nickw308810

If the Red Sox FO thinks that Lugo can be a solid SS here for the next few years, than he has to be signed. Especially if they think he can hit leadoff for us. Sure, losing a draft pick blows, but it is only one pick, and I think in the last two years we have proved we can find talent throughout the draft. What we can't have happen is Lugo turn into another Renteria. One option that I wouldn't mind seeing, is bringing Loretta back and letting Pedroia take SS. Youkilus leading off and Loretta batting 2nd sounds pretty good. High on base guys getting on for Ortiz, hopefully Manny, then Drew. Just an idea.

I do not get why everyone is so excited about the prospect of trading for Andruw Jones. Sure, he has a great glove and can hit HR, but he can't hit for avg and is not clutch at all. Plus he is a free agent after this season and will want to be making as much money as Manny anyway. He is getting old and his legs are bad. No thanks. I'd rather take a Peavy or keep the prospects that we could get from the Dodgers and develop them. We will be a contender next year with or without Manny, as long as the bullpen gets shored up and Matsuzaka gets signed. Of course Manny increases our chances of winning it all by a million. The best option is to keep him, but if we don't, we shouldn't panic and give away a whole lot of young talent for a player not even in his league. That being said, if Crisp doesn't work out again this year, we can make a run at Jones, Wells, or Hunter next off season. But now is not the time.

We also got Lowell, and the player everyone forgets Guiellermo Mota, who was supposed to be a huge part of our bullpen before he was included in the Crisp deal. Oh well though, he has fell off since his days setting up Gagne.

Off topic and crazy idea, but did anyone see Chan Ho Park close in the WBC? He was lights out. Sure, that doesn't translate to actual success during the season, but it sure would be interesting to try.

I think it is too early to completely bash all of Theo's 2006 moves. The Beckett trade was something he had to do. We needed a number 1 starter and that is what he got. Was he as good as expected? Of course not, but you can't write him off just yet. It hurts that Hanley won rookie of the year, but his biggest strength (his speed) would not have been utilized properly here anyway. Sanchez will be a good pitcher, but he won't be Josh Beckett. Mike Lowell has also had impressive defense and a decent bat, very underrated player IMO. Even with Hanley and Anibel's success, I still have to feel we are the winners of that trade. We also needed to get Mirabelli back at the time. Everytime Wakefield went to the mound it was basically a guarenteed loss because none of our catchers could handle the knuckleball. Sucks for us that Meredith became so good so quickly, but we had to give up something to get Mirabelli back. Willy Mo Pena for Bronson Arroyo? At the time we had extra pitching. Kind of messed up how Bronson signed the extension and then got dealt. Not the classiest of moves, but Willy Mo showed his potential and had a rather good year for us. The full value of this trade will be realized if he either starts or gets dealt. I doubt if Drew signs then Pena sticks around, which is unfortunate because he looks to be a 30 HR guy in the future, especially if he keeps being Ortiz's little sidekick. Trading Renteria for Marte was a good deal. Probably the best that Theo made last offseason. Too bad Marte got flipped back in the Crisp deal, but again we haven't seen the best of Coco yet either. Losing Shoppach in that deal was dissapointing, but he can't hit anyway so it wasn't too big of a loss. All in all not a great year for Theo last year, but definitely doesn't deserve to lose his job. He isn't God, but thankfully he isn't Dan Duquette either.