Sox Acquire Beckett

Anyone who doesn’t love this Red Sox deal of acquiring 25 year old Marlin flamethrower, ex world series MVP, Josh Beckett, and Gold Glove winner, Mike Lowell for minor leaguers Hanley Ramirez and Isabel Sanchez is flat-out crazy!!!!!

The Sox picked up a potential number one starter for years to come, who, if healthy, can give them 20 wins, an ERA under 3.00, 300 strikeouts, and shut the Yankees down when needed. Sound like a young Curt Schilling to anybody?! And for what? A minor league shortstop with potential and disciplinary questions who will not play shortstop here due to Edgar Renteria's presence there. And they didn’t have to part with prize prospect Jon Lester, instead giving up borderline prospect Isabel Sanchez. To me, this is a win-win gamble that could pay huge dividends for this team for years to come.

All I want to know is which of the 42 guys running the team made this trade!

Buh Bye Theo

It is time for Red Sox nation to stop eulogizing Theo Epstein, the man who put together (as a colleague suggested) "half a team."

In general, I believe he did a good job with this ball club, especially in helping to build up a prosperous farm system. With that said, for the record, the 2004 World Series team was really as much, if not more so, Dan Duquette's creation as it was Theo Epstein's. Pedro, Manny, Trot, Varitek, DLowe, to name a few were all Duquette people. As for the 2003 and 2005 Red Sox, they were the same kind of team as any Red Sox team that preceded Theo's arrival. So, yes I give him credit for Big Papi and Schilling, but he must also answer for the ridiculous contracts he gave to Matt Clement and Edgar Renteria. And the way Red Sox nation and the press has been reacting, you'd think Theo won a championship by himself! Actually they're acting as if he died, its ridiculous! He couldn't work with club president Larry Lucchino and he moved on (I can't blame him for that myself).

But for goodness sakes Red Sox nation, move on also, really!!!

Think Pats in 2006

This will not be the season of the Patriots, I can assure you. After getting stoked by the Colts last night on Monday Night Football, it is safe to say that if this team wins their division and makes the playoffs, they will not go far.

The one man associated with this team that I cannot blame is Tom Brady, who continues to show how terrific in the Joe Montana mold he is. But the defense in particular is awful. Where has Richard "I'm in my contract year" Seymour been? And without him, Warren, Woolfork, and Green couldn't stop my grandmother. Bruschi and Vrabel have done all they could at linebacker, but guys like Chad Brown, Willie McGinest, and Roosevelt Colvin are all washed up. And the secondary without Rodney Harrison? Abysmal! Samuel and Eugene Wilson play like rookies and Dunae Starks has a bull’s-eye on his back.

Anyways, don’t expect much from this year's edition, even if they make the playoffs. Belichick's real challenge will be reassembling a new squad for 2006.

Good Luck!

Today Theo Epstein officially says goodbye to Red Sox nation amongst the local paper Watergate going on here in Boston. Today on WEEI sports radio, the public was privy into the hosts, two obnoxious guys, Dennis and Callahan, roasting the author of the column that appeared in Sunday's Globe, the alleged article that pretty much supposedly nixed any interest of Theo in returning to the Sox. The gist of it is that the article was weighted in favor of Sox president and now number one archenemy, Larry Lucchino, and the thought amongst locals here is that his camp leaked private information that was privy to Theo and Lucchino. It’s made for some entertaining radio and gossip.

Bottom line is that Theo doesn’t want to work for anybody that is going to disrespect him and micro-manage him and for that alone, I can’t blame him. He'll move on to better things, and the Sox will hire another competent GM that will make some blockbuster deals (bye Manny!), and everyone will move on.

Good luck Theo!

Honorable Mention - Off Topic

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To celebrate the launch of their blog, BlogExplosion held a logo-design contest opened to members for submissions and votes, with the winner (voted by the members) receiving a $100 cash reward. In addition, they donated $500 to the American Red Cross; $250 on behalf of the winning logo designer.

While we did participate and entered the contest, it was never a thought that we would win. Imagine the surprise when the news came down that our logo creation was voted best by the members! We are completely flattered and honored and wish to thank all who voted and to all who participated in this contest, with a huge kudo going out to the BlogExplosion folks for their generosity in giving back to the community!