Palodios

Based on the trade reports, my impression was that he had the authority to trade the small pieces.

Trading Maholm for Vizcaino could turn into an excellent move. Really, a top 100 prospect to rent Maholm? I don't care if he has Tommy John, that just seems silly.

Thankfully its not 2009 anymore. Pretty insignificant move.

Here's the reality. In 2013, he's going to prove us all wrong, and be an all star pitcher. He'll get lazy, and blow off pitching sessions and workouts in the second half, and decline significantly in September. In 2014, the FO will believe he's turned a corner and hold on to him, despite missing the playoffs again, but he'll believe he's so good that he's earned a break, so he'll slack off, and perform poorly. Its what he does every year. Its pretty much explicitly clear if you look at his odd/even year splits. I don't want to get rid of him because he's a prick. I want to get rid of him because he's lazy, and there is a good chance it rubs off on his teammates. Randy, Clemmons, Johnson etc were all pricks. But they all put baseball first.

Sweet!

I don't have the game on-- what are you referring to?

Just saw a picture of Lebron at the Olympics wearing a yankee hat. Vomitacious.

Wait, did you just realize that? I had assumed your name was based on that street.

By your logic, Ben is a complete failure because he didn't get enough depth to withstand mediocrity from Adrian Gonzalez. Probably better to agree to disagree.

You never know-- maybe he wants to go to a small market team where can he golf whenever he wants.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/james-shields/ Everyone seems to think he'll pull in a haul. All I'd want from a Beckett trade is most of the salary paid, and a high floor pitching prospect, although the latter could be very negotiable.

I posted this in the trade deadline thread, but it bears repeating: Player A, age 31, known for being a big game pitcher 2011 2.82 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, .217 BAA 2012 4.52 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, .281 BAA $10 mill options on each of the next two seasons. Player B, age 32 known for actually being a big game pitcher. 2011 2.89 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, .211 BAA 2012 4.57 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, .263 BAA $16 mill for each of the next two seasons. Teams are lining up to sell the farm for James Shields. The market for Beckett simply cannot be as bad as Jacko wants us to think.

I've been very vocal about this, but I think that they can keep core pieces, and shed some 1 year guys, and especially sell-high bullpen arms. Sell, but don't do anything that will hurt your chances in 2014.

Player A 2011 2.82 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, .217 BAA 2012 4.52 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, .281 BAA Player B 2011 2.89 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, .211 BAA 2012 4.57 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, .263 BAA Player A: Age 31. 9 million option in 2013, 12 million club opion in 2014. Age 31. Will cost two elite prospects. Player B: Age 32. 16 guaranteed in 2013 and 2014, but will likely bite 6 million a year. As you may have figured out, one player is James Shields, and the other is Josh Beckett. The Red Sox need to put other teams into perspective, and see what they can do with this situation.

I disagree very strongly with this one. Trading away Reddick was a huge mistake, I'll give you that. But his other moves have been fine. He added considerable pitching depth to the organization with a tiny budget. He added a lot of options, some turned to busts, and some turned into quality pieces. Even after losing a high-end closer, it is still a much deeper bullpen than Theo has ever build, and the back end of the rotation is much better we ever suspected. He did not give into the pressure, and let Varitek and Wakefield go. Scutaro has had a .680 OPS this year, and he did well on selling high on him. Lowrie has played well, but even in a healthy year, he's already been on the DL twice. With our medical staff here, I doubt he would have played more than ten games in 2012 for the Red Sox. Cody Ross was perhaps the best signing of any GM all offseason. Youkilis was a tough trade, but I don't think he'd be hitting .300 if still with the Red Sox, it seemed like a change-of-location causeed the increase in production for him. Punto sucks. Its across the board. Some good moves, some bad. I don't think he deserves any lower than a C or B. If the team's aces had pitching like aces, he'd be gettting so much praise for building the depth, and Ross, but they're losing so he's getting s*** on. It happens.

MR BEAN!!!!!