The Sox have shipped Nomar to the Cubs in a four-team deal and ended up with shortshop Orlando Cabrera and first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz. Are the Sox better off?

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Defensively, the sox have improved the first base position. The shortstop is also an improvement with Cabrera giving more range than Nomar. Offensively, Nomar has been hitting excellent lately, and Cabrera is not going to approach Nomar numbers in hitting. Good trade defensively

Will, Middletown CT

this is ridiculous. nomar is one of the hardest working players we have ever had. he shows up, plays hard, cares about winning, enjoys the game, is a hall of fame player. for what? a couple of "defensive" players. this deal sucks. i hope nomar gets the winning homerun to clinch the world series off of pedro martinez. bad deal.

al, west newbury

It can't be a good trade when a team trades away a franchise player like Nomar was. I guess the growing uncertainty of not being to sign Nomar at the end of this season played a major role in this one. We are seeing more repercussions from the A-Rod deal that wasn't. Looks like the Sox got 60 cents on the dollar with this one.

David , Reading

I don't know about you beantowners, but here in the windy city we are VERY satisfied. Tomorrow Greg Maddux goes for victory # 300 and Nomar will start at short. WOW!!!

Gus, Chicago

Even though I hate to see Nomar go, the Red Sox really needed compensation for his services. The addition of two gold glovers and an outfielder is exactly what the team needed. Not only are the Sox picking up three players for a superstar and a prospect, but they are also cutting salary. Mientkiewicz offers a lot of flexibility with deals at the end of the season. He still has another year and an option for a second on his contract. Sure Cabrera is a free agent, but he has the chance to prove himself and the Red Sox wouldn't owe him $15+ million per year on a new contract. In my opinion, the Red Sox are better off for this season. Hopefully a stronger defense will cure Lowe's pitching woes. If Lowe can be helped and return back to the form of two seasons ago, I think the team has a great chance to reach the playoffs. Hopefully this deal helps the team shape up for next season and I hope Theo can work out the re-signings for the off season.

Sharon, New Hampshire

Sometimes you have to lose the battle to win the war. Nomar was a good player, but not a clutch player. He was going to leave after the end of the season anyway. Also he was injury prone. Equal value? Probably not, but still a good trade in my eyes.

Mike , Decatur, In

Really a sad day for the Red Sox and the city of Boston. I feel that they got robbed in this deal!

Greg , Houston, Texas

The Red Sox are dead to me.

JMK, Braintree

This great news. I have always like Nomar just not the Red Sox so now I can cheer for him and laugh at the Red Sox for destroying the hearts of die hard Red Sox fans once again. Maybe he'll play 2b for the Yankees next year?

Zimmer, New York

I'm on the fence about this trade. First of all, the advantage is that we get a shortstop who is established defensively, but Pokey does just as well there. However, Cabrera brings some decent offensive stats, but he's having an off year this year. I'm hoping that his stats improve with Boston and then Theo can crow about this. Second of all, Mienkiewicz is a great player, even though (again) he's having an off year. He brings a great glove to the infield which we need... but... McCarty is just as good defensively. If Mienkiewicz improves his offensive stats like Cabrera hopefully will, then it's a great deal. Thirdly, and this is the most crucial point, Boston has not addressed their problem with starting pitching. I am a convinced adherent to Connie Mack's theorem that "pitching is 70% of the game". Without pitching, there will be no championship this year. If Boston continues to hold on to the likes of Derek Lowe, their season is pretty much ended in the long run. Sure we have Pedro and Schilling, but if we're unable to get a third solid starter, consider the season done. When the likes of a team like the Orioles can beat one of our aces, we have a problem. The reason why the Evil Empire is in first again is because of the Orioles. Baltimore happily gets crushed by the Evil Empire, yet has Boston's number. Why? Will somebody please explain this?

Bill, Cromwell, CT