dicek1220

I don't think I'm in the minority in that Wily Mo doesn't really fit on this team. He's aweful defensively and needs regular playing time in order to develop into a more polished hitter. I think it would be best for the sox and for Wily Mo if we traded him to a team where he'd be a regular. So I was thinking... What about a trade to the Pirates for Xavier Nady? I think the Pirates might do it considering they have one of the worst (if not the worst) offenses in the league and could use Wily Mo's power potential. Meanwhile the sox get a right handed bat off the bench and a guy who can handle both all OF positions pretty adequately in Nady.

I personally am not too worried about the Red Sox fifth starter to start the season. For the first couple weeks of the season don't teams usually use a four man rotation anyway? I guess we'll just have Tavarez or one of these other bums pitch a few games until Lester is ready or the front office makes a move. IMO the Sox had to start the season with a closer. The Sox still have plenty of time to find a 5th starter and they're a hell of a lot easier to find then closers.

I disagree with most everything you said. You said that last season was a "Theo"-like offseason. That was the offseason which the sox traded Andy Marte (who we acquired from Atlanta for Renteria) for Coco Crisp. I know Crisp had injuries, but Renteria had a tremendous year. We got Crisp because we let Johnny Damon go, who had a career year in New York. Either way, the Sox came out on the losing end in both trading for Coco and letting Damon go. The Sox also that season traded Hanley Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez for Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell. A year later, Ramirez is one of the top shortstops in the NL and is expected to keep growing. Sanchez threw a no hitter and looks like a potential top of the rotation starter. The sox on the other hand, got a 5+ era from Beckett and a good year from Mike Lowell. In addition, the Sox resigned catcher Jason Varitek and put a no trade close into his contract. So the offseason in which the Red Sox trade away their top prospect, acquire a guy in Crisp who is not great at getting on base, and sign an aging catcher to a 4 year deal with no trade clauses is an EPSTEIN-like offseason??? It's actually the complete opposite. And that might have something to do with the fact that HE WASN'T EVEN THE GM LAST OFFSEASON. And in the end, these moves lead the sox to finish in 3rd place in the AL East last season. Now what you're saying is that this offseason the Red Sox swayed away from Theo's original strategies as a GM. Ok, let's see, since Theo has come back as GM: To start off, the Red Sox have, according to experts, one of the best draft in the majors. Then they sign a guy in JD Drew who, if there is one thing he always does, is get on base. Next they sign Lugo, a guy Theo has always been high on, who is another guy who can get on base and also bat leadoff. Next they sign Daisuke Matsuzaka, a 26 Japanese phenom, to a 6 year deal in which Matsuzaka gets paid 8 mil. a year (3 mil. less per year than Gil Meche). They then make a number of bullpen moves, acquiring guys like Piniero, Okijima, and Donnelly. So far, it looks like since that "Theo-like" offseason, the Red Sox have been making far more "Theo-like" moves then they had during the 2005/2006 offseason. Theo, as you said, wants good pitching, guys who get on base, and a strong farm system. Since he's been back, I'd say it's safe to say he's been trying to do that. I agree that the Red Sox overpaid Lugo and Drew and didn't improve the bullpen enough. But to say that this is not a "Theo-like" offseason is retarded.