Boston Red Sox - No Theo, no problem?

[Papi 54]

Johan Santana.

He was the man to get for any team looking to make a big splash. The best pitcher in the league, perhaps the best player in the league. Johan was sick of Minnesota, sick of losing, and he was ready to move. When the war began, three teams stepped to the forefront: the Yankees, the Red Sox, and the Mets.

The Red Sox offered up some of their best prospects. Jon Lester, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jed Lowrie. Apparently this was not enough for the Twins, as they were at a stand-still in the talks with Theo Epstein and company.

The Yankees offered up their top prospects, took them off the table, offered them up again, and then said the trade was dead. The Twins turned down Yankee prospect Phil Hughes, among others, to keep Johan Santana on their team.

It looked like the Twins were going to wait it out.

Then, suddenly, the news broke: "Mets acquired Johan Santana from the Twins for outfielder Carlos Gomez, Deolis Guerra, Kevin Mulvey, and Philip Humber". Wait, what? Who got Johan? Who did the Twins get for Johan? Who are they? Carlos Gomez? Philip Humber? They took those guys over Ellsbury? Over Lester? Over Hughes? Either the Twins failed, or everybody was missing something.

If that news was big enough, the news that followed was even more surprising.

"Theo Epstein resigns from Red Sox front office."

Boston was up in arms. Nobody understood the move made by Theo Epstein. In the weeks that followed, the Red Sox brass struggled to figure out what Theo left for. The fans did too, speculating he was never truly committed to the job to begin with. Finally, Theo spoke.

"I am done with baseball, the Johan trade sealed it for me. This is not a business, it's a mockery. I am leaving for law, where at least things make sense."

That was it, Theo Epstein left, and so began the era of the no-name Red Sox front office. The general manager position had been taken over by a committee, many of them players in the trade that acquired Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell. However, a newcomer led the group, a recent Suffolk Law graduate and local kid, Rich Bregnard.

Entering 2008, how would things change for the two-time champion Red Sox? Would the philosophy change? Surely all the general managers will test the young Bostonian to see how he plays his cards. Red Sox Nation can only wait and see what will happen to their team, and whether or not they need to run the kid out of town.

(OOC: Just for the sake of my game file, let us all pretend that all this happened before January 1st, 2008. )

[Papi 54]

Boston 40-man Roster
As of January 1st, 2008.

POS	#	Name	Age	NAT	HT	WT	B	T	SLR	YL
MR	54	David Aardsma	26	USA	6' 5"	200 lbs	Right	Right	$380,000	1 (auto.)
1B	44	Lars Anderson	20	USA	5' 11"	195 lbs	Left	Left	-	0
SP	19	Josh Beckett	27	USA	6' 3"	190 lbs	Right	Right	$9,500,000	3
SP	27	Michael Bowden	21	USA	6' 3"	215 lbs	Right	Right	-	0
SP	61	Clay Buchholz	23	USA	6' 2"	190 lbs	Left	Right	-	0
CL	41	Bryan Corey	34	USA	6' 0"	170 lbs	Right	Right	-	0
LF	10	Coco Crisp	28	USA	6' 0"	185 lbs	Switch	Right	$4,750,000	2
MR	17	Manny Delcarmen	25	USA	6' 3"	195 lbs	Right	Right	$380,000	1 (auto.)
RF	7	J.D. Drew	32	USA	6' 0"	195 lbs	Left	Right	$14,000,000	4
CF	46	Jacoby Ellsbury	24	USA	6' 2"	185 lbs	Left	Left	$380,000	1 (auto.)
2B	28	Keith Ginter	31	USA	5' 10"	190 lbs	Right	Right	-	1
MR	67	Lee Gronkiewicz	29	USA	6' 2"	200 lbs	Right	Right	-	0
1B	51	Luis Antonio Jimenez	24	VEN	6' 4"	205 lbs	Left	Left	-	1 (auto.)
RF	30	Jay Johnson	24	USA	6' 2"	185 lbs	Right	Right	-	0
MR	53	Dan Kolb	32	USA	6' 3"	215 lbs	Right	Right	-	0
C	18	George Kottaras	24	CAN	6' 0"	185 lbs	Left	Right	-	0
SP	31	Jon Lester	23	USA	6' 2"	190 lbs	Left	Left	$384,000	1 (auto.)
MR	48	Javier Lopez	30	PUR	6' 3"	200 lbs	Left	Left	$840,000	1 (arbitr.)
3B	25	Mike Lowell	33	PUR	6' 3"	205 lbs	Right	Right	$14,500,000	3
SS	33	Jed Lowrie	23	USA	6' 0"	185 lbs	Switch	Right	-	0
SS	23	Julio Lugo	32	DOM	5' 10"	165 lbs	Right	Right	$8,750,000	3
SP	18	Daisuke Matsuzaka	27	JPN	6' 2"	185 lbs	Right	Right	$8,000,000	5
C	28	Doug Mirabelli	37	USA	6' 0"	205 lbs	Right	Right	$550,000	1
LF	44	Brandon Moss	24	USA	6' 2"	205 lbs	Left	Right	-	0
MR	37	Hideki Okajima	32	JPN	6' 2"	194 lbs	Left	Left	$1,250,000	2
1B	34	David Ortiz	32	DOM	6' 3"	230 lbs	Left	Left	$12,500,000	3
CL	58	Jonathan Papelbon	27	USA	6' 3"	230 lbs	Right	Right	$425,500	1 (auto.)
SP	62	David Pauley	24	USA	6' 2"	185 lbs	Right	Right	-	1 (auto.)
2B	15	Dustin Pedroia	24	USA	5' 8"	180 lbs	Right	Right	$380,000	1 (auto.)
LF	44	Manny Ramirez	35	DOM	6' 0"	190 lbs	Right	Right	$20,000,000	1
SP	38	Curt Schilling	41	USA	6' 3"	215 lbs	Right	Right	$8,000,000	1
SP	50	Jason Stanford	30	USA	6' 2"	202 lbs	Left	Left	-	1 (auto.)
MR	53	Jon Switzer	28	USA	6' 3"	191 lbs	Left	Left	$380,000	1 (arbitr.)
SP	51	Julian Tavarez	34	DOM	6' 2"	165 lbs	Left	Right	$3,850,000	1
SP	93	Michael Tejera	31	CUB	5' 8"	175 lbs	Left	Left	-	1 (arbitr.)
2B	57	Joe Thurston	28	USA	5' 10"	175 lbs	Left	Right	-	1 (arbitr.)
CF	17	Jonathan Van Every	28	USA	6' 0"	195 lbs	Left	Left	-	0
C	33	Jason Varitek	35	USA	6' 2"	210 lbs	Switch	Right	$10,000,000	1
SP	49	Tim Wakefield	41	USA	6' 2"	204 lbs	Right	Right	$4,000,000	1
1B	20	Kevin Youkilis	28	USA	6' 0"	220 lbs	Right	Right	$380,000	1 (arbitr.)

[Papi 54]

As the new general manager of the Boston Red Sox, I am under a ton of pressure. However, despite this, I must step in and do my job the best way I can. Not only do I plan to do so, I plan to do so my way. What does that mean? It means that yes, Theo Epstein did a pretty good job stocking the Red Sox with talent that won two World Series Championships in four years, but I will change the team as I see fit to my plans.

The first step towards doing this evaluating who is already in the system and what needs fixing.

Our starting rotation seems to be set as Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Curt Schilling, Julian Tavarez, and Tim Wakefield. On the outside looking in are Clay Buchholz, Jon Lester, and Michael Tejera. Despite their positions on the fourty-man roster, David Pauley, Michael Bowden, and Jason Stanford are long shots to make it into the rotation this season. Although our depth is decent, after Beckett, Dice-K, and a healthy (hopefully) Schilling, there is not a ton of top-notch pitching. Buchholz and Lester are not there yet, while Tavarez, Wakefield, Tejera are more suited to start here-and-there. A deal might have to be struck to bolster this area.

In the bullpen, we are very, very strong at both the closer and setup position. Jonathan Papelbon is one of the best closers in the league, as he has proved the past two seasons (35 saves in '06, 37 in '07). Our setup men are lefty Hideki Okajima and righty Manny Delcarmen. Both of these guys hovered around a 2.00 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP last season. Beyond these three guys, we expect righty Danny Aardsma and lefties Javier Lopez and Jon Switzer to make the team. Right on the edge of knocking one of those two lefties out is right-hander Lee Gronkiewicz. Right-handers Dan Kolb and Bryan Corey are long-shots to make the team to start the season. We may want to add a mop-up guy or two, but a lot of our borderline starters may help out there.

The infield is relatively set for this season, or at least is at the moment. At first we have Kevin Youkilis, a defensive star who can swing the bat decently enough. He can also play third, which is important to our depth. At second we have AL Rookie of the Year Dustin Pedroia. If Dustin repeats his performance from last season, we are all set there. If not, lets just hope he performs enough to get by. At shortstop we have the much maligned Julio Lugo. Despite people's cries, he performed well at the end of last season and we hope to see him continue his improvement. At third we have World Series MVP Mike Lowell, a fan favorite. He got a slightly over-priced contract this past off-season. I really hope he can perform as well as he did last season, if not we may have to make a move for a corner infielder. As far as depth goes, we don't have much. Rookie middle infielder Jed Lowrie may make the team. Keith Ginter is favored to win a spot as well, mainly do to his versatility as a first, second, and third baseman. First baseman Lars Anderson could crack the roster with a strong showing this spring, but he can only play first and we may want to develop him more. First baseman Luis Jimenez and middle infielder Joe Thurston are long shots. At catcher we have mainstay Jason Varitek with his backup being Doug Mirabelli. The age factor scares me here, but luckily we have decent prospect George Kottaras who could step in if needed. We may need to make a move for some depth in our infield or our future at catcher.

The outfield is a bit of a mess at the moment, but three things are for sure as of right now. Manny Ramirez in left, Jacoby Ellsbury in center, and J.D. Drew in right. None of these players are sure-things for the full season. Manny had a down year last year, Jacoby will be playing his first full season, and J.D. didn't exactly turn heads last year. Coco Crisp is a lock for the roster if he remains with the team as a fourth outfielder. Beyond that is minor-league mainstay Brandon Moss, speedy Jonathan Van Every, and all-around decent Jay Johnson. If Crisp is dealt, a fourth outfielder may become an issue. Also, the future at the corners will have to be decided soon, specifically with an aging Manny Ramirez. Who knows, trade rumors may even arise soon regarding the Man-Ram. At designated hitter, we have "Big Papi" David Ortiz who, barring injury, is the surest of sure things.

We may listen to offers for: Manny Ramirez, Coco Crisp, Jed Lowrie, Jon Lester, J.D. Drew, various borderline players

We probably will not listen about: Jacoby Ellsbury, David Ortiz, Jason Varitek, Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Hideki Okajima, Manny Delcarmen, Jonathan Papelbon, Dustin Pedroia

The rest is up in the air depending. I'm sure the rumors will start flying soon, but as we all know, smoke does not always mean fire.

[Papi 54]

The Off-Season Thus Far

This is my first off-season as a Major League Baseball general manager. That's a pretty large accomplishment in itself without even mentioning I am the general manager of the Boston Red Sox, one of the most popular baseball teams in the world. The baseball gods have blessed me heavily already, but nobody could have told me this was going to fall into my lap.

Philadelphia's first baseman Ryan Howard requested a trade, sources saying he got into a large argument with the Phillies front office. His demands? He wants to stay on the East Coast, preferably the Red Sox or Yankees. Of course, hearing this, I immediately call the Phillies brass, fully expecting to get no response or a request for my entire team. However, after several hours of conversation, the Phillies made their intentions clear. They wanted a starting pitcher, they wanted a face to their franchise, they wanted someone who will draw crowds. I already said I was not planning on trading Josh Beckett or Daisuke Matsuzaka, so I toss a name into the hat likely unexpected. Curt Schilling. His return to Philadelphia would be huge, the crowds would be maxed out, and he is, indeed, a starting pitcher. Sure, he is older, but he still has talent and can be the face of your franchise for at least a season or two. I crossed my fingers, and much to the surprise of baseball people everywhere, they accepted.

Boston receives: 1B Ryan Howard
Philadelphia receives: SP Curt Schilling

Going back to my team evaluation, I remember what I said: we needed a starting pitcher and, if anything, we had decent depth at corner infielder. However, this was just one trade I could not pass up. Adding fourty homeruns to my lineup to go along with Manny and Big Papi will make pitchers cry before facing us. Moving forward though, I now realize we have an even larger gap at starting pitcher. Now that I can put Howard at first and move Youkilis to third, that makes Mike Lowell expendable. I know the third baseman is one of the most popular players on the team, he is still talented enough to get us a good starter in return. We made a few calls, and finally the San Francisco Giants made us an offer we liked. The problem? It included us parting with Clay Buchholz. The plus side? They were giving us a deal we could not refuse.

Boston receives: SP Tim Lincecum, IF Rich Aurilia, OF Dave Roberts
San Francisco receives: 3B Mike Lowell, SP Clay Buchholz, 1B Luis Jimenez

Lincecum is arguably the best pitching prospect in the entire league, and he may very well be an ace pitcher for years to come. Aurilia adds great depth to our infield with his great defense at every infield position but catcher. Roberts joins the team once again, although his stint may be short, and he will compete with Coco Crisp for the fourth outfielder position. One of those two players will be traded, most likely for another starting pitcher, and probably before Spring Training is over.

One last update before I end this summary, we did quickly sign Ryan Howard to an extension. He got three years at around $14-million a season. I think from here until Spring Training starts we will sit back and let other teams come to us if they are interested in anyone. I'll keep you posted on any deals made throughout the league as well.

[Lawley]

Lol nice trades so far...

[kagnew35]

ARRRRRRGH! I am just about to start a similar dynasty. will you be playing in real time? Great read so far, very well done. I will have to make mine a bit different.