Trade Deadline Analysis

The 4 PM deadline has come and gone. Some thoughts on the deals that were and were not made;

• Yawn. LaRoche and cash for Kotchman looks even. Kotchman seems to be a better fit for the Sox. He is a better defensive first baseman , younger and reportedly will accept his role better than LaRoche.
• As reported by ESPN, the Sox could have had Halladay but would not include both Buchholz and Bard in addition to other players in the deal. I think JP Ricciardi was asking for far too much. I really think Halladay would put the Sox over the top but at what price?
• Victor Martinez for Justin Masterson, Nick Hadagone and Bryan Price. Sox get some much needed offensive punch. Martinez should bat either third or fourth in the line up and give Varitek additional time off. Who does this effect the most? I say Mike Lowell. Martinez is going to play in 95% of the time at either catcher, first base or designated hitter. My guess is Youkilis moves over to third for up to half of the remaining games. Masterson, who I loved last year, was expendable. The key to the trade looks like left hander Nick Hadagone. Big, former second round choice who is returning to action after Tommy John surgery. Overall, I like this trade .
• In Theo We Trust. Theo Epstein did not want to trade certain guys and he did not. Buchholz, Kelly, Bard, Anderson are all coveted by the baseball operations people. I have complete faith in their decision making. Epstein has made plenty of mistakes (i.e. Lugo, Renteria, Clement, etc.) but he continues to take chances. Bottom line is the Red Sox are a better baseball team right now than they were when the day started. This was done without losing some important pieces in the farm system.
• The Yankees (Jerry Hairston??), Rays, Rangers and Angels did not improve themselves today.
• Can Terry Francona mix and match Martinez, Varitek, Kotchman, Youkilis, Ortiz and Lowell into into four daily spots -- catcher, first base, third base and dh? Let's assume Kotchman gets one start a week, one of these other guys who are everyday players is not going to play. This will be interesting.

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