SchillingIsTheNatural

Since the Red Sox are talking about Sean Casey and Mark Loretta (both fantastic OBP) I just had to visualize....and go on an assumption we sign Damon and don't trade Manny 1. Johnny Damon L 2. Edgar Renteria R 3. David Ortiz L 4. Manny Ramirez R 5. Trot Nixon L 6. Mike Lowell R 7. Sean Casey L 8. Mark Loretta R 9. Jason Varitek S ....not necassarily the batting order but that is a great batting lineup that looks to get on base a LOT

This is a good deal. This gives Pedroia some more time and Loretta has an excellent on base percentage. He is also an excellent fielder and brings some good experience to the table. He seems like a Red Sox type player as well. On the flip side I think both Varitek and Shoppach have time to work more extensively with Wakefield. They are both professionals and I'm sure they can figure it out. I like the idea of giving Shoppach a chance to show something....it could work out very well cause Doug didn't exactly have a good season last year.

I wouldn't trade Trot Nixon and Matt Clement for Bobby Abreu. Nixon has a fantastic attitude and has been here since the beginning of his career. He is one of the leaders and helps hold this team together. Bobby Abreu can't bring that to the Red Sox and although I'm not 100% happy with Clement...right now he may be our #5 starter which is incredible.

I wouldn't mind having Eduardo Perez....isn't he a Yankee killer???

This could be developing into a Mets vs. Phillies vs. Angels deal. Which is very very very good for us. Now that the power bats are pretty much gone (Konerko) and traded for (Delgado) this makes Manny more valuable and hopefully teams will begin to realize his worth. This is what I hope for anyways so we don't get a bag of donuts in return.

Thats very interesting. A lot of people forget about Pat Burrell but I think he is a real good hitter. The one draw back is how streaky he is but then again so is Manny (not to the extent of Burrell though). Now I already mentioned I like Dustin Pedroia but for the hell of it I should mention I really like Chase Utley too. Chase Utley, Brett Myers, Pat Burrell, Bobby Abreu.....the Phillies have some players. This is a good team to talk to. They have to be thinking about the damage Manny could do in that park as well.

No they are dumping all sorts of guys but Dontrelle and Cabrera will be the focal points of this team for the future. They will build around those two guys. I would love to see an infield of Lowell, Renteria, and Castillo. We are talking about some real good defensive players there and I like Castillo's speed. However by trading for Castillo I wonder what that is saying about Pedroia. I really like Dustin Pedroia and I would love to give the kid a shot. He has all the making of a great leader on this team and I'd like to see what he can do. Its very possible he could end up better than Castillo.

I agree, he would be just as nice a pickup as Josh Beckett was. Adding a 25 year old with a World Series MVP and a 27 year old with a Cy Young would make this the best offseason in Red Sox history. That future rotation with two RHP in Papelbon and Beckett to go wtih two LHP in Lester and Zito would make us contenders every season based on the strength of our rotation. If we could get something done I would suggest looking into solid defensive guys and prospects for Manny. We wouldn't necessarily need high offensive power but great defense and pitching. It would certainly be a nice direction to go in.

Small something in the New York post about Manny Ramirez for Bobby Abreu. I wouldn't mind that deal but we need a righty. I'd still take Abreu though I think he might be the best name we can come up with as a replacement for Manny.

Those are still some good young players. Jared Weaver would be a nice name to get involved as well. I also was reading about a possible Manny for Bobby Abreu trade. Kinda makes sense but we would need a power righty.

I'd rather have Gordon than Farnsworth. I'm still not sold on him but I don't think Gordon has anything to prove. The guy can pitch and always has been able to. Farnsworth is younger where he gets the upper hand but we shall see. Both will get too much money one way or the other.

I'd love to get Hafner. The problem is that the Guardians are going in a smart direction and I'm not sure I see them wrecking that by adding Manny's 20 million. Not to mention Wells wants to go to the West Coast so he wouldn't go to Cleveland. We would need a team sending the Guardians some real pitching talent in order for them to send us young batting stars in the making. Anaheim has lots of pitching talent....perhaps they could send pitching to Cleveland while we give Manny to Anaheim and Cleveland sends us Hafner or something.... one problem is the GM of Anaheim mentioned he is not interested in Manny.

haha I noticed that after...completely left out Anaheim but I think I'm sick of predicting trades.. Everything I hear is the Red Sox do not want to trade Manny. This is strange considering they placed him on waivers several times and tried to get rid of him with nothing in return. Then again the free agents were more appealing. The more I look at the free agent list now I want to gag. I'm just not impressed and none of the deals we mention blow me away. If the Red Sox could sign Konerko then I would say a deal could happen but other than that I don't like the players we are mentioning. As far as Troy Glaus....I'm not sure he can play 1st but I think his injuries wouldn't be such a problem. That may not be the case but its a possibility. I do remember John Henry's reaction to a question of Troy Glaus and Manny being involved in a trade....he laughed and looked at the reported as if it was the dumbest trade idea ever created. .....I think the Red Sox are going to devote there time to keeping Manny as opposed to getting rid of him. Makes me sick thinking you need to suck up to a guy and make him feel more comfortable when he makes 20 million a year.

I might have a hard time seeing the Red Sox going into the season with Mike Lowell being the cleanup hitter. Although I think he will do well, his stats last season were so ineffective I don't think you can grant him that position. Between the Angels, Mets, and Dbacks the only players who could really fill in that spot are Vlad, Garrett, Beltran, Floyd (no!), Glaus, S. Green, and L. Gonzalez. How about: Red Sox: Troy Glaus, Shawn Green, Ervin Santana Mets: Manny Ramirez, Javier Vazquez Dbacks: Lastings Milledge, Cliff Floyd, Matt Clement CF: Damon (L) SS: Renteria ® DH: Ortiz (L) 1B: Glaus ® LF: Green (L) 3B: Lowell ® RF: Nixon (L) C: Varitek (S) 2B: Pedroia ®/ Cora / Graff 1. Curt Schilling 2. Tim Wakefield 3. Josh Beckett 4. Jonathan Papelbon 5. Ervin Santana

I heard Tom Gordon wants to be a closer so if we took Farnsworth this could put the Yanks in a pickle. I would have no problem adding Farnsworth to go with Mota in the bullpen. Deffinitly stacking the bullpen with arms that have been successful in the past. I like the moves more than John Hallama and Blaine Neal.

Maybe the Blue Jays have money and need to take risks but this is kinda stupid. The highest paid reliever ever?? BJ Ryan?? not a good idea.... If they want to match the Red Sox and Yankees they need to do it in the rotation. In my opinion they have the best pitcher in the AL East with Halliday. If they spent the money to add AJ Burnett and traded for one more guy they would have been real dangerous. What if they came up with a way to get Zito or taken Beckett from us?? Perhaps Javier Vazquez?? Could you imagine there rotation of Halliday, Zito, and Burnett. The #4 starter would be Ted Lilly......I would not enjoy that much. Instead they think they can get to the 9th inning with a lead again these teams and shut them out. Just don't let Ortiz up to bat with the game on the line is all I have to say. I don't think they are creative.....this is a stupid move by the Blue Jays.

So the Red Sox would have Curt Schilling, Tim Wakefield, Josh Beckett, Matt Clement, Jonathan Papelbon, Ervin Santana, Bronson Arroyo, Javier Vazquez??? Well I certainly am a fan of Ervin Santana and think he will be very good. I don't mind Vazquez but we would have a numbers problem at that point and I'm not sure he is an upgrade over Clement or Arroyo. I would say the D-backs send us Troy Glaus and we can stick him at 1st base with Erstad in the OF. We still have a numbers problem but then we might be able to figure something out for Adam Dunn or perhaps Pat Burrell/Bobby Abreu. We have so many possible deals running through our heads I wouldn't be shocked if NONE of them happen and this team stays the way it is.

I wouldn't mind talking to the Phillies about Brett Myers as well.

I understand the argument on why the Mets wouldn't trade him and thats fine. I have been mentioning this since the midseason trade deadline. There is a huge difference in money...yes. The really like David Wright...yes. They won't give up David Wright...fine. We won't give up Manny. In order to reciever top talent you need to get back top talent. There is nothing that says Lastings Milledge is going to be great and he certainly won't help this season. The only other players I would be interested in from the Mets are Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes. I don't like any of there pitchers and I'm not excited about Nady, Diaz, Floyd, etc....these are all mediocre players. Why give up a top hitter for several mediocre guys. No they would have to give up Wright or construct a deal somewhere else that brings in something of Manny caliber to us. If they dont....then there should be no reason they walk off with Manny.

At this point I hope he stays too. I haven't heard a good trade rumor yet. The only team I hear big rumors and the one team truely interested is the NY Mets. The one name I hear the most is Lastings Milledge but call me crazy....I'm not THAT excited about him no matter how much the Mets want to talk him up. David Wright...David Wright...David Wright...then we can talk. I don't care how much the Mets fans love him or whatever, I don't care what they think his potential is....that should be the asking price for a premier hitter in the league. Omar is so in love with Manny then give us someone who we can love too.

Ok I'll agree with that. The one reason I shy away from him is because he isn't a huge strikeout guy but I guess thats not fair. He does what he does to the best of his ability and you are right...clearly he has been there top pitcher ever since he showed up and he led the staff this season.

the deffinition of ace is deffinitly tough....a lot of times people get confused with consistancy and potential. When I think of an ace I think of someone who is healthy, consistant, and can go the distance any game. Its expected of that pitcher to go 7 innings, save the bullpen, and gives his team the advantage to win. These are the players I consider an ace: Curt Schilling Randy Johnson John Smoltz Pedro Martinez Roger Clemens Roy Oswalt Roy Halladay Johan Santana Jason Schmidt Tim Hudson Livan Hernandez These are the guys who could be an ace with more consistancy and less injury problems: (keep in mind, I don't think one excellent season makes you an ace like Willis and Carpenter) Mark Buehrle (still young and needs to keep that era below 4.00) Bartolo Colon (inconsistant) Barry Zito (not the same guy he once was but shows flashes) Rich Harden (couple more years he might be the best) Dontrelle Willis (same as Harden) Mark Prior (if he could just stay healthy) Carlos Zambrano (guess you could already consider him an ace...one more season) Ben Sheets (deffinitly on the right track, needs to put together a couple healthy seasons) AJ Burnett (certainly has the stuff but does he have the mental game) Josh Beckett (see Mark Prior) Chris Carpenter (see Willis) Jake Peavy (see Willis and pretty much everyone else) .....certainly I wouldn't mind having any of these guys but potential does not equal an ace. Josh Beckett is not an ace....but has as much potential is not more than most of these guys. I love Tim Wakefield but he is the ultimate #4-#5 starter.

I would take Manny over Vlad based on consistancy. Now I'm not saying Vlad can't hit...I would take him on my team in a second...but he has injury problems. Still he is great on defense and can hit the ball anywhere the pitcher throws it. As for the remark he can't step up in the playoffs....I recall when he hit a grand slam against us in the ALDS. Not too shabby....the guy is a player but I would still take Manny over him.

I can't believe the Blue Jays would invest 100 million in the likes of BJ Ryan and AJ Burnett. That sounds like a horrible mistake. Already I think 5 years 47 million for a reliever is too much. Is BJ Ryan really that amazing?? Relief pitchers are a dime a dozen and so many come and go within a blink of an eye. Just look at Keith Foulke, Danny Kolb, Billy Koch, etc.

They will be decent but the Yankees and Red Sox are still the teams to beat...they always are. Baltimore had a better offense most of the season and they had Ryan...but they faded just as Toronto most likely will fade. Not sure I'll say this is a good sign for them with that money. If I was them I would have invested more cash to Burnett....if they want to win there best hope would have been a Burnett-Halladay punch which is pretty nasty.