In Defense of Theo

This post is born from something I saw a couple of times while watching ESPN today. During Cold Pizza (shut up, nothing else is on at 11 AM), Skip and Woody were asked whether it was a mistake for the Red Sox not to have made a move at the deadline. Then, on some other show (it might have been BBTN, I'm not sure), the same topic was addressed. The general feel was that yes, it was a mistake for the Sox to not have made a move in response to the Abreu trade that the Yanks pulled off.

I am in 100% agreement with Epstien and the Sox's decision not to make a move at the deadline. Just because the Yankees brought in Abreu does not necessitate Boston needing to make a move simply for the sake of some knee-jerk, reactionary response. There are a couple of reasons for this.

First off, the Yankees flat out fleeced the Phillies. In acquiring a proven veteran hitter, Cash gave up no major league talent and parted ways with only one player who had even reached AAA. That's tough to do. For comparison's sake, take a look at the Brewers' recent deal involving Carlos Lee. Melvin traded Lee to the Rangers and not one of the other suitors only because the Rangers were willing to give up at least two players who could be considered major league ready, three if you count Laynce Nix. The situation involving the Brewers was probably more the norm than the exception at this year's deadline, with so many teams still technically considered "in the hunt." The bottom line is that Cashman got a steal, and Epstien would have probably not gotten anywhere near the same value in a trade for a bat as did the Yankees.

Second, I think it's ridiculous for people to claim that a team has to make a move just because someone in their division makes what is potentially a blockbuster trade. Furthermore, this isn't always a realistic possibility anyway, as the many people who like to sit at home and play GM fail to realize that deals are not easily consummated for big-name, big-production players. Especially considered in the context of this year's market, Boston's non-deal makes a lot of sense, because there just weren't that many great bats available. If they had been pressured to make a deal, they would have ended up overpaying for a bat like Soriano or Tejada that would have the potential to help the MLB team but could very easily put a large dent into the Sox excellent farm system.

Speaking of that farm system, it's a no-brainer that Epstien didn't make a move because he has publicly stated that every discussion he had with other teams revolved around one or more of his three big-time young pitchers, Cole Hamels, Jonathan Papelbon and Jon Lester. Trading one or more of these guys would be absolutely foolish with how awesome it appears that they're going to be. Sure, everyone laughs when Epstien says he's looking towards the future of the organization as well as this season, but it'll be funny to see which team is scrambling to rebuild when the Yankees' core of aged sluggers that include Sheffield, Williams, Giambi and now Abreu begin to fade into the sunset.