upside to let him go

GOING:

-Wily Mo Pena: right now Boston would be willing to deal this hitting & fielding liability for the proverbial bucket of balls, but whatever the deal you can bet grandma's pension that the affable man-child will be wearing another uniform come Aug. 1st.

-Javier Lopez: the sidearming lefty was supposed to be a lefty specialist, but the problem is lefthanders are batting .288 off him, and his recent struggles (8 hits, 3 BBs, 3 ERs all'd in last 6 1/3 innings) have made it clear that Boston would be willing to let him go if they could get someone more reliable in return

-Kason Gabbard: with the return of Schill imminent and the return of Lester already a success it appears that Gabbard would be the odd man out. He's good, he's young, and on a team that has four entrenched starters and two rookies vying for one spot, he's expendable

-Julian Tavarez: I know his teammates, namely Papi & Manny, love him and he is a valuable arm in the pen because he can go 1-3 innings, but in the last two years he's been bounced around more than a superball, and a move to another team might be the best thing for him and the Sox right now

The bottom line is this team doesn't need a major change to shake things up and to get in contention like the '04 club did. Sure the offense & bullpen could use some tweaking, but to bring in a Teixeira or some other big-name player right now might do more harm than good.

My suggestion: tinker all you want, Theo, and move a couple of bit players, but don't alter the heart of this potential championship squad.

Then if they shit the bed in the postseason, or God forbid miss the playoffs entirely, go ahead and burn the mother down!

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