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Very good, comprehensive post. I would say that Buehrle is an ace. The guy has thrown over 220 innings the last 5 years, during which time he is 84-51. His career ERA is 3.63, with a career 1.23 WHIP. He also has thrown more than 6 innings every start in something like 90% of his starts. The guy has been good the past few years and has definitely been the ace of the chisox staff.

I would argue that KC DID NOT have an ace last year at all. I know Wake had a good season last year, but that doesn't mean that every time he took the ball I was confident. I wasn't confident every time he took the ball. I worried, as I have every one of his starts the past 10 years or so, that he would give up some random homeruns or give up a few early and put us behind early. Wakefield is a good pitcher, don't get me wrong, but I don't think he was the ace of the staff. I also don't believe every team needs to have an "ace". If the "ace" sucks then there's no point in calling him the ace, is there? Yeszir, I mostly agree with you. You count on an ace to BE ABLE to get you a win 100% of the time; Pedro, Schilling, Schmidt, RJ, those guys SHOULD keep you in every game and should be able to shut the other team down about 80% of the time. Not every team has an ace. That's why its a big deal when a bonified ace is added to your club. Florida had three aces last year (Willis, Beckett and Burnett), all three of whom could shut the other team down on any given start. If "ace" means best pitcher on your staff, which it very well might, then that means that Zach Grinke is an ace and Josh Beckett and AJ Burnett are not.

it wasn't meant against you personally riverside... nothing personal. I guess I know that the best pitcher on the staff is called that staff's ace, but it loses its meaning that way. I think of "ace" as referring to "legitimate ace" rather than de facto ace. Who is the "ace" of Kansas city, or Texas? I don't think they actually have one.

I think using the word "ace" and "Wakefield" together is a bit of a stretch. While Wake was good last year (exceptional, perhaps) he was far from an Ace in most respects. He just pitched very well. Minor point, but I don't look at this staff and see 5 potential aces. I see 3 potential aces and a few 2-3 guys.

Why even get into the Manny for Vlad discussion? Its stupid. The Angels would NOT EVER EVER EVER do that deal. Vlad is too valuable, especially for his price tag. It would be a downgrade in many respects for them, not the least of which is clubhouse chemistry. When we trade Manny we will likely get a decent MLB player and a few good prospects. I want those prospects to be as good as Anibal Sanchez in terms of ceiling and it sounds like Milledge is in that category. We dont' need heilman, do we? If we lose manny we will improve for the future. If we keep him we will stay good for the present. Stop with all this silly Manny-Vlad talk, it makes this board appear to be a place of dreamy starry-eyed Sox fans rather than rational ones... in my humble opinion.

1. "Just because they wear Red Socks doesn't mean they will automatically return to their prime form." That's true... of Lowell and Mota. Beckett hasn't hit his prime form yet, not even close. He was one of 3-4 young studs on a staff that is now being disbursed. He never became the ace of that staff, but now he is the ace with Schilling and we'll see what happens. I'll say this: I would rather have beckett than ANYONE on the Yankees. I would rather have him than almost ANYONE in all of baseball. There are a few other pitchers I would prize better than him: Felix Hernandez, Johan Santana, MAYBE Roy Oswalt (thier numbers are about the same) and maybe Peavy, probably not Sheets... who else is there? Halliday is close, but he gets injured as much if not more than Beckett (certainly more seriously). So yeah, maybe we're setting ourselves up for disappointment, but we're doing it with someone that I consider to be one of the top 10 starting pitchers in baseball and who has another 10 years left in him at least. 2. Of course its not a foregone conclusion that we'll win the World Series next year. But I'll tell ya we've got a good chance to win it every year for the next 2 years and, if we resign Beckett, for the next 4 years after that. Our pitching is younger, stronger and better than the Yankees pitching, particularly if you look at the potential for guys like Papelbon and Lester over the next few years. THAT is one reason people are so pumped about it. Imagine having a Josh Beckett, a Papelbon (whom many people have compared to a young Roger Clemens--and if you've seen him pitch you understand why) and a Lester (whom many say is BETTER than Papelbon) to bolster your rotation for the next few years. Yeah... we're hopeful. 3. Just because you thought the yankees were going to go 161-1 doesn't mean WE are hyping what the sox can do. If you thought they were going to go 161-1 then that's your fault. We all knew they wouldn't. If you think we're overhyping the potential for a team that has made the playoffs for the past three years, once winning the world series and once getting to within 5 outs of the world series, winning easily 90+ games each season, then perhaps you don't understand our starting point. We had the best rotation in the AL two seasons ago when we had Schilling and Pedro (along with Lowe, Arroyo and Wakefield), now we have Schilling and Beckett (along with Papelbon, Clement, Arroyo and Wakefield). The supporting staff is better, Beckett is potentially as good as Pedro (in any particular game... see 2003 playoffs) . So I don't think we're hyping too much. If the Royals had just acquired Beckett and were claiming maybe the best staff in the AL then yeah, that's over hyped. But the sox have been close the last three years and haven't changed that much.

The sox have been quite mysterious in the way they negotiate recently. It all seems VERY under the radar. However, I haven't heard a whole lot about the sox going after Konerko recently and, like with BJ Ryan, that might mean they'll lose him before they can try. Of course, Konerko's agent did say he was eager to hear what the sox offer would be so perhaps they'll wait. I just don't want to miss out on a chance for Konerko... I don't care how much money ownership spends between a Konerko or a Tracy, I just want the best player available.

I'm glad you came back to edit that. Johnny Damon's career OBP is .353 though, and I think he's a pretty good leadoff hitter. .353 isn't that good, but it isn't the only indicator of a players value. That being said, stay away from Pierre.

Of all the AL East teams to go to, this one seems pretty benign. If we're in a situation where we're trying to get a win in the 9th against Toronto then things aren't looking good for the sox. I imagine most of our wins against them won't have to come against a closer... hopefully we can score early and often. I would have been a lot more worried if he went to set-up for, say, the A's, or Angels, Yankees, Twins or White Sox.

Ryan is harmless in Toronto.

Didn't anyone else hear that the Marlins are about to get rid of Delgado to the mets? I might be playing Dr. Obvious right now but wouldn't a Manny for Delgado and Milledge deal make a lot of sense? I mean, that would fill a lot of our holes and give us a power bat int he middle of the lineup that is not named Konerko. It doesn't make up for everything Manny is worth, but we know we're not going to get that no matter what. Delgado is a good RBI guy, will not HURT a lineup. He can protect Ortiz (not as well as Manny) and Milledge will eventually replace Trot or Manny in the OF. It seems like a no brainer, a HUGE trade that is just waiting to happen.

Beckett's numbers (other than innings) tend to look similar to Roy Oswalt's numbers. They had a similar WHIP last year (1.18 Beckett vs. 1.20 Oswalt) and over their careers (1.18 Oswalt vs. 1.23 Beckett). They each get a lot of strikeouts, but Beckett's career 8.97K/9 is considerably better than Oswalt's 7.80K/9. They both have ridiculuously low Opp. OBP for their careers (Oswalt .299 vs. Beckett's .306). Their career OPS numbers are IDENTICAL: .678. 2005 OPS: Oswalt .688, Beckett .669. Beckett was #13 in MLB. Blisters are a weak reason to say that this isn't a good acquisition. Beckett appeared in 24, 26 and 29 games the past three years. It's not like his arm is falling off. If nothing else, his time off will likely only help to preserve his arm. He has the build of someone who will just throw and throw and throw. Mostly I am not surprised that the only ones critiquing the trade are Yankee fans. Are you telling me you would rather have Jaret Wright than Beckett? Seriously? Their numbers K/9 K/BB AVG OBP SLG OPS WHIP Beckett (Career): 8.97 2.72 .234 .306 .371 .674 1.23 Wright (Career): 6.60 1.50 .276 .360 .425 .783 1.55 Yeah, Beckett may never get over his blister problem, but chances are he'll figure it out. Nobody ever questions Beckett's attitude for pitching and he's not going to let something like a blister keep him from becoming one of the best pitchers in baseball (which he has believed he is since high school). If you really want to look at numbers, don't just provide a link to the stats, but look at the ones that matter. When he throws the ball, people hit beckett like they do Oswalt: not very well. His WAY better than Wright or Pavano or Vasquez. You can look at Pavano and Vasquez throw and their stuff isn't anything near what Beckett has. Beckett just seems better, and his numbers back it up. It is premature to be calling him the next Pedro (the numbers, again, don't lie). Pedro in 2000 had an opponents' OPS of .472 (213 OBP, 259 SLG) which is CRAZY! Last year Santana had an astounding .564, almost a hundred points higher than Pedro in 2000. Mariano Rivera's OPS last year was .465, the best of his career. So Pedro became better than Beckett probably will, but the numbers speak for themselves (as do the millions of people who think this is a coup for the Sox). Beckett is NOT your average pitcher.

I hope getting Lowell doesn't have anything to do with manny leaving. I really want manny to stay and beat the piss out of American league foes. That being said, I kind of feel like Papi is ready to carry a team on his own (or with a strong supporting cast).

I have always drooled watching beckett. much like I did watching Pedro

It would have been impossible to get Beckett otherwise. We are getting a pitcher who is very good nearly every time he steps on the mound. He will probably get more than 27 starts, so injury prone or not he will be a significant pitcher for the sox next year. This trade changes a lot for the sox. Our pitching woes are over for the time being. In fact we're loaded. If we keep Manny and trade Wells for Roberts (CF) we will still have a very good lineup, especially if we can pull a deal for Huff.

I think this move is fantastic. I think Lowell will do well too. Pavano and Burnett always seemed like the half-prize from the florida staff. I always wished that it was Becket that we were talking about. Now, we have him?? (fingers crossed). I can't think of many pitchers in the league that, when on, are as dominant. I feel kind of like I did when I heard the sox got Pedro or when they got Manny. Its just a guy whom, if he's healthy and pitching, will put up great numbers and be exciting to watch. I think he'll get super pumped by the Fenway crowd.

I'm counting riverside, I'm counting. Who the hell needs a GM? It is hard to see Hanley leave... actually not as hard as I thought it would be. Anibel is probably harder to see go, but imagine a staff for the next 5-6 years of Papelbon, Beckett and Lester. With Hansen in the pen what a great staff that is. I think this is a phenomenal pick-up. For all the injury talk about Beckett the guy has thrown progressively more innings each year, topping out at 172 or so this year. That's not too bad. He's also very young (25), so he's as old as Papelbon who still seems very young. Will we have the ridiculuously unbalanced rotation of Schilling, Wells, Beckett, Wakefield, Papelbon? Talk about throwing a team off.

Hell yeah, hell yeah, hell yeah! Beckett should be a nice combination with Varitek and should learn about pitching from Schilling. This is very exciting.

HELL YEAH!!!!!! Welcome to Boston Mr. Beckett (and Mr. Lowell too!)

I'm not as sold on Hanley. I could part with him if I had to.

BTW, where the hell would the Yankees put Delgado? First? So they would have a lineup of: Jeter Cano A-Rod Giambi Delgado Sheffield Matsui Posada CF. When matsui is batting 7th you're either talking about the Yankees or my most recent fantasy team on MVP 05.

I'm torn about this deal. Beckett is someone I have coveted since 2001. He has tremendous stuff, a better head than BUrnett and is probably cheaper. He is also young enough for us to lose one of our younger pitchers for him. I'm not sure which I would want to lose though. Lester or Anibel??? Hmmm. I'm not sold on Hanley yet. I know he has a tremendous ceiling but that guarentees nothing. I haven't seen very good numbers from him recently, his power is questionable and there are usually people around who can do well at SS. I think Mike Lowell would fit well in Boston too, although his price tag is pretty hefty. Basically that's the price we would be paying to get Beckett. Beckett has impressive career numbers though: 41-34 with a 3.46 ERA and 1.23 whip. 1 K per inning in his career. Not bad. I think I would pull the trigger on this one. It's just tough to know whether to lose lester or anibel.

Yeah, I've been watching Nady from here in Portland (the Beavers are the AAA team), and he's nothing great. He's already 27 and wasn't good enough to start for San Diego. Basically I think this may mean that the Mets are not planning on working for Manny. I love it when we keep manny by process of elimination!!!

Roberts as #4 outfielder/pinch runner would be fine. It would be great to have a player with the skills to start sitting on the base. Perhaps we could trade him to Oakland at midseason and get Chad Bradford. Seriously, though, if Roberts WERE willing to not start then I would do it in a heart beat. I would see it as being similar to picking up Pokey Reese two years ago. The guy has some very precise specialties, and isn't a great overall player. If we utilize his strengths correctly he could be invaluable.

A problem is that we will continue to get Manny back, but he will not be with the team mentally. Maybe he will, I mean, maybe he'll just realize that he has a job (one that he kinda likes) but that he just works someplace he doesn't like all that much. Our BIGGEST problem is that we're spending all this time talking to, looking at, and spending time with GM CANDIDATES!!! We should be spending this time on the team. If we get rid of manny then we will be in the midst of a rebuiliding season or two. We should come out on the other side with some very good young talent. In fact, I imagine the sox signing Ortiz to a multi-year deal after next season (something like 5-6 years at 70 million or so) and making him the bedrock of this team for the future. Some teams (the Cubs, Giants, Phillies and Rockies come to mind) have built themselves around one great hitter over the past few years and found some success (Sosa, Bonds, Thome and Helton). I don't think they won't be able to compete with the Yankees though, which will make baseball a little less fun over the next few years.