SchillingIsTheNatural

I wonder what reaction the other Red Sox have to this deal. I know Mike Lowell will fit right in and Josh Beckett has the cockiness of Curt Schilling which is a plus. These guys will fit in. I'm sure David Wells still wants to get traded since he has been removed at this point from the rotation. How about Manny?? With the addition of another ace he has to be thinking a Worls Series is still within range. Johnny Damon already wants to come back to Boston....he has to be excited with this move.

I agree...he is cheap but getting close to 30 believe it or not....he is a good fit in Boston and I don't think he would be upset moving to the bullpen. He would be more valuable pitching 50-70 innings out of the pen vs. 170 in the rotation. Not to mention he is excellent to spot start when needed.

Exactly...he is proven...gives you a better feeling and its deffinitly his position. So Youkilis will have to find somewhere else to play and its still possible he gets traded. Still many guys who are up in the air when it comes to potential trades on our team but at least our rotation is more defined. ...Riverside thats interesting about Matt Mantei. I was hoping the Red Sox would give him another shot cause he has a great arm if he could just get healthy for once. I'm all for keeping Hansen and Delcarmen in triple A so they can work things out and use them as a backup plan. If our bullpen works out and we don't need them...what a great addition they will make in September when the rosters expand. I was curious if anyone has Beckett's career numbers against the Yanks???? Here is a great line from Jack McKeon after the 2003 World Series in Bill Simmons page..... "I told you Josh Beckett was special. He's got the guts of a burglar. This guy is going to be something special. I was not about to take him out in the ninth." That's right, folks … he's got the guts of a burglar. I don't even know what that means and I'm excited. hahahahaah Bill Simmons is the man

I'm not sure the Twins could pull a deal just themselves where in this case we eat a good portion of Lowell's money before sending him. Thats why the Twins wouldn't be able to make a deal for Beckett and Lowell. On my personal feelings I would rather keep Lowell then go after a pitcher from Minnesota cause I think we have the answers on our team. I think Arroyo or Papelbon will be a huge increase to the effectiveness in our bullpen along with Hansen and Delcarmen having gained experience. We are still lacking a lefty but perhaps we can get away with it. The Angels are able to do it so maybe we can too. I deffinitly like the idea of having gold glove caliber players. Not to mention I still feel Mike Lowell can belt 30+ HRs at Fenway and have an OPS around .800-.900

I heard about that too and the Red Sox could be looking again at JC Romero as a lefty setup guy. Now I would like to see Lowell play for Boston but if we can gain a lefty setup reliever to go with Timlin then it may be in our best interest. We could get rid of that money owed to Lowell and continue to go after Damon and Konerko. I feel more comfortable with Lowell at 3rd over Youk but we shall see. Apparently the Red Sox are interesting in Tom Gordon as well so thats interesting. What a kick to the face that would be for the Yanks....unless they come back at us and sign Damon. ....Bill Mueller has a good shot at ending up with the Chicago White Sox and what a fit that would be. He is perfect for the type of baseball they play. More trades could be in the works for the Red Sox....this offseason is far from over. Peter Gammons was dead on though when saying the Red Sox are set up nicely for the future with Beckett, Lester, and Papelbon in the rotation while Hansen, Delcarmen, and Martinez take on the bullpen. ....actually I wonder if we can sneak off with Liriano or Baker from Minnesota

Mike Lowell is expensive but he may be worth the money. I know he had a bad season but this guy is a team leader with a great glove. He plays the game hard and has power. He will be this years Kevin Millar but playing better defense. I wonder what they will do with Youkilis. It is possible the Red Sox will aquire another 1B and have Lowell platoon with Nixon in the outfield. The days he isn't in the OF he will play 3B. This places Youkilis in a limited role again unless they decide he can play 1B. I don't see Youk playing 3B when you have a gold glover now on the team. Josh Beckett is a huge aquisition. A 25 year old with a cannon who can strike out lots of guys and can play in the big game. We shall see what our young guys end up doing but at least I'll be interested to follow Florida. Once again injuries could be a problem for the Red Sox but if we can remain healthy this looks like a much better rotation. David Wells will get traded and Bronson Arroyo or Jonathan Papelbon will be in the bullpen. This looks like a much better situation.

I will not doubt his talent. I always thought he had the best stuff on the Marlins pitching staff. I'm not sure his head is all there but if he can stay focused and be on his game he could be lethal. Those are some serious questions and throwing lots of money at him is a risk.....but there could be huge reward. If he went to Toronto he would have to face the Yanks, Sox, Orioles, and Devil Rays (all good offensive teams) and that will make things difficult for him. Without question the team he goes to can be a huge difference....but his talent could also be the difference.

My one problem with Lester is that a few scouts think he is better than Papelbon. If that is the case I wouldn't want to pass up a lefty and righty combo in the future with the two. Both will be very good. Sanchez on the other hand had an injury problem....came back and did well...then struggled toward the end. Basically my feeling is that Anibal Sanchez will not be as good as Josh Beckett so I would make that move. Hanley is a dime a dozen player even though he is tops in the Sox farm system. There are tons of players with talent that can be had.....so Hanley and Anibal for Beckett and Lowell...absolutly. I just hope we beat Texas to the punch.

Agreed...followed by Michael Young (one of my favs). Blalock is good but certainly the Rangers can sacrifice some batting for pitching. I wouldn't mind jumping in and taking it from them though. Beckett is an ace if healthy. Exactly what we are missing...the second ace to go wtih Schilling and add in consistant Tim Wakefield, young flamethrower Papelbon, and Matt Clement might end up being the #5 starter....not bad at all. I agree wtih Riverside I would move Sanchez. This was his first real good season but stuggled toward the end and has more questions than Jon Lester.

WOW....so would I deal Hanley and Anibal/Lester for Beckett and Lowell?? I think Beckett is superior to both Lester and Anibal so I would deal one of them. Beckett is young and we all know what he can do...he just needs to stay healthy. Hanley for Lowell is more of a immediate impact. Hanley didn't have a great season and is doing average in the winter league but is still young and loaded with talent. That is where the deal would sting. We have discussed Mike Lowell before and not only excellent on defense but he CAN hit the ball well. He was a little off last season but a change of scenery to a competitive team might work well. He is also a team leader. I think I like this deal but....I would rather have Carlos Delgado over Mike Lowell

I agree but he is very overrated. You could deffinitly see that coming after the season he had in LA. Beltre never posted numbers like that and was up for the MVP. I knew the Seattle Mariners were throwing too much money at him. He is still very good and I can't believe he is only 26 (seems like he has been around for a while). If Manny had been claimed off waivers last year it was said Theo would sign JD Drew and Adrian Beltre. That would have been interesting.

A-Rod had 1 more home run than Ortiz....meanwhile Ortiz had 18 more RBI even though he had 4 less at-bats and 14 less hits than A-Rod. Another nice stat is Ortiz was .352 with RISP. Rodriguez batted .290 with RISP. A-Rod struck out more....Ortiz had more walks (even with all those great pitches he sees with Manny behind him). A-Rod had a better overall average. ....I'm just not seeing where A-Rod had a better overall offensive season?? Guess it depends what you find more valuable....knocking in more runs or....well I guess knocking in more runs

Maybe they would want to dump off Scott Rolen. I don't know anything about his injury he had but he could play 3rd base and we could stick Youk at 1st...or other way around.

Excellent! So now that He Hate Me believes its everyone else that makes Ortiz so good and he's basically lucky to get in the way of always winning games (he just magically ends up in the right place at the right time and always delivers). ARod2212 has now ruled out the fact that defense is important in the decision making so you can permanently rule that out as a factor. A-Rod posted better stats......did he?? Better "major category" stats but when it comes to the moments it truely matters (in a 6-5 game as opposed to a 17-3 game) everyone would take Ortiz over A-Rod. Maybe He Hate Me is right and its just that Ortiz faces weak relievers since they are clearly worse than starting pitchers (Rivera??).

Yes I agree, we had a wonderful defense?? Or was it our pitching that was so good?? Wait what the hell are you talking about?? We have a horrible defense and struggled all season with pitching (due to injuries) so without Ortiz bringing in that last run to win 7-6 you think our defense would save us?? Without Ortiz we don't win...period. The pitching, defense, and Mark Bellhorn wouldn't save us last season so I'm not sure what you are saying?? If we don't have Ortiz we don't have 90 wins and don't make the playoffs. I'm sure a stellar defensive player at 3B would make the difference?? Come to think of it, Bill Mueller was our 2nd best defensive player last season (behind V-Tek) and we still gave up a ton of runs a game. Sooooo.....whats your argument??

So when it comes down to it here is the argument.....both players are even statistically so whats more important..... Playing 3B or coming up with game winning hits. Catching a baseball several times a game or delivering the game winning hit. Making a few throws or DELIVERING THE GAME WINNING HIT.

True but 7 years $85 million for a 32 year old who just had injury issues and a weak arm? I guess if he is going to throw out that kind of stupid number he might as well make it to the team with the most money. Millwood was a decent pitching option several years back. He had some good years in there and now I'm curious how far back from that number he will be this year. He was asking for 5 years now suddenly its 7. Even more strange after we see the number set out for Giles and Matsui....it just doesn't add up. I understand if he makes a 5 year 50-60 million offer but 7 years $85 came out of nowhere. Thats far beyond the realm of realistic which seems like a shut down offer to the Yanks.

I'd love to see Milton Bradley in a Yankee uniform. That clubhouse would commit suicide.

It could be that Johnny has no interest in playing for NY unless they are crazy....that seems too rediculous. Might have just done it to piss them off but who knows.

That might be the best post of this whole thread. Well done!

You are on a Red Sox forum....so if you think we would yield to your A-Rod is better than Ortiz you are incorrect. My opinion about A-Rod will never change. I do not like the guy just as a majority of your own team does not. He is a selfish me-first snob who does not embody what I consider a player I would want on a team. You should read "The Education of a Coach" by David Halberstam. Its about Bill Belichick and how he chooses and makes players for the NFL. You can have all the talent in the world like Alex Rodriguez but when it comes to a team...you can have all the individual stats and trophy awards in the world...your team will care less. Barry Bonds is a great player....I don't want him. Alex Rodriguez is a great player....I still think he does more harm than good. He does not embody what I consider a MVP....if you took him off the Yankees you would be just fine....I bet your team would rally more and be able to slug out some games cause your players would feed off each other. Your team in 2003 was better than your team now.

Matsui just got a 4 year 52 million contract. Brian Giles was offered a 3 year 21 million contract (will probably get a 4 year deal in the end). Johnny Damon fits in somewhere around there and if he thinks he is above Brian Giles and Hideki Matsui he is mistaken. A contract of 4 years and $40-$50 million seems accurate. Chances are the Sox offer a 3 year deal to start and work there way up to a 4 year deal like they did with Varitek.

Actually I wouldn't mind having Lucchino take over the operation. Just because he would hold the title does not mean he would come up with the baseball moves. The Gang Of Four or whatever they are called are all smart and can deal with that. Its clear that those guys working together would report to Luccino hence there is no struggle. Instead of hiring Bowden or Beattie (neither who I'm excited about) the Red Sox current front office can take care of this themselves. Basically they are just missing Theo but there are plenty of other good minds in the organization.

All I hear are excuses to make it sound like Alex Rodriguez is the MVP. He plays defense.....great there are plenty of those in baseball....he isn't the top fielder on his team or close to the top in the league so whatever we are trying to say about him...forget it. Physical talent I'll give it to A-Rod. David Ortiz wasn't blessed with a athletic body other than to crush a baseball. So I'll give an edge to A-Rod physically....but mentally.....its clear on EVERY level that Ortiz has it together. All of you who talk about playing baseball..."uuhh I played the field, 3B for that matter I know how hard it is".....if you play baseball then you are fully aware of the pressure and mental anguish you go through when having to come up with a big hit. You either look like a jackass or you get the job done and that is clearly the most difficult part in any sport. Having to sink a birdie putt, score on a breakaway, make the free-throw, score on a penalty kick, hit a game winning homerun. A-Rod never comes through with those where David Ortiz does. Thats the difference between a hero and someone who was simply blessed with talent.

I'm a hockey player...also played baseball...and thats just pathetic how you guys think baseball is tough. The hardest position in baseball is not 3B its catcher. That makes you tired....yet you call Jason Varitek a pussy when clearly anyone who claims baseball is a hard and exhausting sport is a pussy....hahaha you guys make me laugh