SchillingIsTheNatural

I agree that the brain trust of the Boston Red Sox is still in tact and the team will still put pieces together but the one part they will be missing is that special auro he brought to the team. There was something about Theo that everyone liked....being down to earth, young hot shot, whatever it was....the guy had a presence and it was a good one. He had a great deal of respect (probably more than anyone else). Tough to take in but I'm sure there is another GM out there that can get the job done. This is Boston after all....who wouldn't want a shot at that job....I'll send a resume just for the hell of it.

you just hope the boy doesn't sabotage the toilet so it explodes when the girl sits on it

What does it mean when Theo is going to stick around and take care of what needs to be done and attend the GM meetings? Is he still responsible for our direction the next several days or something??? This is too strange and I could see it blowing up in our face....lets think about this from Henry and Lucchinos position.... The team dealt with a tough drama filled season, key veterans have asked to be traded, fired a top trainer who the players loved, and now a Boston icon resigned in ugly fashion leaving the team to crunch things together They better find some answers and fast

haha first time I have been on here since the news and I just KNEW Yanks would be posting immediatly.... they knew this news would kill some of us (like me) so they gotta throw in comments now. I should go to a Yankee forum and throw in comments whenever something bad happens to them Nah I won't sink to that level....you guys are lame!!!!

With Toby Hall I'm not so sure they would want Shoppach....I think we deffinitly have other key ingredients they may find attractive though.

Thats awesome hahaha.... I wonder if someone is reading our posts and spawning them out in articles...thats almost dead on with what we were talking about.

Its no better than Ortiz and Manny...didn't win anything for us this year....its not always about the batting lineup. pitching, pitching, pitching....its all about pitching With a trade like the one I posted....our pitching gets better simply with the upgraded defense. Our starting rotation and bullpen can be upgraded...and our batting lineup is still decent. Maybe the Angels end up with a great middle hitting group....but I would also consider the fact there outfield consists of Manny, Anderson, and Vlad...not a great defensive outfield...so it has its pros and cons. I'll take the trade and pitch our way through the Angels rather than attempt to out hit them (which we can do even without Manny).

I'll start this off cause it's fun and I need the holiday spirit to get through work today haha. So lets begin with fast food. You all need to check this out: http://www.thelynches.com/Personal_Pages/Damian/Nick_Tahou_Recipe.htm ....thats what we eat in Rochester, NY after a long friday or saturday night. You would be amazed at how much cash those places roll in for such a mess haha. Pays to have a cheap food place next to a college town. College kids will eat anything when its cheap and fills you up. On a non-disgusting note....there isn't a lot I want. Currently I'm stuck in New Jersey on a Coop which I need to graduate college and its killing me being away from everyone. More than anything I just want to see familiar faces again. So on that note probably the one thing I'd love would be a digital camera or camcorder or SOMETHING so I can see everyone. I like memories and pictures of people but never seem to have any. I have to say it makes me upset whenever I'm in a "kodak moment" and don't have a kodak haha. I really want more pictures of my father. We semi-recently found out he has a brain tumor and its hard to say how long he has. If I know my father though he is one tough son of a bitch and will fight hard through this. On Saturday a good friend of my family passed away from a brain tumor and it immediatly got me thinking I need to enjoy the moments more instead of getting frustrated and stressed with my current living location. Its sad to think about but when confronted with disease or health issues it brings a family closer together. My family was always some what distant but in light of the facts around his health we are suddenly a much tighter and stronger family. I wish we had always been like that. If it means one thing...this holiday season will be fantastic cause we have never been so happy to be in each others company. I hope everyone else will feel the same way this holiday season

Alright I just wanted to visualize this idea: Red Sox trade Manny Ramirez for Ervin Santana / Darin Erstad / Kendry Morales (saves the Sox roughtly $10 million). With this free money the Sox can persue Paul Konerko and lets say we can sign him. The Red Sox then find a way to make a trade with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for Aubrey Huff to take over for Manny in the OF. This leaves the Red Sox with a batting lineup: 1. Dustin Pedroia (2B )® 2. Edgar Renteria (SS )® 3. David Ortiz (DH)(L) 4. Paul Konerko (1B )® 5. Aubrey Huff (LF )(L) 6. Jason Varitek (C )(S) 7. Trot Nixon ( RF )(L) 8. Kevin Youkilis (3B )® 9. Darin Erstad (CF )(L) Rotation: 1. Curt Schilling 2. Tim Wakfield 3. Matt Clement 4. Jonathan Papelbon 5. Ervin Santana ....upgrades the defense, all around batting lineup, and the starting rotation has some young stars in the making. Thats my 2006 Boston Red Sox...lets see if any of it can get done.

I like that trade a lot. There are so many options on Anaheim but that would certainly make sense for us. Darin Erstad isn't a great hitter but he can play both the OF and 1B which is important for us. Not to mention Erstad is a great team player and he just looks like a Red Sox doesn't he? We could go that route and I like adding Kendry in the mix with Santana. The Angels have the money to make this deal so perhaps it won't be that big a deal. They have to be excited of the possibility Manny, Vlad, and Anderson could be hitting in there big spots next season. I was reading the Angels would be more interested in Konerko but that makes NO sense to me. Why would they want Konerko when they have Kotchman. Unless they trade him that seems stupid cause I think Kotchman will be a better player in the end. Whoever wrote the article probably doesn't like Manny so I'm not going to read much into it. This sounds like a good move on both teams parts. The Angels are stacked with young players they can afford to move some bodies to establish more offense. Its not like they would take a huge hit by any means. If they move Santana they can put Escobar back in the rotation and be fine. I have a feeling something could really get done here and if Theo is smart and really puts thought into this move he could come away with some great young talent.

And the ideas have already started. Today an arcticle came out about Chad Tracy possibly being available and the Red Sox being interested. We already have the upper hand because of the connection between Byrnes and Theo. Unfortunatly the D-Backs need a bullpen worse than we do so that presents a trade problem. Still, this is a good start.

According to sources today the most likely destination for Manny Ramirez is the LA Angles. Trade discussions would start with the Red Sox inquiring about Ervin Santana....as they should. I'm very impressed with Santana and at 22 years old this kid is someone to target. The Angels are also looking to dump off Steve Finley and Darin Erstad for money issues. I'm not excited about either of them but they are excellent defensive players. They would be good to have late in the ballgame.....but they are very expensive for defensive replacements. I would be more interested in trying to snag Casey Kotchman away from the Angels. Trading Manny for Kotchman and Santana would be a great deal for us....but the money would be too one-sided so that area would need to be worked out.

I would be very interested in Otsuka. He is a little bit older but still much younger than David Wells. He can eat up a lot of innings and is a strikeout pitcher. Through 3 innings this postseason he gave up 1 hit and 1 walk. This is good stuff....get it done. Lawrence on the other hand...he is a little more expensive and I don't know what we would do with him other than ship him to another team. He is no better than the other players we have.

Well the Red Sox will only have a few teams they can trade him too. If those teams can't come up with a deal then Manny will stay with the Red Sox. My guess is Theo will be able to find a deal between one of the teams or can incorporate a three-team deal. This could be the final straw of the Manny saga.

No question the ceiling is really high for him. He will be the closer for a long time here in Boston BUT....lets not put the pressure on him just yet. Let him work his way into being the closer. I'd rather let him earn the position than aquire it by default. So on that note...Craig Hansen will be there and it sounds like Mike Timlin will be there along with Keith Foulke.... None of those things change the fact we do not have a shut down lefty in the bullpen. BJ Ryan, Billy Wagner, or Eddie Guardado.....I actually don't care cause all three are very good and they are much better than the shut down lefty we have right now....oh wait we don't have one. .....but Hansen should be outstanding....I'm gonna have to buy that jersey

I'm not A-Rod or Jeter so keep the sick ideas to a gay Yankee forum...I'm sure there are plenty out there.

Sounds like Barry Zito would be the best pitcher available sooooo...yay! Its just an added bonus....it only helps a team when they get to a series if they can mix it up. Being able to go righty, lefty, righty in a three game series makes the other team have to change there order each day, possibly stay out of any kind of rhythem, and set up your bullpen in different ways.

Ok I'll concede to that, you are right. Anyone in our shoes would certainly deal with what Cashman does for the money. Hell I'd do a lot more for a million a year.

Gammons mentioned Barry Zito is a trade target of the NY Mets.....sooooo apparently there is a shot he could be moved. That would be a nice replacement lefty for David Wells. Then when Lester joins the team we could have two lefty starters and three righty starters...I like that...teams would have to adjust every game.

Those are all valid points but in the big picture: 1. upgrade the defense (no matter what analysts say he is a top CF) 2. Red Sox get younger (on the correct side of 30) 3. not the typical Red Sox hitter BUT he gives us more speed which we need 4. friends with David Ortiz (gotta keep the big guy happy) Jones is fairly expensive but I guess his contract is only another couple years. After those years we could let him float and move the position over to one of the young guys. Sounds strange saying Andrew Jones could be a temporary solution....but thats an option however on that note...I wouldn't want to give up great talent for a temporary solution. If the deal revolved around current players on the big league team...then it makes more sense...trading MLB players for MLB players seems to make more sense in this case.

Its hard to say. Pavano had injury issues most of the season so its hard to know what he would have done in the 2nd half. He might have adjusted and been able to pitch better. I don't think its a question of there stuff its a question if they are a big market type pitcher. Can the guy deal with the pressure in Boston or NY. Guys like Curt Schilling, Roger Clemens, Tim Wakefield, Mike Mussina....they can do it....I still think Vazquez would have done alright given more time. He had a tough 2nd part to the season just as Matt Clement did. Burnett has better stuff than both of them though. You just need to know whats in his head.

Well we are kinda back to the point where we try to predict who would be involved in a trade. I have a 1 in a million chance of guessing correctly so I'll just leave that to the GMs. If you wanted names and are talking about Andrew Jones I think most guys are fair game. If they need a SS Edgar Renteria could make a trip back to the NL. They could view that as an upgrade to Furcal. Leaves us without a SS unless Pedroia can take back his old position. I dont really have an answer I know it would cost a fair amount. There is a chance of a three way deal. Maybe the Dbacks, Devil Rays, or Angels. How about this: Send Manny Ramirez and David Wells to the Dbacks for Luis Gonzalez....Dbacks send prospects to Atlanta and we send Atlanta CF Jacoby Ellsbury?? They send us Andrew Jones. like I said the guessing game with trades can get messy haha.

Actually I don't play with "no budget." In fact I don't even have an X-Box haha. I was just making a point that having almost unlimited resources makes your job very easy.....Cashman is not a good GM because of the moves he makes....he is a good GM cause he is one of the very few who can put up with that stupid pathetic old man running the sinking ship loaded with other old men. Its amazing George wastes so much money without completely thinking it through...but hey as he always says..."its all for the great fans of NY" I like Theo Epstein because he understands the city of Boston. The Boy Wonder label makes him seem like a prodigy. He just has that trust aura around him but the fact is Theo makes quite a few dumb moves as well. Look back and really think about some of the stuff he did....not all great moves...however, he won a World Series...for that I am forever happy and would like to see him stay until he becomes President of the United States. If we want to argue about Cashman vs. Epstein I'm taking Epstein everyday of the week unless I'm the Yanks cause I don't see Epstein becoming George's bitch. If we are taking one GM in the whole league I'm taking Billy Beane (best GM in the league as far as I'm concerned).

For those who missed it....Josh Byrnes was the assistant GM to Theo Epstein and has now been hired by Arizona to be there new GM. It sounds more and more like Theo will be staying so could this possibly be the table setting for a deal??

Before this season it was very realistic. Jones name came up quite a few times in possible trade scenarios. The Braves are not afraid of change...in fact they do it often and usually it pays off for them. They are a team you can make a deal with but the question would be..do they think they can replace him while upgrading other areas. Its the same thing when we talk about Manny Ramirez. Without hearing the rumors any person on another team would think "thats not realistic to get Manny." It wouldn't be cheap and it may end up costing us Manny but who knows its possible.