Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Red Sox, Marlins Close to Deal Involving Beckett

According to ESPN, the Boston Red Sox and Florida Malins are close to a deal that would send Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell to the Red Sox in exchange for Hanley Ramirez, Anibal Sanchez and another prospect to be named later. Here are the highlights:

The Red Sox and cost-cutting Marlins have come to a tentative agreement on a trade that would send Beckett, the MVP of Florida's 2003 World Series win over the Yankees, and three-time All-Star third baseman Mike Lowell to Boston for highly touted shortstop Hanley Ramirez, right-handed prospect Anibal Sanchez and a minor-league pitcher.

The Red Sox have agreed to take on all $18 million of the money owed to Lowell over the next two seasons, a baseball official with knowledge of the discussions told ESPN.com's Jayson Stark.

Over the weekend the Rangers were considered the frontrunner to land the hard-throwing Beckett. Texas were offering All-Star third baseman Hank Blalock and one of its two top pitching prospects, either Thomas Diamond or John Danks...



I think this was a good trade for both teams. Beckett could be the dominant starter that the Red Sox need to get them into the playoffs again and perhaps win a championship. In return, the Marlins receive two top prospects for a couple of players they weren't going to be able to afford to keep.

This deal is relevant to the Tigers as they had been rumored to be interested in Beckett. While this deal made a lot of sense for a contending team like the Red Sox, it would have made less sense for the Tigers. The Tigers likely would have had to give up Justin Verlander/Joel Zumaya and another top prospect to get Beckett. Beckett has one of the best arms in baseball and is dominant when healthy but has missed significant time each year with blister problems and last year had a shoulder ailment. There would also be the problem of signing him when he becomes a free agent in a couple of years, something that will probably be easier for the Red Sox to do than the Tigers.

4 comments:

  1. this young team should be hitting its stride and cabrerra his prime right about the time they start playing their home games in Las Vegas.

    this smacks of a thinly veiled attempt by ownership to disenfranchise what few fans the team has and erode any lingering hope of a permanent stadium deal in miami.

    assuming that they can get high quality, advanced talent for pierre/delgado etc., this was also a brilliant strategic move (adding to their own crop of mlb ready top prospects/youngsters.)

    probably the best move this franchise has made. moving out of Florida will top this, once the move is announced.

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  2. Great job Zimm! Do you have any trades or free agent signings you can tell us about right before they happen?

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  3. This would really disturb me if I were a Red Sox fan. Lowell is going to be 32 next year, so last year's results were more likely "permanent decline" than "slump". Beckett's a nice pickup of course, but if I were a Red Sox fan I'd have a big emotional investment built up in the two "can't miss" kids. I'm glad that the Tigers didn't make a successful bid.

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  4. Charles, if the Tigers made a trade like this I'd be disturbed, but the Red Sox are in a different position.
    Beckett might be the piece they need to assure another post season appearance next year.

    I consider Lowell to be mostly a salary dump and if he continues to perform poorly, Youkilis will step in. The way I see it, it's one proven pitcher for two very good prospects but who knows if they'll ever be as good as Beckett already is. Also remember that Beckett is just 25, has amazing stuff and although he's missed a lot of time, he's never had a serious injury. Those blisters make it a risky trade but I think it's a risk the Red Sox can afford to take. It's not one I would have wanted the Tigers to take.

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