If you'd told me 24 hours ago that we'd be trading away a Ramirez, I wouldn't have guessed it would be
this one. But I'll take it. Boy, will I ever.
Josh Beckett!Suddenly that
stalled GM search isn't so unsettling. Who needs one?
Still, let's not
piss ourselves yet. It's all contingent on that physical.
But assuming he passes, this is about as brainless a no-brainer as they come. Three as yet unproven minor leaguers for a 25-year-old power pitcher who's already won a World Series MVP? And won it by
shutting down the New York Yankees?
Yes, please.
Here's a question. Would this deal have gotten done if Theo was still general manager?
It's moot, of course. But one wonders whether Epstein, who prized our finally abundant farm system more than any GM in recent Red Sox history, would have pulled the trigger. I hope he would've. And the fact that his minions orchestrated the deal suggests he would've. But really, how could you not?
His
history of blisters and that
balky right shoulder aside, Josh Beckett is a proven dude.
And to get him, we're trading Hanley,
Anibal Sanchez, and single-A righty
Jesus Delgado.
Hanley Ramirez may very well be a superstar some day. And if he is, we will regret it. (
Jeff Bagwell says hello.) But he might not be. And another middling season in Portland would all but destroy whatever big trade value he has. This is exactly the type of deal we should use him in. And, anyway: even if he is a terrific five-tool player, does anyone think he could possibly live up to the towering expectations he's built up in this baseball-mad town over the past couple years?
Sanchez had a respectable 3.45 ERA (with a 3-5 record) in 57+ innings pitched for Portland last season, and posted even better numbers on his way up. But he's far from a sure thing.
And Delgado is 21, has already had Tommy John surgery, and hasn't even been double-A tested.
They're prospects. Pitching prospects. Ever heard of
TINSTAAPP?
Yeah, having to take on
Mike Lowell's flaccid bat for $18 million is not the greatest.
But it
says here (reg. req.) that the Twins want the guy -- apparently more than they want Bill Mueller -- and would be willing to part with
Kyle Lohse,
J.C. Romero, and/or
Scott Baker for Lowell plus cash.
Now that is almost too good to be true. If there's any validity whatsoever, get on it. Toot sweet.
At any rate, pending approval, the Beckett deal will do wonders toward alleviating the
nausea I've been afflicted with over the past three weeks. Sure there a risks. But look at the upside.
If he stays healthy, and if he signs an extension later, we've got a stud ace for years to come.
And we still have
Jon Lester on the way up. Can you imagine a big three of Beckett/Papelbon/Lester? With guys like Hansen and Delcarmen in the pen?
And
New Yorkers are getting
queasy.
A good ol' boy from Texas like Beckett should fit in great with this bunch of
gun-totin',
Bible-thumpin',
Dubya-stumpin' red staters. Loyal Sox Blog reader R.J.O Stewart points to
this article, that calls him "a George Bush conservative whose other loves include deer hunting and country singer Kenny Chesney." ("I actually think that's the 'organizational difference of opinion' that led to Theo leaving," writes R.J.O. "He was upset the team was collecting these radical Republicans.")
But politics is politics. Baseball is baseball. And our team just got better.