Don't the Sox have to pay him at least one-sixth of the $2.06 million ($340k) even if they cut or trade him? That's a big investment to get a low level prospect.
Wells and Clement will open the season with the Red Sox unless the Rocket lands in Boston. Wells will want to stay when he realizes that he can max out his incentives with the Sox. Don't ever buy that playing closer to home garbage. Sure it would be nice if the money comes with it. Wells is at the very end of his career. He knows that there will be no $9 million pay days after this year, and he can make that with the Sox if he stays healthy. No way the Sox bring 12 pitchers north. Papelbon might start the season at Pawtucket to get regular work. Mohr is on a minor league contract, so he will start the season in Pawtucket until Stern can be sent down. graffy will make the team if Lowell has a slow spring training.
What is the point of your question? Many times the team that proposes a trade ends up getting the short end of the deal. I belieive that the fear of Manny's reaction to not being traded would drive them to make a proposal that they would not even consider if Manny was level-headed.
They think they know what they have. They will not know for sure until these guys prove themselves at the ML level. There are very few can't miss prospects, and even they can get derailed by injury and other misfortune.
I don't doubt that the Sox proposed the trade and that the Angels turned it down. I don't think it represents equal value from a talent perspective. Just because the Sox offered it and the Angels turned it down doesn't mean the Sox would be getting equal talent. When Manny is involved, his contract is a huge factor. I think that such a trade would hurt the team's performance in '06, probably in '07 and maybe even in '08 unless some of those big prospects pan out.
Free up payroll by getting rid of underperforming players, but not one of the top RH run producers of all time. Santana is a hot prospect, but he is still not a proven commodity. Figgins may play a bunch of positions, but he is not too good at any of them. I was at Fenway when he played RF in a day game and he looked clueless. I kept hoping that something would get hit his way. He's not very confidence-inspiring at 3B either. You can look up the stats and tell me that he has very few errors etc. etc., but numbers don't tell the full story when it come to defense. He's not very good at any position and he is below average at some. Also, he's a bit of a choker offensively in big series. Quantity does not equal quality no matter where they quantity is rated in the top 100 prospects. Those predictions don't mean much
It's still not equal value. It's a grab bag of top prospects, but not equal value. The fact that the Sox would do it immediately if it were offered only proves that it would be a distress sale. They must be afraid that keeping Manny will be disruptive.
I wonder what the odds are that any one of them will become a Hall of Famer. To trade a sure-fire Hall of Famer still in his prime for prospects is not equal value, no matter how hot the prospects. Only a team in financial distress should make such a trade. The Red Sox are not in financial distress.
Matsui is a heart attack with a below average arm. Jeter has great range going back on pop-ups, and he makes the play coming in on slow rollers as well as anyone, but he has no range going to his left. Any ball over the mound ends up in CF.
To paraphrase George Foreman in his book "By George" nothing can bring a man down like a woman. I still blame the Fuggly Soccer Pig for ruining the positive attitude and community spirit of one of Boston's greatest icons. Also, let's not forget Ryne Sandberg walking away from two years of his biggest contract to spend more time with his family. Within three weeks of announcing his retirement his wife sued him for divorce. By the next spring, Sandberg was begging for his job and had to agree to play for $1 million. He walked away from $13 million over the 2 year period to save a doomed marriage. I think the grounds for divorce was extreme stupidity.
It can be summed up as:
Renteria, Shoppach, Hanley Ramirez, Sanchez, DelGado, Garcia, and $11 million for
Beckett, Lowell, Crisp, Riske and Bard
This looks pretty good to me.
Someone is going to give him the $, because he's worth it for the one year. You keep saying to put it into the farm system, but where? If they have $15-18 million extra, they either spend it or pay it out in profits. They can't carry it over to the following year or they will get hit with accumulated earnings taxes etc. It's not like there are $18 million in prospects waiting to be picked up. So, you spend it on Clemens, other capital improvements or pay it out in profits. That's the way it works.