Swihart would be no more than a throw-in for one of those players. You're totally overvaluing him. His offensive numbers are lousy and his catching defense needs work. Better to keep him and hope for better things next year.
Swihart looked good at the plate at times, but his numbers just aren't very impressive. He needed to boost them this year and he went in the other direction instead.
I'm sure no one's greatly excited about Prado, but if we can get Phelps in the deal and we don't have to give up much talent because we're taking on Prado's salary, it might be a palatable option.
I think Manny forced the ending on management. But we shouldn't even dwell on that. I also believe signing Manny was one of the most important factors in the years of success that followed.
Yes, that's understandable. I think Dombrowski recognizes that a big splashy move for a third baseman won't guarantee us of anything...I think he may be focusing more on a reliever. We shall see.
You're off by a year. Beltre was with the Sox for the 2010 season. The plan for 2011 was Youk at third. When Youk faded Middlebrooks replaced him in 2012.
One could argue that his misses were because of unforeseeable injuries, although trust me, I'm not too happy about neither of those guys ever throwing a pitch for us.