For the second time in three seasons Ben Cherington gutted his Red Sox squad in the middle of the season. The Sox GM made four trades yesterday, sending out Jon Lester, Johnny Gomes, John Lackey, Andrew Miller and Stephen Drew off of the major league roster.
The trades started fairly early with the Lester deal going down around 9:50am -Alex Speier was the first with the particulars on that deal – and ending just before the 4:00pm deadline with the trade of Drew to the Yankees.
The trades kept the Boston media busy all day, as they hustled to keep up and to provide analysis of what the Red Sox were doing and to what end. All in all, I have to say they did pretty well with it.
What the heck just happened? Red Sox trade deadline day first thoughts – Speier has a look at the events of the day and what they mean.
Cherington begins second roster overhaul – Sean McAdam looks at the process which began yesterday.
Pain of losing Lester cuts deep – Gordon Edes says that Lester is a huge loss, one that can’t be overcome with the extra hitting the Sox acquired.
Jon Lester deserved better from Red Sox – Steve Buckley isn’t happy.
How the Red Sox’ trade frenzy came about – Peter Abraham has a good look at how the day unfolded.
With the Red Sox making a trade with the Yankees, I expected a 1970’s baseball reference from Dan Shaughnessy today, but I was expecting Sparky Lyle, not Charles Finley and the A’s fire sale in 1976.
ESPN to broadcast Sunday game from Green Monster – Chad Finn’s media column has Sunday night’s game against Stephen Drew’s Yankees being broadcast from a unique perspective.
There’s plenty happening at Patriots camp, as the defense has been the story early on. Check all the coverage at PatriotsLinks.com.
Boston Sports Media Watch 
Speier’s piece today is excellent, gives a solid rational breakdown of what each move could potentially mean. Buckley’s piece is essentially a hissy fit, can’t really call this year’s team a collection of whiners and complainers based on Ortiz and Doubront, yet he makes it sound like 2001 all over again.
As much as I hated to see Lester go, I think they got a real return in Cespedes in bolstering productivity for the outfield, solidifying the middle of the order with Ortiz and Napoli and a strong throwing arm to pair with JBJ. Re-signing Lester in the off-season is going to be an even bigger task as his price tage will be even higher, but I think this this move along with what they got from St. Louis for Lackey puts them in good shape for next year rather than just cleaning house for prospects.
LikeLike
Yup. I don’t like seeing Lester go either, but it was a fair trade. And Boston needed offense more than it needed pitching. Intriguing to see what might happen in Philly…the Sox are very well positioned–because they stink–if the Phillies put any of their pitchers on waivers. They could claim one outright, and save their prospects for yet another deal.
LikeLike
My 2 cents is this franchise has delivered 3 titles to my eager eyes in the last 10 years when I waited almost 40 for the first, so they get alot of rope from me. They messed-up a team in 2012 and then fixed it quick, while I don’t know if they will do it as quick again, they have a ton of roster flexibility to do so and a loaded farm system, so I am hopeful. I love Lester and the fan in me would have resigned him, but I have never delivered a world series champion and I have a day job that doesn’t allow or incent me to view the MLB landscape and strategize the way that Cherington does, so I remain hopeful and focused on the Patriots.
Interesting take on this by Verducci.
http://www.si.com/mlb/2014/07/31/mlb-trade-deadline-david-price-jon-lester-oakland-athletics
LikeLike
I think the reason why the #HotSportzTake of “Do you trust the organization?” sprang up with such fervent insanity was because the 2012 edition of the Sox didn’t fall apart because of bad luck or adversity — it happened because that was the team (and coaching staff) they assembled and legitimately thought would contend, and it imploded in historic fashion. Couple all that with the departure of Theo and the hatchet job of the manager the year before, and I think it was a legitimate concern that this team would be just as likely to screw it up as they would succeed. The problem is that local mediots get a hold of what isn’t an unreasonable concern and blow it so out of proportion that even having the slightest bit of concern and ignoring the “scoreboard” makes you a moron.
That being said, I really like the haul that Cherington got in return for Lester, Lackey, et al. Heck, the offense today is better than it was before the trade deadline. Cespedes and Craig are an upgrade on Gomes, Carp, Nava, etc. And who knows, Cherington might flip one of those guys into another move we haven’t thought of yet.
Now the primary goal is add a couple of quality arms in front of the kids. Much as I would like to see it happen, I strongly doubt they’ll be able to re-sign Lester in the off-season,
most likely because at least one team will put up foolish dollars. But
stranger things have happened.
LikeLike
Well said bullock. Agree 100%. One thing I really appreciate about this Sox ownership is how they’re not afraid to make big moves, not afraid to think outside the box and act on it. All we ever hear from the mediots is how over-the-top PR obsessed this Red Sox ownership is and yet they trade away very popular players like Nomar and Jonny Lester, quickly fix mistakes they make, i.e. hiring Bobby V, re-signing Stephen Drew, ever signing Carl Crawford etc. and perhaps the most bold move they’ve ever made is to blow up their roster a mere 10 months after winning the World Series. As a fan I truly appreciate how this team never rests on its’ laurels. They’ve got some brass ones.
LikeLike
I think that this is a common thought, embedded in the DNA of fans around here because of who they are (provincialism). A writer can either grasp onto this or, they themselves are big enough fans where it runs through their own blood. Unless the team wins every year (unreasonable), things like:
– Ownership being outsiders, carpetbaggers.
– FSG’s foray into soccer, NASCAR, marketing and other things.
– All of the schemes to make money at the park (bricks)
– Ticket prices and the “go to a ballgame” cost requiring taking out a second mortgage.
– Media/PR: Anytime I hear Larry’s voice, my first instinct is to make sure my wallet is still in my pocket or where I left it. The smear garbage when people leave doesn’t help, either.
Will always be in the back of people’s minds. I don’t see anything wrong with it, as it’s an identical feeling many other fanbases have, and not just in baseball. To bring it up so soon bears some legitimacy, but another could ask, “Did you forget about last year already?”
@KevinPWinter via YES. Guy tossed for sign at fenway? “John Henry doesn’t want to sign 30 year olds but he has no problem marrying one.”
In trying to find a picture, it seems as if they also booted someone who had a “Save Artie T” sign, as well.
LikeLike
Anyone else feel like the “take a full page ad out
in the paper” thing has run its course? Don’t get me wrong this is not an attack on the sentiment of it, I appreciate the fact that a player wants to say thanks for the memories to the fans of his former team. But nowadays with all the social media, the 24 hour sports channels and what not I feel like it’s not necessary anymore. The first one I can remember was Drew Bledsoe. If memory serves he took out full page ads in both papers. It was considered kind of a big deal because of the cost of two full page ads in both Sunday papers. Now with the newspaper industry in a death spiral, and more and more people getting
their news from TV and online I feel like someone needs to tell the players just say something nice and the message will get out to the fans. Some will say what if you don’t have Facebook, Twitter, etc. and to those I would say come experience the 21st century it’s fun, and counter with what if you don’t read/buy the Globe? Again not attacking the sentiment, but the newspaper
ads are over.
LikeLike
It still costs 10k+ (wouldn’t be surprised if it cost 25k), depending on the paper and ad (color/bw) to do the ad. I get where you’re coming from on the “been done before” but, to me, it means a lot when you have to spend some money just to run the print. I’d offer a * to this as I’ve seen this done by people and paid for by the “new team” (CFB instance). That won’t sit well with fans if they find out (not sure if the paper has to disclose this).
LikeLike