no but there are better prospects out there and I don't think the Red Sox are willing to move Hansen anyways. They are loaded with arms anyways. What they need is 3 top notch positional prospects. The Marlins wanted Hansen in the draft and thought they had him until he had big bonus demands. The way his contract is structured might not be what the Marlins are looking for.
I'm pretty sure if the Marlins trade Willis it won't be for a pile of crap. It will be to a team that has 3 top notch prospects that can help the Marlins for 2007 and beyond.
First off Lowell was a salary dump. Thats why we got him with Beckett. If we didn't take Lowell then we wouldn't have had a chance to get Beckett. The whole trade centered around taking Mike Lowell's 18 million off the Marlins hands. Willis is younger and he is lefthanded. Plus they won't be dumping anyone else along with Willis making the price much higher.
Hansen yes Murphy no. Murphy is not that good of prospect. The Sox would never do Hansen and Ellsbury. They need Hansen with this team right now and Ellsbury is someone I am high on as well as the sox are. He is what a team wants in a leadoff hitter. Fast, high OBP guy who walks alot and creates havoc on the base.
Corner Power does not grow on trees and rarely gets to the free agent market. This is why the sox acquired Pena. The names you named are great ahhchon but they will likely never become available because alot of players are getting locked up early by their respective teams.
People the Marlins are trading Willis unless they get Lester back in a trade.....Forget about it. They already asked for Lester in the Beckett deal and were turned down. The Sox don't have what it takes to get him nor do the Yankees. Only about 3 teams that have the elite prospects to get Willis might do it. Dodgers, Angels, DBacks.....all 3 teams have better prospects than the Red Sox.
He is definitely going to get better because Papa Jack is a great hitting coach and somehow Papa Jack has gotten Alex Gonzalez up to .260 as a hitter. Don't sell WMP short. The guy has extreme talent and corner power is the toughest thing to find in the major leagues.
They got Loretta to be a solid stopgap. Maybe if you have seen Pedroia play you would know what I am talking about but its clear you have not. He not only had a spectacular career at Arizona but has had an excellant minor league career outside of 2 freak injuries (one getting hit on the wrist causing poor production in the 2nd half in pawtucket and the other injury straining his shoulder in ST which set him back in Pawtucket before he is finally playing and producing). I like Loretta but I see no reason at all to give him a multi-year deal at his age when the Sox drafted Pedroia with a high pick and have had him on the fast track to Fenway Park. Had he not gotten hit off the wrist last year it was widely speculated he would have come up last year to replace Bellhorn.
They should offer arbitration to Loretta and get the draft picks. Pedroia is more than capable of replacing Loretta and if people give him a chance he will make people forget about Loretta quickly because he is a younger better version of Loretta who has more power than Loretta.
Having Pedroia at 2B next season is not penny pinching by the sox when the guy clearly is talented and clearly is ready to play. Its about cost effectiveness and using that savings to fill more important needs like pitching.