SchillingIsTheNatural

Yea you guys talking about trading Corey Dillon...thats tough to make happen. Trades are difficult to make in the NFL as it is let alone an old running back. My thinking was Dillon can still be of value to the Patriots. Create more of a two headed monster like Stephan Davis-Deshawn Foster, Jerome Bettis-Willie Parker, Tatum Bell-Mike Anderson. However, since the Ravens are sending out signs for possible trades involving Ray Lewis...and they aren't too interested in bringing back Jamal Lewis...hmmmm. We could probably use more help in the secondary though.

Our passing game is excellent and always will be as long as we have Tom Brady. Clearly our issues were running the ball. Corey Dillon is getting up there and goes down on first contact now. That is a good sign he has seen his best days. I wasn't impressed with him in the playoffs at all...he did little to contribute. The Colts won so many games this season on the legs of Edgerrin James...they changed there game plan to a run first..pass second offense. James got the ball in his hands early and often to slow the game down and let the defense stay fresh. Once they got to the playoffs that changed (I have no idea why). When the Colts had there first long drive of the game it was on the legs of Edgerrin James. The guy is a player and I think the Colts would be stupid to let him go. Reggie Wayne is good because of the attention Marvin Harrison recieves. Another option might be to look at Jamal Lewis. He is a risk but would cost less and I'm suprised how young he still is. Apparenly the Ravens also sent out feelers for Ray Lewis. I was a bit shocked at that.

Jason Varitek is a better hitter, defender, and team leader than Jorge Posada...thats why he has an edge.

According to the Indianapolis Star they are discussing the Colts keeping Reggie Wayne and moving on from Edgerrin James. I love the Colts.....such a stupid move. Edgerrin James is an excellent running back in the running, passing, and protection game. He is 28 years old and since his major injury has posted more than 2000+ all purpose yards each year. Not to mention his 17 and 18 TDs in each season. ....the Patriots should be ALL over that

I'm not sure the Red Sox were ever rebuilding. The front office wants to place a competitive team on the field every season while building through the farm as well. No reason you can't do both.

If they deals go through its fun to check out our lineup compared to last years: 1. Johnny Damon 2. Edgar Renteria 3. David Ortiz 4. Manny Ramirez 5. Trot Nixon 6. Kevin Millar 7. Jason Varitek 8. Bill Mueller 9. Mark Bellhorn 1. Coco Crisp 2. Mark Loretta 3. David Ortiz 4. Manny Ramirez 5. Trot Nixon 6. Mike Lowell 7. Jason Varitek 8. Kevin Youkilis 9. Alex Gonzalez

Alex Gonzalez is a better defensive player than Alex Cora. Remember that Cora is not a SS...his trademark position is 2nd. I agree with Riverside about Graffanino being a 4th outfielder. I still think he can serve a purpose on this team. Certainly I think he has the ability to play in the OF and could still be used in the infield. The backups we are talking about right now (if we carry 11 pitchers) would be JT Snow, John Flaherty, Alex Cora, Tony Graffanino, and Willie Harrie.

Well I'm going to be a little excited for this deal. Coco Crisp is walking into his prime hitting the age of 26. That is close to the time Damon showed up and we got him for the best years of his career. Adding Alex Gonzalez gives us excellent defense up the middle. SS: Alex Gonzalez 2B: Mark Loretta CF: Coco Crisp Our corner players include Ramirez, Lowell, Youkilis, and Nixon....all with a good bat. Excellent defensive replacements in JT Snow, Alex Cora, and Tony Graffanino. We have speed on the bench in Willie Harris. The one that would really stick out to me...we don't have any takers for Clement, Arroyo, or Wells which means our pitching staff looks like the following: Rotation Schilling Beckett Wells Clement Wakefield Bullpen Foulke Timlin Papelbon Tavarez Seanez Arroyo .....thats a GREAT pitching staff with good defense up the middle...I'm happy about this.

This is an extremely weak market for free agents. I already told you names of players that hit free agency. If the Red Sox had a need for that then they would get in a bidding war. Those years they had Bill Mueller and Kevin Millar who (at the time) were sticking around.

Stop writing that...its not THAT hard to find a corner infielder who has power. Nothing says Andy Marte is going to hit 40 HRs. The fact he "could" be playing half his games at fenway means he could hit 40 HRs. On that note...Mike Lowell has hit 30+ HRs playing for Florida...HE could hit 40 HRs for us (I wouldn't expect it but its possible). I'm not saying I don't like Andy Marte. I would love to keep him on this team but NOBODY is safe on the Red Sox. Anyone can get traded and I have faith the Red Sox front office knows what they are doing. Now that Theo Epstein is back I like his decision making and thought process of the FO. If we trade Andy Marte for Crisp and pitching prospects then I am excited. Adam Miller had arm issues last year so that makes me nervous. In my opinion pitching prospects are MUCH more valuable than position players. Those are the guys who get locked up. Roy Oswalt, Carlos Zambrano, Roy Halladay, Ben Sheets, Johan Santana....the way to get those guys is to groom them.

Another way to look at this deal is Edgar Renteria for Coco Crisp. They are close to the same age, abilities, stats, etc.... Trading Edgar Renteria for Grady Sizemore is tough. The Guardians would be getting wrecked in that deal. So my question would be...would you throw in something else with Marte for Sizemore?? If the Red Sox were to gain Grady Sizemore then Jacoby Ellsbury has a tough time breaking into his prime position. Perhaps Andy Marte and Jacoby Ellsbury for Grady Sizemore. If they need a reliever you can say....Andy Marte, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Guillermo Mota for Grady Sizemore and Brandon Phillips?? I certainly can see other options to explore with the Guardians but again I can't judge anything without hearing all the names involved.

Yes that is true. We don't know what we are getting. Because of that I can't judge the trade since we don't know what kind of players are coming in return. Some players are locked up but in the case of Giambi, Delgado, Sexson, Beltre......they aren't always locked up. Luckily when it comes to bidding wars the Red Sox can be major players if they wanted to.

I might have to disagree on the corner infielders not having 40 HR potential. Teixiera, Lee, Pujols, Sexson, Konerko, Helton, Delgado, Berkman, Giambi, A-Rod, Beltre, Glaus, Chavez, Chipper, etc etc etc......corner infielders tend to have power...what is rare are middle position players who have power but thats not what you want anyways. If I was to build a baseball team I want my best defenders at SS, 2B, and CF. I want my power hitters at the corners and that tends to be the case in MLB. The more athletic players play the middle positions. As much as I like Andy Marte we can find another player like that in coming years. Unfortunatly it may come through future free agency. I don't agree or disagree with this move until I see all the players involved.

It may still be 1-2 years away. When Ellsbury is ready he can take CF and move into the leadoff spot for us. In which time Coco Crisp could move to the #2 hole in the lineup and retake his position in the OF since there is a good chance either Manny or Nixon will move on at some point.

we do need to keep in mind that other players could be part of the deal. I also find it hard to deal Andy Marte and a bullpen guy like Mota for Coco Crisp. We lose in that deal cause we are moving a potential gold glove and 40 home run hitter in Andy Marte. I have a feeling there would be more to a possible deal. I just keep hoping I hear the name Peralta or Sizemore.

Amazingly we may have been on the right track to a degree. The Andy Marte for Coco Crisp trade is getting mentioned but I think the Guardians are walking away with a better deal. They still need a pitcher to take the place of Kevin Millwood and we have that in Matt Clement. Sources did mention other names could be included so what would be the chances of Peralta being mentioned? Perhaps we have a reliever involved with the deal as well. Lots of possibilities in Cleveland due to there need at pitching and our need at SS and CF. I'm starting to feel something could be worked out in the end.

It appears the name of the day is Coco Crisp....at least the wheels are turning and Theo is back....along with Arroyo being signed to a three year deal and hopefully Ortiz getting an extension soon.

Papelbon does have that splitter he used effectively last season but also has a slider and CAN mix in a changeup (although I didn't see it much last year). I think the guy has plenty of other pitches but what we saw from him was the fastball since he was coming out of the bullpen most of last year. What we really need to see out of Papelbon is how he handles hitters the second and third time around. Last year in the games he started...you saw him getting hit more in the 5th-6th casue players figured him out. He just needs to use his stuff better and know how to set up batters. More work with Varitek and I think we would see the results soon.

Very interesting idea. I deffinitly like the idea of getting Felipe Lopez. I would move Ken Griffey to Trot Nixon's spot and still attempt to find a way for Jeremy Reed to get here. Move David Wells to Arizona like you said for a youngster or two and form a package to get Jeremy Reed. Giving an outfield of Jeremy Reed (to do all the work on defense) along with Ken Griffey and Manny Ramirez to smash the hell out of the ball. The one thing is that Cincinnati wouldn't go for it. Reason: Ken Griffey has more value than Trot Nixon and Felipe Lopez has more value than Matt Clement. However, if we were to aquire Felipe Lopez we no longer have a use for Dustin Pedroia. That could be the player that gets the deal done. Trade Matt Clement (ace for Cincinnati), Trot Nixon, and Dustin Pedroia (possibly better suited for the NL) for Felipe Lopez and Ken Griffey.

Another reason I think Matt Clement makes more sense is the money. I think Clement's contract is closer to Griffey's than Arroyo's. Could be wrong but if a deal like this was discussed...the money needs to be close to the same for the fact injuries are an issue.

I couldn't agree more. We do need to consider Arroyo has only pitched two seasons with us and will probably continue to get better. His breaking stuff is fantastic and you are right...when his fastball is locating well then he has a good game. If he can do that more often we could look at a season around a 4.00 ERA. Again not bad for a back end rotation and long reliever.

Didn't see that coming out all. Not sure how much truth there is to that but the Red Sox don't have a lot of depth so an injury to Griffey and we are screwed. He is heading toward the end of his career and the guy can certainly still hit. I dunno about this one. Outfield of Manny Ramirez, Ken Griffey, and Trot Nixon. Griffey would deffinitly hit 5th behind Manny which does sound pretty dangerous. Ken Griffey hitting at Fenway Park.....interesting. Either Griffey or Nixon or both are guaranteed to be injured this season. Whoever the #4 outfielder is I hope he is good. I would rather they take Matt Clement. Bronson Arroyo just gave us a nice contract cause he wants to be here....it would be a shame to turn around and send him on his way. Not to mention most players would look at that and remember it so not to take a discount to be on the Red Sox.

I disagree. It was this time last season we all thought Arroyo was going to be an outstanding pitcher and none of us really wanted to see him go. He is still cheap from a starting pitchers perspective and the guy has done well in his first two years starting. I still think Matt Clement is a head case and his career shows that. I like Arroyo's versatility and he is a fairly consistant pitcher. Even when he gets roughed up the guy still battles and certainly has shown he can pitch in the playoffs. Its also nice to have a guy here that really wants to be here. 12+ wins is not out of the question for Bronson this coming season.

How come every trade we consider...Papelbon, Marte, or Lester gets brought up. We traded one of the best SS in the league for Andy Marte....how could the Royals even consider asking for him in exchange for DeJesus. As for Papelbon and Lester....you are talking about the same thing....Papelbon just had a 2.65 ERA in his first Red Sox action followed by 4 innings of shut out baseball in the playoffs. Jon Lester is supposed to be better and is younger than Papelbon. So what are we talking about when it comes to these three players? The Red Sox will not be forced into a trade based on current needs.

Ok no more posting....can't post ideas