Trades have been hit or miss
That's the deal on their swaps
MINNEAPOLIS -- There was considerable grumbling in some precincts about the Josh Beckett/Mike Lowell/Guillermo Mota deal last season, when shortstop Hanley Ramirez was playing his way to the National League Rookie of the Year Award and Anibal Sanchez was throwing a no-hitter for the Florida Marlins.
A month into this season, the trade has tilted back toward the Red Sox. Beckett, who will be going for his seventh straight win Tuesday night in Toronto, and Lowell, who is batting .302 with 21 RBIs after last night's 2-1 Sox loss to Minnesota, have played major roles in the Sox' hot start.
Ramirez continues to play at a high level for the Marlins, batting .350 at the start of the day, though he has just seven RBIs even with four home runs. But the Marlins just demoted Sanchez, who was 2-1 with a 4.80 ERA and had walked 19 batters in 30 innings, to the minors, hoping that he would be able to regain the control that allowed him to go 10-3 in 18 starts last season after his promotion from Double A.
It's still too early to predict the futures of the two minor league pitchers included in the deal, Jesus Delgado and Harvey Garcia, both of whom remain in Double A with the Marlins.
An update on some other deals of recent vintage made by the Sox:
Edgar Renteria to the Braves for Andy Marte. Renteria, after making 30 errors for the Sox in 2005, has just three this season and began the day hitting .333. He has been one of the most valuable players on the Braves, who also had the Sox generously paying roughly $15 million of the $29 million left on the contract. Renteria represented a salary dump for the Sox, although in Marte they also acquired one of the Braves' top position prospects.
The Sox then flipped Marte, Mota, and catcher Kelly Shoppach to the Indians for Coco Crisp, David Riske, and Josh Bard. That deal also looked like a loss when Crisp was hurt most of last season. But with Crisp hitting his way out of an early slump and playing superior defense, and Marte batting just .179 when he went on the disabled list with a hamstring strain, it's too early to declare a winner on this one. Shoppach is in the big leagues with the Tribe as a backup catcher; Cleveland moved Mota, who is now serving a 50-game suspension for the Mets for violating MLB's steroids policy. The Sox moved Riske to the White Sox for lefthander Javier Lopez, who is in Pawtucket.
David Wells to the Padres for catcher George Kottaras. Wells re-signed with the Padres after the season but has since been diagnosed with diabetes. He was 1-1 with a 6.23 ERA entering his start yesterday. Kottaras is hovering around .200 for Triple A Pawtucket.
Bronson Arroyo to the Reds for Wily Mo Peña. Arroyo, of course, had a big season last year, winning 16 games and winding up on the cover of the Reds media guide, and while his record (1-2) doesn't reflect it, he has been pitching well this season, too, with an ERA of 2.59 and an opponents' batting average of .223. Peña is coming off a four-hit game against the Mariners, but whether he'll ever be more than a tease remains to be seen.
Bard and Cla Meredith to the Padres for Doug Mirabelli. This one stings, though one could make the argument that without Mirabelli, Tim Wakefield would not be pitching as brilliantly as he has this season, with a 2.11 ERA in six starts. Bard had a big year last season; some would argue it was a fluke. He is off to a slow start this season --.240, 1 HR, 6 RBIs -- but he already did a stint on the DL with a strained groin. Meredith picked up right where he left off last season, reeling off a dozen scoreless appearances before finally giving up a couple of runs to the Nationals last week.
Ramon Vazquez for Alex Cora. No one paid much attention to this one, but it has been a slam dunk for the Sox, with the Indians having long since dumped Vazquez, while Cora has been Ted Williams (.394) for the Sox this spring.
Lucchino, who is a member of MLB's international committee, has long expressed an interest in the Sox playing overseas, whether in Europe or Asia. Among the possibilities discussed are an exhibition series against the Yankees in Beijing, which is hosting the 2008 Olympics, followed by a regular-season series in Tokyo, but other clubs also are involved in discussions. The Yankees already have played in Japan, against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2003.
"The old Fort Myers-to-Beijing-to-Tokyo trip," Sox manager Terry Francona cracked. "I think I'll stop [complaining] about the bus ride to Vero Beach."
"The club, I think, issued a statement saying it is reevaluating its stance," Francona said. "You know, we really watch carefully the use of alcohol in the clubhouse. There is beer in the clubhouse. I check with our clubhouse people."
The consumption in the clubhouse is extremely limited, Francona said, and "none leaves the clubhouse."
"Again, these are men," he said. "On our charters, there is beer and wine, just like there is on other flights. We certainly have talked to the team about [alcohol use]. If abused, it will be taken away, but it hasn't been.
"I understand where the question is coming from. I don't think we need to be reactionary here because I think we've been diligent and respectful with how we've handled it in the past."
