Drewn and Quartered?

Gordon Edes reports on the Sox' pursuit of JD Drew with some numbers, and it is looking like something in the neighborhood of 5/70M for our future Nancy-boy.  Can't say I am a huge fan of this deal on the surface; clearly had Theo known the market this off-season he might have spent for Damon last year, or pushed harder for Abreu at the deadline.  And the more specific the deal gets, the more of a no-brainer it is for the Dodgers to offer arbitration, costing the Sox a draft pick.  Though a Drew signing may be a boon to the Sox on the field (if Drew can avoid being hit by pitches in the AL), it has more downside to me than up.  It puts the season on some pins and needles, with SFs hoping every night that Drew doesn't take a glancing slider off his apparently brittle forearm.

On another note, though Theo couldn't have known in advance that the new CBA would have been hammered out with such ease or it's specifics, it is part of his job to anticipate markets.  If there was a reasonable chance (and/or reasonable knowledge that the market was going to blow up like it has -- the game theorists in the Sox FO must have had some idea of the contingencies), then the past moves of Theo et. al can be criticized legitimately, even if some SFs don't want to hear it.

As for Edes' speculations on Manny, well, we only have one thing to say: MAKE IT JAKE.

Comments

[Sam]

I think that trading Manny is dumb but, getting back Peavey would be good for the Sox. But would the Padres really give up their young ace for a 30-something slugger?

[LocklandSF]

I think you're right about a few things, but I simply can't be upset about Damon. I watched him play every game while he was here, as many of you did, and I don't see his body holding up much longer with the way he treats it. At the end of every season he's help together with duct tape and super glue. No player can get away with that forever. He's also notorious for not taking care of him self in the offseason and participating on other dangerous sports like surfing. I fear this will be the year we start to see a breakdown from Damon and I'm glad he won't be on our roster when it happens.

I flat out hate the Drew deal now more than ever, just keep Manny, let Wily Mo take right and leave Coco in center. They need to spend their time filling in the bullpen and finding a shortstop.

[dc]

lockland has a good point...the red sox tend [in my humble viewpoint] to be more diligent in projecting the effects of age in the later years of a contract...i think that's why they set a limit on damon...

...just curious, why wouldn't the sox consider keeping manny, take on drew, and jettison one of the other guys?...

...nobody loves poking at theo more than me, especially regarding damon, but to be fair it was a business decision that is fairly consistent with the sox model, regardless of any market projections...

[Lar]

Peavy - unlikely. Unless the Padres suddenly became idiots. Linebrink would probably be a great addition to the Sox's pen though, but this is Manny, so I'm not quite sure if this is worth it.

[SF]

Linebrink, fine. But there's gotta be way more to it than him. A 30 year old above average setup guy for Manny? There's gotta be more.

Peavy is a dream. The Sox would probably have to pick up all the deferred money and throw in Hansen, Buchholz, something like that, to make it even a possibility.