With Hours To Go Until The Trade Deadline, Sox Finally Did Something: Trading For Kyle Schwarber

 

    I don't know about you but I will admit that I was getting pretty antsy tonight since tomorrow's MLB Trade Deadline (4 pm ET) was quickly approaching and the Red Sox (63-41 overall) still hadn't made a single deal while many other playoff and World Series contenders like them were quite busy. Thankfully that all changed late this evening as Red Sox chief baseball nerd Chaim Bloom woke up from his slumber and actually did something productive: he flipped some 20-year-old pitcher named Aldo Ramirez (ranked the club's #19 prospect by MLB Pipeline) to the Nationals for left fielder Kyle Schwarber. You might remember him as a key part of the 2016 World Series champion Cubs and he was also the hottest player in baseball earlier this season before he strained his right hamstring on July 2. To make room on the 40-man roster, Boston designated reliever Brandon Workman for assignment. 

    Technically, Schwarber is a rental since he will be a free agent after 2021 who figures to make a boatload of money because he was an All-Star this summer for the first time in his career and he's hitting .253/.340/.570 with 25 home runs and 53 RBIs. He originally started out as a catcher but almost exclusively in the past five seasons, he has been a full-time left fielder (playing his entire career in the National League). Boston's outfield is currently pretty full with Alex Verdugo in left, Jarren Duran in center and Hunter Renfroe in right not to mention J.D. Martinez is primarily a DH so where does that leave Schwarber to play? A new first baseman is arguably the biggest need for the Red Sox so perhaps they hope to have Schwarber try and fill that black hole. 

    Boston lacked lefty hitters so at the very least, Schwarber should immediately help to fix that. He will never win a batting title (his career batting average is .233, yuck) but he has legit power which is hard to find: 146 HRs and 332 RBIs in 623 games. Kyle also has a proven track record of postseason success where he has hit .288/.405/.576 with six homers and 11 RBIs in 24 playoff games. He has reached 25+ home runs four times in seven MLB seasons (6 with Chicago, 1 with Washington) with his best year being 2019 with 38 HRs, 92 RBIs and .250/.339/.531. He strikes out a ton (679 times in 2071 career at bats) so we'll need to get used to that but what do you expect from a guy that's shaped like a fire hydrant at six-feet-tall and 229 pounds? He is in the prime of his career at the age of 28 and the former first-round draft pick (4th overall in 2014) will want to cash in after he bet on himself and signed a modest one-year deal (worth $7 million) last winter with the Nationals. 

    This was a nice start for Bloom and hopefully he continues to work the phone lines tomorrow morning and afternoon to find a true first baseman, a reliever and possibly a starting pitcher as well. Over the last few days, many top MLB reporters had mentioned that the Red Sox were in on Nationals ace Max Scherzer (who is now going to the Dodgers in a blockbuster trade) and Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo (headed to the Yankees, ugh) and while they missed out on both of those guys, Schwarber is better than a consolation prize. Assuming that he's not a complete disaster these next few months in Boston, he would be another nice piece to help Bloom build a World Series contender year after year. We are not sure exactly when he will make his Red Sox debut, they have a huge three-game series at Tampa Bay (61-42 overall)-who is only 1.5 games back with a game in hand-starting tomorrow night (7:10, NESN)-but he has been lightly jogging and taking batting practice lately so it should not be too far away. 

UPDATE 7/30/21:  Welp, the Red Sox made two other trades today but they were for a pair of awful relievers: righty Hansel Robles was acquired from the Twins for minor league righty Alex Scherff and infielder Michael Chavis went to Pittsburgh (poor bastard) for lefty Austin Davis. 

The Red Sox Choose To Only Make Two More Small Moves Before The MLB Trade Deadline Passes

 

    Going into today's MLB Trade Deadline, I think that most sane Red Sox (12-23) fans wanted them to consider offers for anybody currently on the team not named Xander Bogaerts or Rafael Devers. While the last few weeks have brought some interesting trade rumors involving many of Boston's veteran players (J.D. Martinez, Jackie Bradley Jr., Andrew Benintendi, Nathan Eovaldi and Christian Vazquez to name a few) those guys all still remain on the team for the rest of this pointless season. The Red Sox farm system has been a mess for years and while they addressed that a bit with the Workman/Hembree and Moreland trades in the past week, it felt like there was more work to be done to bring in more young talent.  

    The only other moves made by the Red Sox' Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom were trading outfielder Kevin Pillar to Colorado for a player to be named or cash considerations and 2019-20 international slot money. Bloom also dumped an awful reliever named Josh Osich-who I'd be shocked if you've ever heard of this nobody-to the Cubs for a player to be named or cash considerations. As a 31-year-old that signed here on Valentine's Day, Pillar was never destined to stay in a Red Sox uniform for very long. He's a borderline Gold Glove candidate every year and he actually got off to a pretty decent start at the plate in 2020, hitting .274/.325/.796 (which are all above his career averages) with four home runs, 13 RBIs and 20 runs with 32 hits in 117 at bats.

    I didn't expect much of a return for Pillar but the fact that the Red Sox got anything for Osich is a minor miracle. Boston got back on the losing track this evening with a 6-3 setback against Atlanta (20-14) in their series opener at Fenway Park. The possibility of some juicy trades made the last few weeks somewhat fun for the Red Sox but for these last 25 games of the regular season, I genuinely have no valid reason for why you should pay any attention to them-not that you were in the first place-anytime soon.  

      

    

"Who Needs an Ace When You Can Get a Bunch of No. 3s & 4s?"- Red Sox So Far This Offseason

I refuse to be the reactionary type that calls into sports talk radio or bitches on Twitter and Facebook in the immediate aftermath of the Red Sox making a curious move in December. Nope, the Winter Meetings just concluded in San Diego and Boston has not one, not two but three new starting pitchers in its rotation (at least for the moment). Still, especially with the whirlwind of activity the last few days with the Red Sox, I want to hold off from completely bashing them since this can't be it, right?

It started earlier this week when Jon Lester finally made up his mind and chose the Cubs over the Red Sox (has anyone else ever done that in baseball history?). That set off dominoes all over MLB and locally, Boston traded pitchers Rubby De La Rosa and Alan Webster to Arizona for Wade Miley. Then they dealt outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, reliever Alex Wilson and prospect (RHP) Gabe Speier to Detroit. Finally, they signed former Red Sox great Justin Masterson to a one-year deal worth $9.5 million with incentives built in that could add up to $2.5 million.

At best, these seem like reasonable moves. Webster stinks and De La Rossa has outstanding stuff but apparently Boston wasn't too enamored with him. Miley was not good in 2014 (8-12, 4.34 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 183 Ks, 75 BBs). Still, he was on a terrible team and he's a 28-year-old lefty that should be entering the prime of his career. Most importantly for the Red Sox, he should deliver innings. He went over 200 IP the last two seasons and nearly three in a row (194.2) in 2012.

Porcello undoubtedly has the most potential of this group. He's still only 25 (he turns 26 on December 27) but the former first-round pick already has six years of big league experience under his belt. He quietly improved with the Tigers (his only MLB home before now) but last season could be fairly termed his breakthrough campaign: 15-13, 3.43 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 3 shutouts, 129 Ks/41 BBs in 204.2 IP. The thing you wonder about with him is how he does with more pressure since he's been able to hide in Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer's (among others) shadows all those years.

Masterson is a Patriots-esque move: bringing back a guy that had moderate success with them then blossomed somewhere else but later lost it amidst injuries and general struggles (hey LeGarrette Blount). It's safe to say that last season was a disaster for Masterson as he was traded from the Indians to the Cardinals but never could find it, eventually excluded from St. Louis' postseason roster (keep in mind that he was an All-Star in 2013 with Cleveland). He came up with the Red Sox in 2008 and was part of the Victor Martinez trade with Cleveland the following year so he knows manager John Farrell and should have a good feel for what it's like to be a Red Sox.

I am disappointed that the Red Sox seemingly gave up Cespedes for less than I thought he was worth but apparently there wasn't a great market for him or something. Still, I realize that to get anything of value in a trade, you are going to have to give up a good player and not the last guy on your bench or some Single-A scrub that nobody knows. It would have been fun to see him get a full season in Boston in a real lineup with Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez after he was solid in his short stint here last season but what can you do?

Despite all this, the fundamental truth remains the same: Boston has no ace (you could also argue no No. 2 either) since who can trust Clay Buchholz or Joe Kelly to do that? The scary part is that the Red Sox always try to act like they are smarter than every other team yet here they are once again completely changing their focus. Their philosophy goes from one extreme to another each season: pay out their ears for overrated free agents, save money and sign veteran guys and most recently I guess they watched the ALCS this fall between the Orioles and Royals and thought "hey, aces are overrated." Wrong, the Giants captured their third World Series in five years thanks to Madison Bumgarner's singular brilliance. You can win plenty of regular season games with smoke and mirrors but eventually in the playoffs, their true colors will show.

Scherzer is a free agent that could command upwards of $200 million while Phillies ace Cole Hamels is thought to be available via a trade since Philadelphia is still rebuilding. Unless they get one of those guys (clearly I'd prefer Scherzer) or somehow luck into another top of the rotation guy, it's hard to get too enthused about the Red Sox in 2015. This team has finished in last place two of the last three years so it'd be nice if they acted with a little more urgency here. Fenway Park has the most expensive tickets in MLB and Boston had the fourth highest payroll in the league. In other words, there is no excuse not to field a contender almost every year with no salary cap.

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Blockbuster Trade Alert: Red Sox Send Lester & Gomes to Oakland for Cespedes

It is crazy that it came to this: somehow the Red Sox' front office screwed up things so badly by offering Jon Lester the laughable sum of four years and $70 million in spring training that now he's being shipped to Oakland along with Jonny Gomes for star outfielder Yoenis Cespedes and a competitive balance draft pick.

Lester made all the right moves by putting off contract talk during the season and turning in the best year of his career (10-7, 2.52 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 149 strikeouts) while Boston continued to bumble their way through an awful season (48-60). The more time that went by as the Red Sox plummeted and nothing productive seemed to come on Lester's contract front, this was inevitable.

The fact that the Red Sox got Cespedes (.256 batting average, 17 homers, 67 RBIs, .303 OBP, .464 SLG and 12 outfield assists) in return is a nice haul. My head always starts spinning when we start talking about baseball prospects since the reality of the matter is that most of them never turn into anything above average. In the third year of his MLB career after coming over from Cuba, Cespedes is in the peak of his career at age 28 (29 in October, ok sure).

His best season was his rookie year in 2012: .292, 23 homers, 82 RBIs, .356 OBP, .505 SLG, 16 stolen bases and 3.4 WAR). He's a free agent after 2015 so now the question is what Boston will do with him since owner John Henry has publicly stated his disdain for handing out large contracts to players that are 30+. The only thing that worries me about him is his durability; I've noticed this from fantasy baseball (stay with me) but he gets a million little nagging injuries causing him to play 129 games in 2012 and 135 last season. He's only missed six so far for Oakland this season.

Lester said last weekend (after his final Red Sox start) that he'd re-sign here if he was traded but if you believe that, you are one gullible human being. I don't understand how the Red Sox could dust themselves off and suddenly give him a much better deal this winter when he's a free agent since basically half of MLB will be bidding for his services.

Seeing Lester on another team will certainly be strange, the Red Sox are the only professional team that's he ever known after getting called up in 2006. I wouldn't say this about many guys but he truly grew up here in the spotlight: beating Lymphoma and pitching the Red Sox to World Series titles in 2007 and 2013 (getting the clinching win both times). With a career record of 110-63 with 3.64 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and 1386 strikeouts, he had become one of the top pitchers (lefty or righty) in MLB. You can make a good case for him being the best playoff pitcher in the game at the moment. He's 6-4 with 2.11 ERA and 1.04 WHIP including 4-1 last fall (2 wins vs. St. Louis) with 1.56 ERA and 0.95 WHIP that earned him the World Series MVP.

There are 54 pointless games left in this miserable season for the Red Sox but at least we can take heart in the fact that Lester being on the A's (66-41)-the top team in MLB-makes the postseason that much more interesting. As for Gomes (.234, 6 homers, 32 RBIs, .329 OBP, .354 SLG), Boston got what they could out of him last season but his tough guy/Captain America routine looked even more silly in 2014 when the team sucked and he played like the worst left fielder in baseball history (somewhere Wily Mo Pena smiles). He hadn't reached the level of that stiff Felix Doubront, who was traded to the Cubs yesterday for the mysterious player to be named later (or a tin of dip and a jock strap?), but I doubt anyone will miss Gomes let alone notice that he's gone.

For the next 3.5 hours, we wait to see if Boston makes some more moves. It sounds like John Lackey (Cardinals or Dodgers) and Andrew Miller (Braves or Dodgers) are also on the next flights out of Logan. Might as well make as many prudent trades that they can to reload for 2015 and beyond.



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Red Sox Finally Add To Their Pitching Rotation: Sign Ryan Dempster To 2-Year Deal

At long last, the Red Sox have finally at least started to address their biggest need: their pitching rotation. After he supposedly turned down a two-year, $25 million deal last week with Boston, Ryan Dempster has reportedly agreed to a two-year, $26.5 million deal this afternoon with them.

He was apparently looking for a three-year deal so after turning down the Red Sox and Royals, the Canadian righthander circled back to Boston. You have to think that maybe winning had something to do with his final decision since the Royals offered him a two-year deal for $26 million and while they have improved thanks to the James Shields trade, Boston has more potential moving forward.

So what are the Red Sox getting in him? Basically, he is the perfect guy to slot into the number three spot in the rotation behind Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz. In his 15 years of MLB service, he has thrown over 200 innings seven times (including four years in a row). More than anything, that's what Boston needs: a pitcher that they know will take the ball every fifth day and not spend half the season on the disabled list (like Buchholz or Josh Beckett).

Dempster is getting up there in age, he'll turn 36 on May 3 so that is why they were probably hesitant to offer a third year. Plus he had two different trips to the DL last season with a strained quad and strained lat that cost him another 200-inning campaign. He got off to a real good start (5-5 with 2.25 ERA and 1.038 WHIP) last season for an awful Cubs team before getting traded to Texas at the trade deadline.

Predictably for a player that had spent his whole career in the inferior National League (no DH, facing pitchers), he struggled with the Rangers. He got shelled in his first two starts but then won five games in a row before regressing at the end when the games mattered the most and Texas ended up missing the playoffs. For 2012 between the Cubs and Rangers, he was 12-8 with a 3.38 ERA and 1.179 WHIP in 173 innings. He struck out 153 and only walked 52.

A two-time NL All-Star (2000 with Florida and 2008 with Chicago) that is 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds, his numbers certainly won't blow you away and he's more control pitcher (he loves the slider and sinker) than a power pitcher. In his career, he's 124-124 with 4.33 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 11 complete games, three shutouts, 87 saves (he was Chicago's closer for three years), 1918 strikeouts and 998 walks.

The Red Sox will be his fifth and possibly final MLB home after time in Florida, Cincinnati, Chicago and Texas. He's known as a clubhouse leader and a mature guy that is along the same lines as Shane Victorino, Jonny Gomes, David Ross and Mike Napoli in that regard. You can see where Boston is going this offseason: they are trying to distance themselves from the overpaid, underachieving, injury-prone jackasses of the last few seasons. In their place, they want dependable guys that have been around a while and had success in MLB. Dempster hasn't been on many winning teams but that's not his fault. As he showed last season, it might take some time here but I wouldn't hesitate to count on him for a very respectable 2013 season.

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Franklin Morales Strikes Out 9, Red Sox Beat Cubs 7-4 To Win The Interleague Series

The injuries continue to pile up at an alarming rate for the Red Sox but at least tonight, they got two unexpected contributions from Franklin Morales and Ryan Kalish that allowed them to beat the Cubs 7-4 at Wrigley Field.

With the win, Boston (33-33, 19-14 away) took the rubber game of the interleague series in Chicago (22-44, 14-19 home) and were able to return home back at .500 again with a day off on Monday.

Morales hadn't started in three years but that didn't stop him from pitching great all things considered. In only five innings, he struck out nine while allowing two earned runs on four hits with no walks. He did more than enough to earn another start next week against Atlanta.

Kalish hadn't played for the Red Sox since 2010 when he suffered a shoulder injury. He returned as Ryan Sweeney went on the DL this morning with inflammation in his broken toe. Kalish played center field and he came through with an RBI single in the seventh which put Boston up 4-3. He also scored the run that made it 6-3 later in the frame.

Befitting a contest that featured two last-place teams in their respective divisions, it was sloppy with both making two errors which was the result of generous scoring-Boston should have been charged with three. The Red Sox had four more hits than the Cubs (12-8) and their bullpen was better.

Paul Maholm was decent for Chicago. In six innings, he allowed three earned runs on six hits with six strikeouts and a walk.

Surely because it wasn't a save situation, Boston's closer Alfredo Aceves had to make it difficult when he appeared to start the ninth up 7-3. He allowed three straight singles by the Cubs before David DeJesus had a long sacrifice fly to center. Aceves settled down to strike out Reed Johnson and force Darwin Barney to pop up for the final out.

Boston gave Morales some early breathing room in the first as Dustin Pedroia (2 hits) drove in Scott Podsednik with an RBI double. David Ortiz (2 runs, walk) followed with an RBI single that scored Pedroia.

The one untouchable player on the Cubs-Starlin Castro-hit like a guy that deserves that type of unwavering respect. He was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a home run shy of a cycle. He tied it with an RBI triple in the first and RBI double in the third.

Ortiz put Boston back on top with a solo homer (his 16th of the season) to center in the fourth inning which made it 3-2.

Chicago scored a run in the sixth on a botched fielder's choice from Matt Albers (2-0) to Mike Aviles at second base.

After Kalish's single, Will Middlebrooks pinch hit (can't believe he sat again!) and drove in Jarrod Saltalamacchia with a sacrifice fly. Kalish came home on Daniel Nava's suicide squeeze. Salty tacked on the last Boston run with a fielder's choice in the eighth.

The Red Sox relief before Aceves was excellent. Andrew Miller got the first two outs in the seventh before Mark Melancon shut the door. Scott Atchison had a 1-2-3 eighth on eight pitches.

Boston finished 4-2 in their last two intereleague series on the road. They are 6-6 overall (how fitting) during interleague this season with two series remaining at Fenway Park. The Miami Marlins (33-33, 4th in AL East) come for three games starting on Tuesday and then the Atlanta Braves will be here this weekend for the last three interleague games of 2012. The Toronto Blue Jays close out the nine-game homestand with three games of their own next week. The Red Sox won't have to leave Boston until June 27.

The Red Sox won two of three in Miami last week (June 11-13) and it will be like the Twilight Zone as two of the exact same pitching matchups occur once again: Clay Buchholz (7-2) faces Mark Buehrle (5-7) on Tuesday night (7:10 p.m., NESN), Felix Doubront (7-3) opposes Ricky Nolasco (6-5) on Wednesday night (7:10 p.m., NESN) then Daisuke Matsuzaka (0-2) closes it out against Carlos Zambrano (4-5) on Thursday night (7:10 p.m., NESN). Boston won Buchholz and Doubront's starts against Miami the first time around so they'll hope for that same success in the second meeting.

Scott Podsednik left in the fifth inning tonight with a groin injury. If it's serious, the Red Sox have Cody Ross about to return (possibly on Tuesday) anyway.

The weirdest thing is that Boston is 19-14 on the road this season and 14-19 at Fenway. It's time for them to start winning at home and taking advantage of what should be comfortable surroundings.

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Cubs Blank Red Sox 3-0 In Series Opener At Wrigley Field

The Red Sox-Cubs interleague series started with a whimper, at least as far as Boston is concerned, this afternoon with Chicago (22-42, 14-17 home) survived three errors to blank Boston (31-33, 17-14 away) 3-0 at Wrigley Field.

It's the first time the teams have met in the Windy City since 2005.

Ryan Dempster (3-3) won his third straight start for the Cubs and stretched his scoreless streak to 22 innings with seven shutout innings. He gave up only four hits with three strikeouts and two walks. He even helped himself with a triple (1st since 2002), single and run scored. There's no doubt he'll be a valued commodity at the trade deadline (July 31).

Daisuke Matsuzaka (0-2) had a classic Dice-K start. He allowed two runs in the first inning (after walking the bases loaded) and one in the second (over 50 pitches by then) before settling down and retiring 13 of the last 14 batters he faced. His three runs were all earned, on four hits with three strikeouts and three walks.

Both teams were extremely limited at the plate: Boston had five hits and Chicago only had four. Scott Podsednik (2 hits, 2 stolen bases) and Dempster were the only batters with multiple hits. The difference was that the Red Sox were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and Chicago was 2-for-6.

Steve Clevenger had a two-run double in the first and David DeJesus (who I'm pretty sure has been rumored to be traded to the Red Sox every season for the past decade) had an RBI single in the second inning.

After James Russell pitched a scoreless eighth for his fifth hold of the season, ultra-shaky Cubs closer Carlos Marmol tried to cough up the three-run lead in the ninth. Between a single, error and walk, Boston had the bases loaded with two outs. Dustin Pedroia hit a grounder to third and Luis Valbuena stepped on the bag ahead of Mike Aviles for the final out. It was Marmol's third save of the season, he had to throw 29 pitches so I doubt he'd be available tomorrow night.

Bobby Valentine announced after the loss that Josh Beckett won't start on Sunday night, apparently he is having issues with his right shoulder. Reliever Franklin Morales will be pressed into duty, making his first career start for the Red Sox (1st since 2009 with Colorado) on Sunday Night Baseball.

Tomorrow night (7:15 p.m., FOX), Jon Lester (3-4) will try to get Boston back in the win column against former Notre Dame wide receiver Jeff Samardzija (5-4).

UPDATE 6/16: Beckett went on the 15-day DL today with shoulder inflammation. Clayton Mortensen was recalled from Pawtucket to take his spot on the roster.

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Marlon Byrd Is Here To Save The Red Sox

Twitter absolutely blew up this afternoon in Boston with reports that the Red Sox were close to acquiring Cubs outfielder Marlon Byrd. It's not big news but it gives us something positive to talk about.

Well after today's nightmare of a loss, Boston made it official as they dealt reliever Michael Bowden and a player to be named later to Chicago for Byrd and cash considerations.

I was shocked how many people weren't into this move; granted Byrd is nothing special but have they seen who's been patrolling the outfield at Fenway? Jason Repko, Nate Spears, Darnell McDonald. All fringe Major Leaguers at best. Byrd was an All-Star only two years ago with the Cubs and he has the ability to play center field.

Jacoby Ellsbury and Carl Crawford won't be back for a while so Byrd should be an adequate stop gap until the stars return. In 10 MLB seasons (Phillies, Nationals, Rangers, Cubs), Byrd has 1040 hits, 516 runs, 81 home runs with 438 RBIs. His career splits are .278 batting average/.337 OBP/.416 SLG.

Keep in mind that Bowden (who was recently designated for assignment) is useless and he was never going to do anything for the Red Sox plus the Cubs forked over most of Byrd's salary. So what's not to like about this move? It's basically no-risk and they could get some decent production out of Byrd, who should be motivated to perform for his new club.

2009 and 2010 were his best seasons. With Texas in 2009, he had 20 home runs and 89 RBIs with a split of .283 batting average/.329 OBP/.479 SLG. He made his only All-Star appearance in 2010 with the Cubs. He set career-highs with 84 runs and 170 hits. His power numbers went down (12 homers, 66 RBIs) but he became more selective at the plate (.293 batting average/.346 OBP).

To make room on the roster for Byrd, Spears was designated for assignment. Let the Marlon Byrd experience begin!

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The Red Sox Finally Receive Compensation For Theo Epstein From The Cubs

I find it hilarious that after four months, the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs finally agreed to the proper player compensation for Theo Epstein going to Chitown.

The best part is that said player is named Chris Carpenter but obviously, he's not the one that anybody has ever heard of. Nope, he's 26 and he made a combined 42 relief appearances last season between Double-A, Triple-A and Chicago. For the Cubs, the righty out of Kent State (Julian Edelman's alma mater) had a 2.79 ERA in 10 relief appearances (his first MLB action). He was 21-19 with a 3.62 ERA in four minor league seasons.

Hahahahahahahahaha! I love that Boston went into negotiations by asking for either Cubs shortstop (and franchise building block) Starlin Castro or starter Matt Garza and after all this time, they settled for this bum. Good to see they're still getting it done at the negotiation table.

Plus, the teams will exchange players to be named later. Talk about a monster deal! I'm trying to think of a real life comparison to this move for the Red Sox. It's something akin to asking out Kate Upton on a date and getting stuck with some creature from Hoarders.

Don't get me wrong, I hope that Carpenter does well in Boston. He could be a factor in their jumbled bullpen as soon as this season but I have a feeling that when his career is all over, this moment will be the biggest footnote and the only reason he's remembered besides his already famous name.

With this move, the Red Sox had to make room on their 40-man roster so they put fat blob Bobby Jenks on the 60-day DL. Additionally, they added Rich Hill to the roster and put scumbag John Lackey on the 60-day DL too.

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Adios Theo Epstein, Welcome Ben Cherington

I spent a good portion of my afternoon watching Theo Epstein's introductory press conference with the Chicago Cubs as president of baseball operations and Ben Cherington's first press conference as Boston Red Sox executive vice president/GM. Since I will never get that time back, I'll share some of my initial thoughts.

The Cubs are MLB's biggest joke of a franchise, a team that has been nothing but losers for virtually all of its existence, especially in the modern era. That's why I understand how Theo has received the amount of savior slurping that has already happened in the Windy City. Epstein doesn't have to get his hands dirty as much, he'll make more money and he faces a whole new set of challenges. What isn't to like? Sure, the Cubs might never do anything under his tenure but will most of their drunken fans even notice? I say no.

With Cherington, I worry that he'll be more of the status quo at Yawkey Way. He's worked so closely with Theo for years so who's to say he's really developed his own unique ideas and thoughts? Obviously, he's a very smart and qualified guy but let's not tip toe around the fact that Epstein left this franchise in bad shape: the formerly vaunted Red Sox farm system is almost completely depleted, the major league roster is full of bloated contracts (and players) and pretty much all of the true fans are sick and tired of this ownership group (Warner, Lucchino, Henry). Shoutout to Warner and Henry for not bothering to show up today. Ugh.

Truly the best news to come out of today was that John Lackey will have Tommy John surgery, meaning that piece of trash will miss the entire 2012 season. Fingers crossed that he along with Dice-K never throw another pitch for the Red Sox. That's a start.

Boston was always a baseball town but that has changed in the last few third-place seasons by the Red Sox. The Bruins won a Stanley Cup, the Patriots are always contenders and we use to have an NBA team around here, I forget their name. Now the Red Sox have to fight for fans' attention and not simply bank on the eternal heartbreak that made everything seem so important. I know I'm not the only one that doesn't really enjoy going to Fenway Park anymore which is something I never would have thought (five or ten years ago) that I would say in my life.

As Michael Felger and Tony Massarotti have said, Fenway is a theme park. You go, pay exorbitant prices, take some pictures, sing Sweet Caroline and at the end of the game, far too many people don't really care if the Red Sox have even won or lost. Not to mention getting in and out of the park is a pain with parking and public transportation being about as difficult as possible.

Stop trying to make every last cent on the team through merchandise, useless shit (Fenway bricks) and crappy concerts (Dropkick Murphys, Neil Diamond) that nobody cares about. If the ownership group go back to caring about winning over everything, the fans and passion will return. If not, it's just going to be more of the same bullshit that has permeated through this organization since 2008.

PS. The Red Sox still need a manager and thanks to MLB's snail pace, the compensation package for Epstein hasn't been settled. Thanks Bud, you useless clown.

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Theo Epstein Takes His Talents To Wrigleyville, Leaving Fenway In Smoldering Ashes

As soon as I heard the first rumors in August of Red Sox GM Theo Epstein heading to the Chicago Cubs, I've only had one reaction: it makes too much sense for him to pass it up.

He can swoop in once again and save a team that has a cartoonish "curse." Hell, if Dan Shaughnessy isn't there within the next year and writing his next book "The Curse of Steve Bartman," capitalizing on the only subject matter he ever cared about, I'd be shocked.

Well it looks like thanks to the worst September collapse in franchise history (7-20) and meddling owners that don't know what they're doing anymore (besides trying to get every last cent from fans), the Brookline native Epstein has decided to ditch Yawkey Way for Wrigleyville and I say good for him.

Since being hired in 2002 at age 28 (the youngest GM in MLB history), Theo has lived a charmed life doing his dream job, albeit under an insane amount of pressure and scrutiny (granted that comes with the territory). The Red Sox broke their 86 years of futility by winning the 2004 World Series (with a big assist to former GM Dan Duquette) and they won again in 2007 which was much more of Theo's doing. Still, after missing out on the playoffs the last two seasons (and finishing in third in the AL East both times), coupled with not having a postseason win since 2008 despite one of the highest payrolls in MLB, it was time for Epstein to make a move.

The Cubs reportedly have signed Theo to a five-year, $15 million dollar deal for him to join the team according to Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman, with a $3.5 million dollar transfer bonus. As part of the package, Chicago has to send prospects and or cash to Boston, not major league players. I'm sure it'll take some time for all the formalities to sort themselves out but this is a done deal as far as I'm concerned.

I'm sure he'll get a higher rank than GM/executive vice president like the one he carried in Boston. He has to have aspirations to be president of a team but Larry Lucchino had always blocked his way with the Red Sox to do that.

Chicago hasn't been in the World Series since 1945 and as everyone knows, they haven't won a World Series title since 1908. Going there presents Theo with a whole new challenge, it was clear through all his free agent misses that last few seasons particularly that there wasn't much left for him to do here. The boy wonder had outgrown his formerly pathetic team.

Personally, it couldn't come at a better time for Epstein since the Red Sox are as much a mess as they've ever been in the last decade thanks to them forcing out manager Terry Francona two weeks ago (and launching their latest undeserved smear campaign) along with being stuck with an extremely dysfunctional and unlikable group of players.

Good luck to Ben Cherington, the assistant GM weaned under Theo, who will likely take over for his former mentor. The Red Sox have to rebuild the farm system that was so instrumental in bringing them their second title. They have no prospects anymore like they used to and even worse, they've made so many mistakes in free agency since 2004. Letting a computer (hi Carmine) use sabermetrics to make important decisions was groundbreaking but it has to be counterbalanced by old fashioned scouting and baseball knowledge.

Having the most money or getting the flashiest free agents doesn't guarantee anything, just look at the four remaining teams (Detroit, Texas, Milwaukee, St. Louis) in the playoffs, they're all middle of the road payrolls that have spent money wisely and orchestrated great trades. It also shows that there are good baseball teams outside of the ones in the East (Red Sox, Yankees, Phillies) that get all the attention from the national media.

Big picture, the best we can hope for is that the Red Sox owners (Tom Warner and John Henry) along with Lucchino pack their bags and decide they've gotten enough out of this investment. Unfortunately, that's unlikely anytime soon.

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Tim Wakefield: your grandparents' favorite Red Sox player

I'd say the weekend series against the Chicago Cubs was a success for the Boston Red Sox.

Sure, a nightmare of an eighth inning on Saturday night prevented them from getting the sweep but Friday's blowout win (15-5) and last night's tidy 5-1 win at Fenway Park proved that the Red Sox (25-21) are built to win any type of game. On the other side, the Cubs (20-25) are not very good at all as this weekend proved and it's going to be another long season, not that they're drunken fans will really notice.

Tim Wakefield (1-1) helped Boston win its eighth game in its last nine tries, his first victory of 2011. The oldest player in MLB went 6.2 innings, allowing four hits and one earned run with three strikeouts.

With Matt Garza scratched from the start with elbow trouble, the Cubs had to rely on a shaky bullpen, led by some bum named James Russell (1-5). He went four innings, allowing seven hits, three earned runs, one walk with two strikeouts before turning it over to three other scrubs and Kerry Wood.

Adrian Gonzalez continued to be the best hitter in baseball not named Jose Bautista as he went 4 for 4 with a double and two runs scored. Dustin Pedroia added two hits and a run, David Ortiz had two hits and Kevin Youkilis added a two-run triple.

The Red Sox scored twice in the fourth on RBI sacrifice flies by Jed Lowrie and Mike Cameron (who shouldn't have a job in baseball anymore) which scored Gonzalez and Youkilis respectively.

Saltalamacchia crushed his third homer in four games (yes even he has started to hit, a sure sign of the Apocalypse) in the fifth, his third of the season for a 3-0 Boston lead.

Jeff Baker's RBI double in the seventh spoiled Wakefield's unlikely shutout bid, scoring Starlin Castro.

Youkilis hit his two-run triple off Wood in the seventh to the triangle in center. Pedroia and Gonzalez scored on the play.

After getting two games off, Daniel Bard looked refreshed and worked out of the seventh and got a clean eighth, finishing with two strikeouts.

Jonathan Papelbon allowed a hit but struck out two in the ninth during the non-save situation.

What better place for the Red Sox to go than Cleveland? The Indians are the best team in baseball right now and they swept Boston in the first week of April. This three-game set could serve to show how far the Red Sox have come from that disastrous start and April in general. Clay Buchholz opposes former Red Sox Justin Masterson tonight. I'd be shocked if Cleveland sweeps Boston again.