I say keep Youk, he looks to be a young trot nixon type and he be a good steady pressence on the team, trade Lowell, his trade value isnt great but its not going to get much better, if st. louis would take coco puff and a young arm for duncan then yes that would be a option that is worth checking out, if he works out he could be the rf for many years to come, package lowell up to San dieago who needs a solid third baseman and if theo is as good as he thinks and is as close to the s.d. gm they say he is possibly find a trade for Jake peavy! If lester can't go then we also need a LHP... pass on Zito too much money for a curve ball relying( it is good) pitcher, I think he's not a big city pitcher, if he goes to the yanks I see red sox fans saying I'm glad we didn't get him! Ted Lilly might be a better way solid 4 maybe a 3 but alot cheaper. Don't try to find an ace to replace schilling this year theres not a good enough one out there, if I remeber correctly johan santana will be one the following season, not to say they have a chance but there isnt a number 1 on the market to build around after schilling, unless beckett learns to change speeds and realize he doesnt pitch in the sorry ass n.l.( and I know they just won the world series). As for manny I'm really on the fence I see both sides of the argument, so unless it's a no brainer trade, which I dont see happening, ervin santanna? Dontt get me wrong the potential is there but trading a sure fire 1st ballot h.o.f. for potential makes me cringe!lol so the only thing left is 2b and rp. well we could go young with pedroia at second, or go for the big splash for soriano, and theres middle ground with options like loretta, belliard ect. Personally I wouldnt mind seeing soriano at second, yes where giving up a little leather , but with the offense it's tempting, it would offset low off. with gonzalez, gonzo offsets sorianos lack of defense, I be good with that but I'm just a fan, but no more the a 4 year deal maybe with an option year at the end, he is 30, I know its not old but 35 at then end of contract is in baseball years. Relief pitching... well theyll be the usual suspects junkyard scraps some injury prone guys not alot of quality but we can make do. Eric gagne at closer? Sounds fun but injuries, Brad lidge? He had trouble in the nl central doesn't look well projected to a.l. east, but a change of sceneory may be just what he needs, so if there not grabbin you by the short and harry's( houston has always stuck the sox...bagwell...carl everret for adam everett) maybe go this route if the price isnt hi, besides that not to sure, won't be foulke, not sure hear but as for the rest I think it wouldnt be to bad and maybe not alot of money besides soriano, O and I almost forgot cf, with established vets on the team why not give a rookie a shot, the ellesbury( sorry the hole name evades my brain at this point) he's looked great and makes us a little younger, with all that said here's a projected line up maybe if some of this happens,
1b youk/duncan/varitek?( he is getting up there and his knees won't hold out forever)
2b soriano
dh papi
lf manny
rf duncan/ wily mo( unless hes dealt for bullpen help)/ dave roberts
c varitek/ ( that one prospect we got in the wells deal)
3b not sure alot depends on this... pedroia, some low priced FA
cf ellesbury/ dave roberts?( could be a nice bench guy)
ss gonzalez
1.schilling
2.beckett
3.peavy/papelbon
4.lilly
5.lester if healthy/gil meche/adam eaton/mark mulder someone of that genre
relief you got timlin, taveraz, hansen/mdc( if not traded) need a lefty, wakefield and lidge let me know your thoughts...
Well this is my first pot ever anywhere so don't bash me too bad and let me know what you think.