West Coast dreamin'

Well, it's somewhat official: the Red Sox have come to terms on a three team deal with the Pirates and Dodgers. Here's how it looks so far: 

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To BOS: Bay (from PIT)

To PIT: LaRoche(from LAD)

       Morris (from LAD)

       Moss (from BOS)

       Hansen (from BOS)

To LAD: Ramirez (from BOS)

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My first reaction to this trade was "what the hell is Epstien thinking?" That is still what I'm thinking, but I've come to terms with it a little more. I thought Manny needed to go, but I never thought it would happen mid season, even though it had to for us to get anything of value in return for him. Left field at Fenway is always an adventure, but if Bay can learn to play the monster fairly well, I think he's comparable to Ramirez-- he might even be an upgrade. I say that not only because of Manny's history of on field antics, but the fact that they sometimes came at the expense of the team. When we were in Anahiem, it was ugly, but at least Manny showed up. This current homestand, its like he's phoned it in already, and you can not tolerate that in the midst of a pennant race. So in a way, Epstien's sending a message to his team as well as changing personnel.

We've established the Manny for Bay deal is more or less a wash in my opinion, but that's not the whole trade. We also shipped off reliever Craig Hansen to the Bucks. Hansen- to be honest, sucks, so you'd normally be happy to see him go. This confuses me though because our bullpen is already one of the worst, if not the worst in the league. True, we could still deal for a reliever through waivers, though its not probable that we would get a real quality one. And yes, its true that we have some great young starting pitching in the minors, and bringing the kids up and sticking them in the 'pen would help out, look at Masterson for example. While its always a roll of the dice, I don't think blowing up the 'pen and starting all over is a good idea, especially mid season.