Beckett/Lowell traded to the Red Sox

That is a very interesting move.

 

I'm still wondering who is orchestrating the Red Sox moves with no GM in place. Are they asking prospective GM's what they would do in their interviews, and then using those ideas?

I would guess that Epstein's deputy/Ass't GM (whoever it was) is acting GM until a replacement is named. I'm surprised that whoever it is has the power to make moves like that at this time. He must have gotten special approval on that one from Lucchino.

Florida is going to regret this trade for years to come, IMHO.

Great deal for the Red Sox. Lowell is useless, but to get Beckett for two minor leaguers and a PTBNL is fantastic on their part.

 

I'm not sure Lowell is useless to a team like Boston. His 2005 numbers were abysmal, but prior to that he was as good or better than Bill Mueller, and, I believe he was better defensively. They could still turn around and deal Lowell to a team desperate for 3B help, especially if they eat some salary.

Boston isn't a team to play guys hoping for a rebound year. I bet they flip him to MN for a PTBNL, depending on how much $ they have to pick up in the deal.

Florida is going to regret this trade for years to come, IMHO.

 

Maybe they will, but Florida isn't the type of team that can live with a Kerry Wood like contract situation, paying uber millions for an injured pitcher. Josh has never thrown 200 innings, his career high was the 179 from this year, which was also his best season. He's 2 years from free agency, but they might have decided to minimize their risk and get the best they could get now, before paying big arbitration money, and instead of risking he gets injured again this coming season and has less trade value.

 

A team in dire financial straits has a greater need to spread the wealth around when it comes to player contracts. They could have afforded Beckett this season, but perhaps not the following season, and almost certainly not from 2008 on. And whenever you can get rid of that big committment to an underperforming player like Lowell, you do it.

They could have done better than Hanley "Boston's next great SS for the last 5 years" Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez. I don't question trading Beckett, considering his health and their finances. But guys like that don't come around very often, and they were in the drivers seat. They didn't even have him on the market that long. Had they kept haggling with teams, seeing what they could have gotten, they could have gotten a better deal by the time the winter meetings rolled around. I don't see a reason for them to have pulled the trigger on this that quickly.

Boston isn't a team to play guys hoping for a rebound year.

 

I don't know about that. They signed Renteria clearly hoping for a rebound year. They signed Millar hoping to a return to the 900 OPS range.

 

They clearly had rebound in mind when they got Damon. Ortiz wasn't necessarily a rebound, but they were expecting an emergence after a few years of stagnant mediocrity got him non-tendered in Minnesota.

 

Bellhorn was a cheaper rebound project. I would call both the Clement and Wade Miller signings as hope for a rebound type acquisition.

 

I'm sure they'll try and flip him if they can. But they aren't going to eat all the money and get back nothing. Boston can find value in a guy like Lowell, and part of that value might be hoping for a rebound.

They have been that kind of team in the past, but after winning the series, and after being right there with the hated Yanks this year, and with their payroll, I can't see them doing to much of that vs going for the sure things. I could be wrong, but I don't see them fishing for comeback players this year. (no pun intended)