Beckett Deal On Verge Of Implosion

[fearthecubs]

A 6 p.m. deadline tonight looms as the cut-off time for the 72-hour window the teams agreed upon when the deal was first tentatively struck on Monday. Since then, the Red Sox have been poring over Beckett’s medical records, focusing on the shoulder stiffness and tendinitis problem he experienced in September that led to a pair of MRIs in October.

 

The Red Sox still had enough unanswered questions about Beckett, according to a baseball source, that the proposed deal could not be consummated yesterday.

 

Boston Herald

http://redsox.bostonherald.com/redSox/view.bg?articleid=113896

[MeatampPotatoesMan]

Florida is getting a better deal than people believe. Beckett is falling apart. 200-400 more IP and he'll be like Wood. :(

[CardsFanInChiTown]

Florida is getting a better deal than people believe. Beckett is falling apart. 200-400 more IP and he'll be like Wood. :(

 

Assuming he's OK I'd do the deal if I were the Sox however Rob Neyer makes some good points.

 

I don't know what the Red Sox are doing. Really, I don't. Unless they're 1) absolutely convinced that Mike Lowell's 2005 performance was essentially a fluke, and 2) absolutely convinced they can solve Josh Beckett's blister problems, this deal just doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

 

Looking at the last three seasons:

 

• Fenway Park was the third-friendliest ballpark in the American League for hitters.

 

• Dolphin Stadium was the third-friendliest ballpark in the National League for pitchers.

 

Does that mean Beckett's going to turn into a pumpkin the moment he dons a Red Sox uniform? Hardly. But Beckett's road ERA over the last three seasons is 4.07, and Fenway is tougher than the average road ballpark. So you've got the durability question -- in those same three seasons, Beckett averaged only 159 innings -- and you've got the home/road question ... and you're going to trade two top prospects and commit $18 million to Lowell, when you've already got a fine third baseman (Kevin Youkilis) on the roster?

 

In 2004, Anibal Sanchez struck out 101 batters in 76 innings. Those numbers were compiled in low Class A -- the New York-Penn League -- but he was only 20 at the time. In 2005, Sanchez blew through the Class A Carolina League, then pitched well after a promotion to Double-A. In all, Sanchez pitched 136 innings in '05, struck out 158 batters, and walked 40. Without knowing anything about his stuff, this is exactly what you'd look for in a young pitcher ... and by all accounts, he's got wonderful stuff.

 

Can we assume that Sanchez will someday become an ace in the major leagues? Hardly. But should we be surprised if, in four years, Sanchez is pitching better than Beckett? Nope.

 

Meanwhile, Hanley Ramirez is a better prospect than Sanchez. He took his lumps in Double-A this season, but he's a shortstop and he's still very young (he turns 22 next month). But with Edgar Renteria signed though 2008 -- and yes, that was another move I didn't understand -- there's really no place in Boston for Ramirez, since he's not going to hit enough to play outfield (at least not anytime soon).

 

That doesn't mean they have to trade him now, though. Why not let him play a season at Triple-A Pawtucket and drive his value up even higher? Or if the Red Sox think he has peaked, why not include him in a trade that doesn't include Lowell?

 

Look, I understand that the Red Sox employ a few dozen people who've forgotten more about baseball than I'll ever know. But 2005 happened, you know? I saw the Red Sox blow 519 plate appearances on Kevin Millar. I saw them bat Renteria No. 2 all season long. I saw them distribute 27 starts to Wade Miller and Curt Schilling, even though neither of them were in condition to pitch championship-level baseball.

 

Of course, it almost worked. Given one tiny break over the course of the long season, the Red Sox would have ended their long streak of second-place finishes. Even without former general manager Theo Epstein, the Red Sox might be the smartest organization around. But nobody's perfect. Just wait and see.

 

 

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/insider/columns/story?columnist=neyer_rob&id=2234467

[fearthecubs]

Regardless of Neyers (admittingly) good points, he still kicked the crap out of us and the Yankees.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

My guess is that if Boston pulls out, the deal with Texas will be consumated. I don't think Texas has as many concerns about the shoulder. Texas needs an ace and they won't be picky about how they come by one.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Beckett's never thrown 180 or more innings in a season, and he never really pitched a full season in the minor leagues either.l

[USSoccer]

Beckett's never thrown 180 or more innings in a season, and he never really pitched a full season in the minor leagues either.l

 

i think the red sox are being overly picky here.

[B]

Does anyone think the Yankees will swoop in and pull a deal for him much like they did for A-Rod?

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Does anyone think the Yankees will swoop in and pull a deal for him much like they did for A-Rod?

 

No, simply because who ever takes him takes Lowell and I don't see the Yankees having interest in doing that.

[Blueheart05]

The deal has been finalized. The Marlins found a way to offload Mota as well.

 

The Marlins and Red Sox concluded their deal Thursday, with Florida trading Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell and Guillermo Mota to Boston for prospects Hanley Ramirez, Anibal Sanchez, Jesus Delgado and Harvey Garcia. It was Florida's second deal of the day.

 

No article is available yet..

 

MLB.com

[OnTheBeach]

It's official. Not sure where all this implosion talk came from, probably made up.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20051124&content_id=1272191&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

[OnTheBeach]

The deal has been finalized. The Marlins found a way to offload Mota as well.

 

snip

 

Offload? I'll take that offload any day of the week. This helps the Red Sox pen too. Mota wanted out of Florida. This was a theft.

[mg420]

it's a done deal. the bo sox got mota too:

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20051124&content_id=1272191&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

[CubRock2]

This is what happens when people cover the offseason transactions too much (in regards to the press). This happens all the time. Teams discuss trades, pull out of trades, change trades, have last minute fears about them... when ESPN and other outlets cover ever second of transactions, they look like idiots.

 

Instead of reporting "so and so are close to a deal," how about just waiting until it's all done. I think we're free to discuss what we want, its our time and our imaginations at work. But when "news" organizations are constantly correcting and arguing about facts of rumors, it's obnoxious.

 

There are more important things to discuss, like where TO's doing his situps today. :?

[Careless]

This is what happens when people cover the offseason transactions too much (in regards to the press). This happens all the time. Teams discuss trades, pull out of trades, change trades, have last minute fears about them... when ESPN and other outlets cover ever second of transactions, they look like idiots.

 

Instead of reporting "so and so are close to a deal," how about just waiting until it's all done. I think we're free to discuss what we want, its our time and our imaginations at work. But when "news" organizations are constantly correcting and arguing about facts of rumors, it's obnoxious.

 

There are more important things to discuss, like where TO's doing his situps today. :?

A) Even if this wasn't going to happen, people here would be interested in knowing what GMs are thinking about as reasonable trades. a lot of people would like to know about trades/signings that almost happened, but didn't, so they could have a much better idea of what the market and various teams think players are worth.

B) this trade did, in fact, happen. As did the Howry signing, and the various free agent signings we heard were about to go down this offseason.

[CubRock2]

Oh, Careless, I'm not dogging the people who post and read transaction news. I'm one of them.

 

I just get sick of seeing the media report every single happening. It gets annoying, that's all.

[Blueheart05]

The deal has been finalized. The Marlins found a way to offload Mota as well.

 

snip

 

Offload? I'll take that offload any day of the week. This helps the Red Sox pen too. Mota wanted out of Florida. This was a theft.

 

Yes, they offloaded him because he was ineffective and costly.