SchillingIsTheNatural

The kids like Marte and Pedroia won't make the difference on the Red Sox being a playoff team or not. The kids who will make the difference are Jonathan Papelbon, Craig Hansen, Josh Beckett, and Manny Delcarmen ...pitching wins....the guys we have are all good enough to get the job done and we will throw up big run numbers again. No matter what moves we make the Yanks have more power....the players aren't out on the market to compete with that...but we can pitch better than them. By the way for all you know Andy Marte could be the next David Ortiz with a bat

According to that list of top prospects there are many who think Marte is better than Francoeur who is ranked #4...in any case I'm starting to like this deal...one thing to keep in mind is the kid can really hit for power so lets recap what we look like compared to last season.... 1st: Kevin Millar to Mike Lowell (big upgrade now that Lowell can hit against the green monster...something Millar wasn't doing too often last year) 3rd: Bill Mueller to Andy Marte (I love Bill Mueller but the power is on Marte's side. The upside is on Marte's side. Believe it or not Marte is supposed to be awesome defensively from what I was reading) SS: Edgar Renteria to Doesn't Matter (Yes its a downgrade but if our new SS can have less than 30 errors, steal more than 9 bases, and possibly have a batting average over .280...I'm fine with that) 2B: Bellhorn/Cora/Graff to Mark Loretta (I'll take Mark Loretta every day of the week on this one...although I like Graffanino and would like to see him back I'd still take the all star 2nd baseman) .....things are looking good...we have more power and potential on the offensive side this season...not to mention our defense will be much more improved helping out our pitching to a great extent.

I thought so at first but....we can't answer that until we see Andy Marte develop....he deffinitly has a good chance to be better than Renteria....but probably not right away.

Now that we have Marte I would say keep him. He has more upside than Lowell and is a better player than Youkilis. So where to put them....my first thought is to have Lowell at 3rd BUT....Marte is supposed to be great defensively. If this kid is supposed to be real good and a potential all star I would say throw him to the position he knows best. I'm sure Mike Lowell would do an excellent job at 1st base for us. It is kinda nice that we have two power hitting corner infielders.

Overbay was traded to Toronto for David Bush, Gabe Gross and Zach Jackson. Toronto is looking better and better with every move they make.

Soriano was traded for Brad Wilkerson, Terrmel Sledge, and a minor league pitcher ...pretty big move by Washington I'm shocked after looking at the players involved its clear to me that the Texas Rangers are completely retarded

you can forget about Soriano cause he was just traded to the Washington Nationals

I'm actually going to disagree to a certain extent. There is something to be said for players that others like to be around. Team chemistry is very important and I thought a mistake the Red Sox did last year was add lame personalities. Edgar Renteria, John Olerud, Matt Clement...I mean these guys are all pretty dull. Now I'm not saying I want a team of clowns but I really feel personality goes a long way. David Ortiz isn't just loved in Boston because of his great hitting....he is a tremendous personality. Now there are guys like Kevin Millar who I can't stand the way he plays the game but he sticks around because he is good for the team. Orlando Cabrera is an excellent player and a fun player and the Red Sox knew it...but they got greedy and went with numbers not thinking...OC was a better fit for the Red Sox than Renteria. You could say OC had a bad season but it might not have gone that way if he was in Boston. A lot of people aren't that excited about Mike Lowell and are already talking about trading him but I think the guy has a great attitude...the players like him...and he is a leader...that is exactly the type of thing we need...that helps hold a team together.

Thats true but what I was getting at was the pitchers ability to finish off an inning. If we have a bunch of guys in the bullpen who are good at pitching (against lefty or righty) then I dont think it matters which way they throw. Foulke, Timlin, Mota, Hansen, Delcarmen, Arroyo, and players like Linebrink...are all pitchers who can go an inning and face any batter....I like that more than trying to match up players and deal with pitchers who can only face one batter.

Since there is no Myers...it looks like our bullpen will be all righty pitchers except for possibly Lenny DiNardo....anyone else find this move interesting?? I would have to say the Angels are the ones that really showed off some stuff with Donally, Sheilds, K-Rod, and Escobar in the playoffs....all righty but could all pitch an inning or two

I would do a David Wells for Scott Linebrink deal immediately. If the Padres agreed to that get it done. I think David Wells is effective and everything but the man is like 42?? Get what you can for him and move on.

Thats awesome, I didn't know that. I'm gonna miss Doug....but I'm excited to have Loretta

My biggest complaint is getting a replacement for Renteria. Is Marte good enough to play right now and we move him or Lowell to 1st?? Is Pedroia ready to play SS for us cause I don't like the idea of having Cora or some of the other free agent bums being our starting SS. I did see Marte make 1 throw last year which was a very very nice one. Guess the guy has power...I dunno the talent is there and he is real young. Add up the pros and cons and I say hold onto Renteria.

I'm a big JD Drew fan...if the guy is healthy (which is rare) he is very good. So I wouldn't mind taking him but not Derek Lowe....I mean where would we put him?? However LA is interesting...they have some good young prospects in the farm system I understand. The Dodgers deffinitly need a boost of some kind and perhaps they would give up Cesar Izturis who could be real good down the road and 1-2 other prospects. That takes care of our SS hole if we move Renteria. I'm not sold on the idea but the Dodgers are worth investigating.

Andy Marte isn't enough for Julio Lugo??? They are so stupid I hate that team...at what point did Julio Lugo become such a good player or have great potential?? trading Renteria and cash for Marte and another player might be ok...but we need another player...not just Marte

A backup catcher for a starting 2nd baseman who has been a recent all star......fine! I'll miss you Doug Mirabelli

Trade Renteria to Atlanta for Andy Marte Trade Andy Marte and David Wells for Barry Zito Trade Mirabelli for Mark Loretta to play 2B ....we will be missing a SS but might be able to come up with something in a Manny deal or a Matt Clement deal. Or let Pedroia and Cora platoon for now. Interesting.

Whenever you talk to the Tampa Devil Rays they want prospects. I don't think I'm interested in doing a separate deal with them including prospects for Julio Lugo. They were going to take Andy Marte for Julio Lugo and then supposedly became greedy and wanted more.....FOR JULIO LUGO??? ....I think its time we all said the hell with the Devil Rays....they are always looking to rip teams off...that is how they work cause thats the only way they can truely benefit. Now I'm not saying I don't think Andy Marte won't be good and I wouldn't mind having him but where does that leave us?? Sounds like we will get Mark Loretta which takes care of 2B and I guess Pedroia can go back to SS position but is he ready?? Would we place Marte at 3rd and Lowell at 1st?? Who will play SS until Pedroia is ready?? This whole thing is confusing to me. Renteria is a top SS in the league and we are moving him for Marte (excellent prospect) but is he that good?? I would want something else along with Marte for Renteria to make this truely worth interest.

I agree Nomar is no longer a Boston Red Sox so moving on.... How about trading Renteria straight up for Marcus Giles??? Gives us a top 2nd basemen and the Braves a top SS. Then maybe we can deal with Tampa Bay directly for Lugo. Or we could give the SS spot to Pedroia and Cora for the time being while adding someone like Alex Gonzalez for more depth.

A straight up deal with Atlanta needs to be more than simply Andy Marte. Giving us a veteran 3B and a prospect 3B doesn't do much to help OUR big hole at SS. Its not enough we don't have a true 1st baseman, a clear 2nd basemen, or a center fielder, and with Manny wanting to leave a right fielder. Too many holes and I thought Edgar was a given. This is starting to get messy...I just hope when all 56 of these deals are finished the Red Sox have a complete and solid group.

Its getting real annoying listening to your bashing of Riverside...let it go already On to the important thing...this trade sucks and actually frustrates me in the fact they traded away Hanley Ramirez then decide to move there SS...Julio Lugo is not a replacement for Edgar Renteria I don't see how this is an upgrade except they save money. It is possible Dustin Pedroia could play SS where he started but I don't think he is ready for that. I don't this idea is ugly...I'm not 100% against trading Renteria but certainly for more than Lugo.

I would throw in Casey Kotchman to that group who I am real high on but if they intend to place Troy Glaus at first then it negates the idea. I would be willing to take a gamble on Troy Glaus at 1st but we need another bat if Manny is leaving and it should be in the form of Garrett Anderson, Shawn Green, or Luis Gonzalez. I would take Darin Erstad to play CF if the Sox feel Johnny Damon is a dead end. I would want 1-2 prospects in return for this deal. Then I hope that David Wells-Mark Loretta deal goes down filling all positions with capable players: C: Jason Varitek 1B: Troy Glaus 2B: Mark Loretta 3B: Mike Lowell SS: Edgar Renteria CF: Darin Erstad/Johnny Damon RF: Shawn Green/Luis Gonzalez/Garrett Anderson LF: Trot Nixon DH: David Ortiz ...no matter who gets the spots it would give us a balanced offense with 4 LH 4 RH and 1S.

For Barry Zito....absolutly

A huge improvement is the defense. Mark Loretta, Renteria, Lowell, and Casey are all good defensively. Very solid up and down and all of them get on base consistantly. I don't see a ton of power since Casey and Loretta don't necessarily hammer the ball but they could post 20 HRs. Especially in Loretta's case leaving San Diego and hitting in Boston.

Technically Casey Kotchman is still a prospect and he has lots of talent. Considering how far along he is and ready to take the next level I would place him #1 although Brandon Wood did look awesome this year. I think Wood will continue to grow and make a case for himself. Jared Weaver should be on that list somewhere.