If I’m a GM, I’m wary of dealing any prospect the Marlins are interested in, the same way I’m wary of dealing a prospect that Billy Beane is interested in:
The Red Sox and Marlins have come to a tentative agreement on a trade that would send Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell to Boston for shortstop Hanley Ramirez, right-handed prospect Anibal Sanchez and a minor-league pitcher.
Whoa. Rotogeeks have been hearing about Hanley Ramirez since the days before they ran Nomar out on a rail. This Anibel Sanchez is supposed to be no slouch, himself. And yet, the Red Sox are giving them BOTH up for a corner infielder due $18 million (actually, he’s due more than that; Boston is on the hook for $18 mil) whose 2005 line was .236-8-58, and a pitcher who has hit the DL about 36 times in four years. Are these two guys worth mortgaging the future?
On the other hand, Sanchez and Ramirez are just prospects at this point. They could turn out to be nothing, we’ll just have to wait and see. Still, this is a mighty big gamble. At least in the rumored deal with the Rangers, the Marlins were getting a young, healthy third baseman in Hank Blalock. In Lowell, they get a Gold Glove, but the guy is two seasons removed from flexing any kind of power. Still, I suppose he’s an upgrade over Bill Mueller.
One can only wonder what Theo Epstein thinks of this. Are we going to see WWTD bumper stickers popping up in the Boston area? And how pissed are NL-only keeper league managers at the moment? To just lose a guy like Beckett like that…tough luck, dudes.
