[Kirk20]

Red Sox on verge of acquiring Beckett, Lowell

The Red Sox and Marlins have come to a tentative agreement on a trade that would send Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell to Boston for shortstop Hanley Ramirez, right-handed prospect Anibal Sanchez and a minor-league pitcher.

The deal is contingent on the finalization of paperwork and all players passing physicals, sources outside the Red Sox organization have told ESPN's Peter Gammons. An official announcement is not expected for a day or two, which leaves open the possibility that it could still fall apart, Gammons said on SportsCenter.

Only some last-minute haggling over dollars appeared to be holding up the deal, a baseball official with knowledge of the discussions told ESPN.com's Jayson Stark. Florida would include cash in the trade to offset some of the $18 million owed to Lowell over the next two seasons.

In return, the Red Sox would give up Ramirez, their much-ballyhooed shortstop prospect, and Sanchez. The Marlins originally had targeted left-hander Jon Lester, but Boston balked at including him in the trade, so the Red Sox agreed to add a second minor leaguer if Florida took Sanchez instead, Stark reports.

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[Ghost]

I don't like this move for Boston is both of those players turn out like the Red Sox think they will.

 

[reHEATed]

thats a big if. Prospects are annoying to trade for since you never know what you are getting

anyway, Beckett is an ace and Lowell is a gold glover at 3b who should benefit from the short fences at Fenway. Boston made out like bandits.

 

[rainman]

borderline rediculous that the commissioner lets these types of deals go down, there was a time when bowie kuhn wouldnt let charlie finley give fingers,vida blue, bando,rudi etc....... to the yanks and sox. now they just look the other way.

 

[KokoTheMonkey]

Well, if Hanley Ramirez does turn out very well, that will make the Renterria signing even worse. Ramirez could end up being an infinitely better value out of the two shortstops, but you never know.

 

[ChrisWoj]

borderline rediculous that the commissioner lets these types of deals go down, there was a time when bowie kuhn wouldnt let charlie finley give fingers,vida blue, bando,rudi etc....... to the yanks and sox. now they just look the other way.

Right now this deal looks completely out of line, but I think Hanley Ramirez is as sure a thing as anybody is going to be. He is a PHENOMENAL prospect at ShortStop and could give the Marlins an absolute gem in their infield. Prospects do tend to be an if... but I really think virtually every team considers Ramirez a complete and total stud.

If Lowell and Burnett both produce, and Ramirez turns out as he should, this will be looked at as a great deal.

Besides, there's always the chance that Ramirez develops, bad things happen to Lowell/Burnett, and this comes out looking like Bagwell for Anderson (laughs at Boston fans for that one, bwahaha).


-Chris.

 

[WhoDaBest23]

Damn Red Sox. This is one hell of a trade for them in terms of a win-now perspective, but they better hope Beckett and Lowell stay healthy, if not :laugh:. They're giving up some nice young talent though. Ramirez seems like a top-notch prospect and the Marlins better hope he lives up to ihis billing. Boston looks like they just raped the Marlins in this deal right now though and I hate it.

 

[FreeSpeech101]

good move, they will need Beckett to knock off the White Sox...

 

[Enigma]

The Marlins are one of those teams you don't want to deal with involving pitchers. Everyone knows about the Braves, but the Marlins are pretty savvy when it comes to pitchers too. Matt Clement, Brad Penny, Mike Redman, and Carl Pavano all looked just as good as Beckett if not better when they were with the Marlins. Now they're all average, at best, with their current teams. We'll see soon enough if the Marlins pulled another Matt Clement for Dontrelle Willis trade.

Having said all that, WHAT ARE YOU DOING MARLINS? Willis and Beckett could have your cornerstone #1 and #2 starters for a good decade. It's not like Beckett was making a ton of money either. Mike Lowell had to be dealt because of finances, but you should have figured out a way to do that without Beckett involved.

Having said all that, an infield of Miguel Cabrera, Hanley Ramirez, Luis Castillo, and possibly Carlos Delgado looks real good.

 

[Ghost]

The Marlins are one of those teams you don't want to deal with involving pitchers. Everyone knows about the Braves, but the Marlins are pretty savvy when it comes to pitchers too. Matt Clement, Brad Penny, Mike Redman, and Carl Pavano all looked just as good as Beckett if not better when they were with the Marlins. Now they're all average, at best, with their current teams. We'll see soon enough if the Marlins pulled another Matt Clement for Dontrelle Willis trade.

Having said all that, WHAT ARE YOU DOING MARLINS? Willis and Beckett could have your cornerstone #1 and #2 starters for a good decade. It's not like Beckett was making a ton of money either. Mike Lowell had to be dealt because of finances, but you should have figured out a way to do that without Beckett involved.

Having said all that, an infield of Miguel Cabrera, Hanley Ramirez, Luis Castillo, and possibly Carlos Delgado looks real good.

yeah but Carlos Delgado will be traded within a month.

 

[Petey]

borderline rediculous that the commissioner lets these types of deals go down, there was a time when bowie kuhn wouldnt let charlie finley give fingers,vida blue, bando,rudi etc....... to the yanks and sox. now they just look the other way.

That was where he was selling off players. In this econimcal climate if teams don't unload these contracts they can't afford, then they fold.

That can't be better for baseball either.

-Petey

 

[Enigma]

yeah but Carlos Delgado will be traded within a month.

More like within 24 hours. Delgado to Mets for Mike Jacobs and Yusmeiro Petit. I don't know how the Mets got Delgado without giving up Lastings Milledge. So who's next Marlins, Luis Castillo?

 

[reHEATed]

So who's next Marlins, Luis Castillo?

or Juan Pierre or Paul Lo Duca

 

[FSH]

Josh Beckett is the 2nd most overrated SP in the MLB behind Kerry Wood

 

[Ghost]

Josh Beckett is the 2nd most overrated SP in the MLB behind Kerry Wood

That would be Mark Mulder.

 

[FSH]

That would be Mark Mulder.

How is Mulder overrated?

 

[Ghost]

How is Mulder overrated?

I just don't think he is as good as people say he is.

 

[FSH]

dam Boston didnt get ripped off they got Mota 2...if i was boston i would rather have Mota then Beckett there bullpen is ****ty so great deal for boston

 

[Wink]

dam Boston didnt get ripped off they got Mota 2...if i was boston i would rather have Mota then Beckett there bullpen is ****ty so great deal for boston

Agreed getting Mota was a very plesent suprise. I think things will be alright in the post Theo era, We don't even have our new GM yet and we are making good moves.

I think the next step is to Figure out the rest of our infield. Are we going to go with

Youk - Graff - Renteria - Lowell

or are we going to play around a little bit. My personal preference, if everything goes the way I want would be

Trade: Matt Clement to Milwaukee for Lyle Overbay
Trade: Mike Lowell to Minnesota for Kyle Lohse + JC Romero
Trade: David Wells to SD for Akinori Otsuka + Dave Roberts
Sign: Mark Grudzielanek
Resign: Tony Graffanino
Resign: Millar (if willing to accept low jack and limited role to stay with team)

1B: Overbay/Millar
2B: Grudz/Graff
SS: Renteria/Cora
3B: Youk/Graff

Outfield

Nixon will be back, that's really our only given. Manny I want back, even at 20 million per, but he wants out. If we get a legit offer I'm willing to move him but not just for prospects with us picking up half the tab. If we are going to pay him I would at least like to benifit from his production. I have floated around a trade with the Mariners for Ichiro, but it's obviously far fetched. The Mariners don't need anymore right handed power hitters, and Ichiro could run for mayor and win in Seattle, but he is unhappy so it wouldn't hurt to ask. Johnny Damon, the leader of the idiots. He really wasn't kidding about being an idiot was he? 7 years 85 million dollars? Obviously he's still having ill effects from that collision where he banged his dome. If he comes back to earth and agrees to 4 years 40-45 million dollars he can patrol CF for us. If not then I'll let Dave Roberts take CF, as a stop gap. Bringing in playoff hero Dave Roberts should help weaken the blow of losing Damon to the fans as well.

OF

RF - Trot Nixon
CF - Dave Roberts
LF - Manny Ramirez
-------------------
OF - Gabe Kapler
OF - Kevin Millar

Pitching

1. Josh Beckett
2. Curt Schilling
3. Tim Wakefield
4/5. Bronson Arroyo, Wade Miller, Jon Papelbon, Kyle Lohse

Bullpen

Arroyo, Miller, Papelbon, Lohse (whichever 2 don't make the rotation)

Romero, Otsuka, Timlin, Hansen, Foulke, Mota, Myers(if we can get him at a reasonable price)

We go from having no depth in our bullpen to having one of the strongest in the league in my opinion.

I personally think this Redsox club would be poised to take the division

1. Dave Roberts (R)
2. Mark Grudzielanek (R)
3. David Ortiz (L)
4. Manny Ramirez (R)
5. Trot Nixon (L)
6. Jason Varitek (S)
7. Kevin Youkilis (R)
8. Lyle Overbay (L)
9. Edgar Renteria (R)

BENCH: 10. Kevin Millar, 11. Gabe Kapler, 12. Alex Cora, 13. Tony Graffinino, 14. Doug Mirabelli

Starting Rotation

1. Josh Beckett (R)
2. Curt Schilling (R)
3. Tim Wakefield (R)
4. Wade Miller (R)
5. Jon Papelbon (R)

Bullpen

6. Bronson Arroyo (R)
7. Kyle Lohse (R)

8. Mike Myers (L)
9. JC Romero (L)
10. Akinori Otsuka (R)
11. Craig Hansen (R)
12. Guillermo Mota (R) 7th Inning
13. Mike Timlin (R) 8th inning
14. Keith Foulke (R) - 9th Inning

That's 28, but obviously we can find 3 guys to float between AAA and the big club.

I also wouldn't mind trading for a leftie starter, just because we don't have one. Arroyo, Miller, Lohse would all be available although I don't know who we could get as a leftie.

 

[Petey]

The Twins will not trade for Lowell, he makes money that is similar to Hunter's but he's less productive. If they are rumbling they may trade Hunter, why would they trade for Lowell?

-Petey