Trading deadline time again

Bill:
I know Theo's not a miracle workah, yet every morning as the trading deadline approaches I wake up expecting to read how the boy wondah orchestrated some jaw dropping mega deal and I'm disappointed to realize it hasn't happened.

 

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Mike:
See, that's exactly what I don't like about this time of year. The trading deadline gets everyone jacked up thinking a trade must happen and if a trade doesn't materialize it's seen as some sort of failure.

 

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Mike:
I mean it's a cliche worth repeating: sometimes the best trade is no trade at all.

 

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Bill:
Yeah, yeah, but do you really want to go into August riding on the hope that Wells is going to recovah and bolstah the rotation?

 

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Mike:
Hahdly, but what's the alternative? Give up future prospects for one of the so-so stahtahs available with no guarantee they'll be much help?

 

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Bill:
True. It'd be easier to find a straight dude in a boy band than to swing a down low deal for pitching in this mahket.

 

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Mike:
Absolutely. Meanwhile, let your trade deadline addled mind consider this: In the case of the Red Sox, the number 1 and 2 stahtahs have combined for a 26-8 record, 18 games ovah .500. The club, itself, is only 21 games ovah. Two starting pitchers who can win two-thirds of their stahts, supported by a .500 stahtah and two .450-startahs, will get a club pretty fah, about 89 wins. A good offense will help push that into contention area.

 

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Bill:
All right then. Bring on the red hot Halos!

 

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Comments

[Dave S.]

It's definitely a sellers' market this year.

[Bob]

H.B.'s strip brings up an interesting question: what's the best trade never made? Callahan recently wrote about A-Fraud, but I don't think that's even close. Any ideas? A recent one was all those teams trolling for Papelbon last year.

[Natalie]

Easy answer, Bob. 'Tek and Lowe for Heathcliff (heart attack) Slocumb.

[Natalie]

Oops, sorry, Bob, need my morning Diet Coke, misread your post. Obviously I was referring to a best trade MADE. I will now return to performing brain surgery.

[IkeG]

Are you guys as excited as I am that chorizo is joining the "world-class weiner" race? And why is this a top story at espn.com?

Dude better be in this country legally. And he better be fluent in English, or we're deportin his a$$.

[Bob]

I agree with IkeG. Besides that, the weiner race could have made a real statement about its commitment to the city of New Orleans by inviting Andouille to the event.

[Jason O.]

Interesting, the sour grapes have morphed from outright attacks on Rodriguez to "best trade never made..." .288/.350/.530 is a slump? Yes it is, if you're the gold standard.

I can finally reveal that my involvement in this website is an anthropology/sociology study...."Red Sox fans: How do they deal with losing both Mays and Rodriguez, two of the 15 greatest players in the history of baseball?"

I kid, I kid....

[Joe in Philly]

Living here is Philly, I can tell you one trade I hope never gets made, but is in the papers:

Pat Burrell to the Red Sox. Seeing that in print made me gag.

Lieber and Lidle are no prizes either.

I pray for the "David Ortiz" Theo to be on the job this weekend and not the "Ramiro Mendoza" Theo.

[Bob]

jason, I said that Callahan's A-Rod premise was way off base.

[h.b.]

I'm actually of the camp that thinks not getting A-Rod was a blessing in disguise.

And I don't mean that (at least this time) as a slur against A-Rod, but more in the sense that 2004 was perfect as it played out. Would getting A-Rod have changed that perfection? I dunno. But I do know that the Red Sox did something for incredible with the guys they had.

[Jason O.]

I know this Bob, I just heard his whole spiel a few mornings ago on the commute and I couldn't resist.

[Natalie]

h.b.- exactly. I'm gonna chick out here for a second. It's like flirting with a really hot guy/gal for awhile, pining over him/her but then within the year meeting the love of your life. You are pretty much gonna say, you know, thank god I never really got with that hot guy/gal or I wouldn't have this love.

When you are happy (and I know, it's a brave new world when Sox fans are *gasp* happy), you like to relish the kismet that brought you there. The A-Rod non-trade, the Nomar trade--- hot guys both, but their absence made space for the love story...

Okay, I'll stop channeling Erich Segal. Sorry.

[Rob in CT]

Nat - Love means never having to say you're sorry.

[Rob in CT]

Sometimes I crack myself up...

[birthofasoxfan97]

Anyone hearing that wretched Garth Brooks song now? "Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs..."

I'm all for the no tradio scenario. Even the D-train could go off the rails, taking a wad of cash and several prospects to the muddy river below.

[NV in SD]

"I'm actually of the camp that thinks not getting A-Rod was a blessing in disguise. "

Serious. I mean, who would Tek have glove sandwiched? Who would've slapped Bronson? Witout Mr. McBluelips in pinstripes, the 2004 season wouldn't have gone the way it did...

[IkeG]

Don't forget that the Yankees getting A-Rod is also a big part of the splendid 2004 equation. Losing a 3-0 lead in the ALCS was an epic collapse. How much more epic was it with A-Rod on the team? Cripe, in 2003 the Yankees beat the Sox - They add the reigning MVP and actually take a step backward the next year?

Hey, maybe the Sox would have won the WS anyway had they gotten A-Rod. Heck maybe they would have repeated in '05, or maybe they would have missed the playoffs. All I know is I wouldn't trade whupping the '04 Yankees for anything at all. So for sentimental reasons I would call the A-Rod non-trade the best baseball deal ever not made.

In reality, though, it's hard to identify deals that are "not made". Was Mike Lowell for Jake Peavy a deal that was "not made", or just never discussed? Was it really any more than the musings of a baseball columnist?

[Kaz]

If we had A-Rod right now, we wouldn't have Manny and we wouldn't have had Pokey, Renteria, and Gonzo (working under the assumption that Nomar would have still been moved and A-Rod would have stayed at SS).

Then again, we could have done without Renteria...but that's hardly worth all of the upside of 2004 (and losing Manny).

It'd certainly be worth asking that new "What If" show to simulate the results of a 2004 playoff series with an A-Rod for Manny Sox team vs an A-Rod-less Yankees squad.

[jamesfrmmaine]

Wait who was 04 World Series MVP again? And who would we not have had if traded for Bluelips?

That settles it right there for me. Plus Manny is fun to watch, has a great personality and puts up great numbers. A-Rod plays and looks like a robot.

[NV in SD]

jamesfrmmaine- that's Mr. McBluelips to you...

[NV in SD]

BTW- good to see another Maineac posting.

[Griffin]

//Was Mike Lowell for Jake Peavy a deal that was "not made", or just never discussed?//

For the record, Theo called that trade rumor laughable.

Not only were the Sox going to trade Manny for A-Rod, they were going to throw in Lester. Just the thought makes me break out in cold sweats.

[NolaSox]

Bob, based on the number of Hispanic workers here now, "El Picante" could actually be an appropriate representative from New Orleans.

The best line from the Brewers site about this is "it's a great pleasure to bring the Chorizo to life."

[Jason O.]

You know, trash talk about Alex aside, I keep coming back to this site for the intelligent commentary, i.e., when a Garth Brooks song is referred to as "wretched"

[scott12xu]

I'm still waiting for a band to put country music lyrics to Bauhause songs and call themselves "Goth Brooks." :)