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You're contradicting yourself here. Most of the "bidding wars" the Sox lost this decade and the past one were under Epstein's tenure as GM. Be consistent.

Due diligence.

You're screaming at the walls here.

True. But that may have happened because he was pressing trying to hit home runs post-injury, which comes back to the shoulder problem.

The shoulder injury may have indirectly affected his walk rate as well. Pitchers are a lot more inclined to throw strikes if you're not a constant threat to park it out of the ballpark. The league knows what shoulder injuries do to power, so pitchers adjust their approach.

Drew was going to be a "40-homer bat" with his other-way swing at Fenway, and Cameron was easily going to pop 30 homers because he had played all his life at pitcher-friendly parks, and had popped 25+ several times. Fenway, however, did wonders for Kevin Millar and Adrian Beltre.

The Stanton contract is now a reality. The Blue Jays signed Russell Martin for 5 years/82 million. The Braves traded Jason Heyward to the Cards for Shelby Miller. Busy day.

Actually 2 for 4 is excellent based on prospect flameout rate.

I wouldn't be, if the price is right. And thanks.

Panda's OPS in the last 4 seasons: 2011: 909 2012: 789 2013: 758 2014: 739 If that isn't a trend in the wrong direction, then i don't know what is. Sure, he's dynamite in the playoffs, but that doesn't mean jack s*** if he can't help you get there. Also, no matter what, a 6 year-deal for a guy with that body type has a significant chance of turning into an albatross quickly. If i had to choose one of the FA 3B options, i'd go with Headley, who's the righty bat with better D and on-base ability, and i've laready made my thoughts about him being cooked well known, so that gives you an idea about my interest in Panda.

And he may actually be the better fit. It's an either-or proposition in my book (if they're actually in the market of course)

I'm actually talking about Castillo, Margot and Victorino. Castillo is not that expensive by current market standards, Margot is young but his stock is sky-high right now, and Vic would be a one-year rental on whom the Sox could eat some salary to make more palatable. If they just HAD to get Cespedes to get a deal done though, i'd still do it.

The "right ones" would be a very subjective thing to explain. A prospect that blossomed elsewhere may not have done so in the Boston pressure cooker. Also, Cespedes is not a prospect. Trading Cespedes in a package for Frazier would be an exercise in futility IMO.

I disagree, mainly if you're dealing from a position of strength/redundancy. Remember that even if you're unable to retain Cueto, you'd get a pretty decent draft pick out of it for certain, helping mitigate the blow.

Sox have redundancy where the Reds need the most help: OF and MLB-ready power arms. I'd overpay in any deal that would allow me to get Cueto/Frazier, while retaining Cespedes/Betts.

How about just a big package for Frazier and Cueto, which would essentially solve the Red Sox' offseason were they to sign Lester? I'd overpay to get it done.

I think Betts would provide a higher overall value than Headley at 3B, who i think is cooked, but could be wrong, specially with half his games at Fenway. Victorino's injury du jour could be easily covered by the Nava/Craig tandem (a healthy Craig should at least be able to hit lefties) with Cespedes in RF. That would limit Holt's exposure while moving him to the super-utility spot where he excels and belongs. I'd save that cash instead of spending it on Headley.

In an ideal world you sign Lester and sweeten the pot by creating a package around the significant stable of blocked prospects the Red Sox currently have to get the Phillies to eat some of the salary left on Hamels' deal. They don't even need to tweak the bullpen IMO. C-Vasquez 1B- Napoli 2B-Pedroia SS-Bogaerts 3B-Betts LF-Cespedes CF-Castillo RF-Victorino DH-Ortiz Bench: OF/1B-Nava OF/1B-Craig UTIL-Holt C-Ross or FA Rotation: Lester Hamels Kelly Buchholz De La Rosa/ FA acquisition (preferably Justin Masterson) Bullpen: Workman Britton Layne Webster Mujica Tazawa Uehara This would be, in my opinion, one of the Sox' best-case scenarios entering 2015. There's a lot of positional versatility, good power potential in a league starved for power, and a decent rotation that could hold steady until the kids start arriving. It would be difficult to construct, but i don't think it's a "pipe dream" type scenario. I'm also of the opinion that moving Betts to 3B to fill a clear need would be a good idea. WMB is cooked, and Cecchini needs more time to develop.

That's assuming either team really wants to trade either pitcher, and also really wants to trade him to the Red Sox. You can't deal with these type of absolutes here and expect to accept your thought process as valid. This isn't a video game.

Weeks can still mash lefties and play good D. He's not an everyday player anymore, but creative use and/or a platoon situation could see hom being a very productive player next year.

Apology accepted.

Also, this.^ As i said in a post above, these trade ideas need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

This is actually a very good point, but the price of elite, under-30 pitching is still sky-high.

Tyson Ross splits: 2014: Home: 1.88 ERA Away: 3.79 (league average) ERA. Career: Home: 2.55 ERA Away: 4.74 ERA

There's no comparison between Reddick and Betts tool and skillset-wise. Also, Betts for Ross is highway robbery. Ross isn't very good. It's funny how easily you're dismissing Betts but not Ross, who's a Petco park baby.