Red Sox, Rangers talked blockbuster

[SemperFi Sox]

According to multiple major league sources, one potential deal discussed by the Red Sox and Rangers prior to the non-waiver trade deadline included a package that would have sent Josh Beckett, Jacoby Ellsbury and Kelly Shoppach to the Rangers. It is unclear what player compensation the two teams discussed going from Texas to the Red Sox in such a deal.

 

The proposal was described by one source as nothing more than a theoretical back and forth of ideas that never progressed to the point where the Red Sox approached Beckett to discuss his 10-5 rights (which give the pitcher, as someone with 10 years in the majors and five with one club, the opportunity to veto a deal). Another source classified the talks as having reached a more advanced stage before hitting a wall.

 

"We did feel empowered to do something bold, we just didn't find something bold that made sense for us," Cherington said. "We explored a lot of things that were bold, and maybe even got close to a couple of things, but we just didn't feel like there was anything of the big, bold variety that made sense for us right now."

 

There was no deal involving Beckett that advanced to the stage where the pitcher was alerted by the Red Sox front office that a deal might be taking place.

 

"I've never been through it. It was definitely something different for me," Beckett said after the Red Sox' rain-shortened, 4-1 win over Detroit Tuesday night. "[but] I mean, I definitely had three hours to calm my mind [before the start]."

 

He later added, "I think everybody, you know there was a lot of guys in here that's name was attached that some people didn't think were going anywhere. I think a lot of times people try to throw as many things up against the wall as they can and then one sticks and they look like a genius."

 

The Rangers ultimately moved on from any deal with the Red Sox late in the afternoon Monday, first trading for Cubs catcher Geovany Soto, and then securing the services of Cubs starting pitcher Ryan Dempster.

 

Shoppach, who continued to be the subject of trade rumors up until the deadline, said the buzz didn't bother him.

 

"I don't really care as much as you all do," he said. "I have a job, no matter where it is. No matter how much you like places, I understand the business of the game, and I understood that a long time ago. It never fazes me. I do what I'm asked to do, whatever that is."

 

Beckett is signed through 2014, with the pitcher being owed $15.75 million in each of the next two seasons. Ellsbury will be eligible for free agency after the '13 season, while Shoppach is in the midst of a one-year, $1.35 million deal.

 

http://www.weei.com/sports/boston/this-just-in/21217731/red-sox-rangers-talked-blockbuster

 

Interesting.

[BornToRun]

I wonder who we were trying to pry away from Texas. It must have been somebody big for that package.

[kapsis21]

what would have we gotten back.. i dont get it.. Ells/Beckett should be a top pitching prospect in return and then some more..

[Orange Juiced]

I wonder who we were trying to pry away from Texas. It must have been somebody big for that package.

 

I'm guessing Hamilton. No joke. There have been musings by a number of baseball people that perhaps they'd be willing to trade him. He hasn't been playing well (see Nolan Ryan's comments about him recently), and he's due a HUGE contract (not dissimilar to Ellsbury). Blockbusters are that way when significant pieces go both ways. The Sox had to have been getting someone really, really good if they were going to trade Ellsbury/Beckett/Shoppach in the same deal.

[BornToRun]

Isn't Hamilton going into free agency in 2013? That's a bit of a steep price for a rental who's in his 30's playing a position we have a top prospect waiting to take over in a year or two. I know he's Josh Hamilton but still.

 

I was thinking possibly Andrus and some other pieces thrown in, what those would be I don't know.

[Orange Juiced]

Isn't Hamilton going into free agency in 2013? That's a bit of a steep price for a rental who's in his 30's playing a position we have a top prospect waiting to take over in a year or two. I know he's Josh Hamilton but still.

 

I was thinking possibly Andrus and some other pieces thrown in, what those would be I don't know.

 

Yes. I'm trying to think through who the significant pieces we would get back would be. Hamilton + Ogando for Ellsbury/Beckett/Shoppach would indeed be a blockbuster.

[kapsis21]

Ogando is overrated ... me thinks :dunno:

[BornToRun]

It'd take more than Ogando for me to be happy with that. I don't even know if I'd be happy with Hamilton. He's 31 and going into FA and I can wager that he's going to make a very large amount of money. I don't know if I would trade a younger Ells, Beckett, and Shop for a guy who could very well be gone in 2 months and won't be cheap at all to hang on to and Alexi Ogando. Plus, we have JBJ waiting to take over in CF and I don't know if the outfield is a place we want to dump a lot of money into.

[SemperFi Sox]

Probably Andrus

[kapsis21]

Probably Andrus

 

that would not make any sense.. we have 3 SS Aviles Ciriaco and Iggy waiting.. yet we pry for another one..

 

but yet knowing... wait not knowing what our FO does.. it could have been that Andrus was on that deal..

[kapsis21]

It'd take more than Ogando for me to be happy with that. I don't even know if I'd be happy with Hamilton. He's 31 and going into FA and I can wager that he's going to make a very large amount of money. I don't know if I would trade a younger Ells' date=' Beckett, and Shop for a guy who could very well be gone in 2 months and won't be cheap at all to hang on to and Alexi Ogando. Plus, we have JBJ waiting to take over in CF and I don't know if the outfield is a place we want to dump a lot of money into.[/quote']

 

agreed. Hamilton is a no-no in my books. Ells over Hamilton any f***ing given day!

[Orange Juiced]

It'd take more than Ogando for me to be happy with that. I don't even know if I'd be happy with Hamilton. He's 31 and going into FA and I can wager that he's going to make a very large amount of money. I don't know if I would trade a younger Ells' date=' Beckett, and Shop for a guy who could very well be gone in 2 months and won't be cheap at all to hang on to and Alexi Ogando. Plus, we have JBJ waiting to take over in CF and I don't know if the outfield is a place we want to dump a lot of money into.[/quote']

 

Well, no sense worrying about it, obviously, as it was never consummated. But I'd be curious to know what was on the table, and who offered it.

[SemperFi Sox]

that would not make any sense.. we have 3 SS Aviles Ciriaco and Iggy waiting.. yet we pry for another one..

 

but yet knowing... wait not knowing what our FO does.. it could have been that Andrus was on that deal..

 

Aviles could be dealt, Iggy is never going to be a starter here. not like we were stacked at SS. There is no one else they could have been looking at.

[Orange Juiced]

Aviles could be dealt' date=' Iggy is never going to be a starter here. not like we were stacked at SS. There is no one else they could have been looking at.[/quote']

 

No one else? They could have been looking at any number of guys in the majors and minors. What about Murphy? He's 2nd on their team (filled with excellent hitters) with a 124 ops+. Right now, the Rangers have 4 good outfielders: Hamilton, Cruz, Murphy, and Gentry. Adding Ellsbury without trading one of the OF makes no sense. And to my knowledge, they don't have a MLB-ready SS to fill in for Andrus. So trading Andrus instead of an OF doesn't make a lot of sense.

 

Maybe Murphy, Ogando, plus a couple of top prospects would have been the deal?

[BornToRun]

Aviles sucks, I doubt Pedro lasts, and Iggy can't hit worth a damn. Andrus probably becomes expendable once Profar is ready so that leads me to think that Andrus was part of it.

[SemperFi Sox]

No one else? They could have been looking at any number of guys in the majors and minors. What about Murphy? He's 2nd on their team (filled with excellent hitters) with a 124 ops+. Right now, the Rangers have 4 good outfielders: Hamilton, Cruz, Murphy, and Gentry. Adding Ellsbury without trading one of the OF makes no sense. And to my knowledge, they don't have a MLB-ready SS to fill in for Andrus. So trading Andrus instead of an OF doesn't make a lot of sense.

 

Maybe Murphy, Ogando, plus a couple of top prospects would have been the deal?

 

We don't need Olt, they aren't trading Profar. we're going to deal ellsbury for murphy? LOL I don't think so.

[MJantomaso]

Well' date=' no sense worrying about it, obviously, as it was never consummated. But I'd be curious to know what was on the table, and who offered it.[/quote']

 

You are on crack

[kapsis21]

Aviles could be dealt' date=' Iggy is never going to be a starter here. not like we were stacked at SS. There is no one else they could have been looking at.[/quote']

 

there is a lot of movement needed for us to be getting Andrus.. cant see Cherrington pulling the trigger cuz there was too much to move around for Andrus to come over..

[Orange Juiced]

You are on crack

 

Um..... please explain.

[wetcamelfood]

In evaluating Ben's negotiating skills so far with what deals have been made, probably their batboy...and the RS FO would've considered it a steal to boot.

[SoxSport]

Whoever is leaking this stuff is trying to damage the Red Sox. No effort at all made to name any Texas players. It really isn't news.

[SoxSport]

there is a lot of movement needed for us to be getting Andrus.. cant see Cherrington pulling the trigger cuz there was too much to move around for Andrus to come over..

 

Andrus is a marginally better hitter right now--.700 OPS--than Iggy, who still hasn't been given a good shot. He was primed in ST, then got a groin pull trying to steal home (??) and was never heard from again. I think it's silly to focus on a guy's hitting at SS-- a critical defensive position. Particularly a kid with upside. Look at Reddick. They blew that one.

 

Iggy is cheaper and probably better defensively. He is their most expensive SS right now, and they should get off the pot on him--though I like Ciriaco better than Aviles. Iggy should be on the roster in Sept, and they should give him some game time to see what he can do. He looked good enough in ST.

[SoxSport]

In evaluating Ben's negotiating skills so far with what deals have been made' date=' probably their batboy...and the RS FO would've considered it a steal to boot.[/quote']

 

I don't have much confidence in Cherington, based on the trades he's made so far. Small deals. Nickle and dime stuff. He blew the Reddick deal. Also the Youks giveway--listening to the media instead of waiting until the trade deadline on Youks. And he paid no attention to Reddick's strong first half last year. Billy Beane did.

 

Ben is simply not a risk-type person. That's how I see him. In the big deals involving major players, he isn't going to hack it. You have to take chances in those deals. He likes to keep the cards in his hand.

[circus catch]

I would think Andrus too, except the Rangers are coming off two straight World Series losses, the last one of Red Soxian proportions, and this season is no frickin joke for them. They might do something like that in the winter, but not now.

 

I'm guessing Mike Olt had to be part of it. His name came up in lots of other trade rumors, as the alternative to Profar, who they won't deal.

[SemperFi Sox]

I would think Andrus too, except the Rangers are coming off two straight World Series losses, the last one of Red Soxian proportions, and this season is no frickin joke for them. They might do something like that in the winter, but not now.

 

I'm guessing Mike Olt had to be part of it. His name came up in lots of other trade rumors, as the alternative to Profar, who they won't deal.

 

Will Middlebrooks

[Spitball]

Whoever is leaking this stuff is trying to damage the Red Sox. No effort at all made to name any Texas players. It really isn't news.

 

I agree. This is an odd disclosure, and one has to wonder about it. Why the hell are the Red Sox players disclosed but not the Ranger players???

 

The Red Sox have become a National Enquirer-like phenomenon...and I think we (the fans) feed the monster.

[Dojji]

Isn't Hamilton going into free agency in 2013? That's a bit of a steep price for a rental who's in his 30's playing a position we have a top prospect waiting to take over in a year or two. I know he's Josh Hamilton but still.

 

I was thinking possibly Andrus and some other pieces thrown in, what those would be I don't know.

 

Yeah, it probably was Andrus. That would be the piece we'd be most likely to go outside the org to get right now. Xander Bogaerts is just too far away.

[Meh]

Isn't Hamilton going into free agency in 2013? That's a bit of a steep price for a rental who's in his 30's playing a position we have a top prospect waiting to take over in a year or two. I know he's Josh Hamilton but still.

 

I was thinking possibly Andrus and some other pieces thrown in, what those would be I don't know.

 

when you say some other pieces thrown in, you mean the red sox would be throwing in more pieces right?

[Spitball]

I doubt there was much actual substance to this rumor. It doesn't make sense. There just isn't a real match up. The Rangers are four games up and have no reason to be desperate enough to trade off their shortstop. The Rangers have been too successful for three years to mess with their core.

 

Maybe the Rangers were thinking of trading Michael Young, but they wouldn't trade their shortstop. They are in first place and not likely to mess with what has been working for them.

[SoxSport]

These media people have incredible leverage. They can dream up stuff without real sources and get it printed. And some readers actually believe it. There are no real safeguards against falsifying information.

 

Watching that little girl gymnast, Gabby Douglas, winning the Gold right now. Phenomenal athlete.

She is what you call--a star.