Fishing Trip: Boston lands three good ones in Miami
But did the Sox mortgage the future to help their chances at ’04 pennant?
The Boston Globe * Monday, June 28, 2004
Finally, at 3:19 a.m., Boston GM Theo Epstein emerges from a hotel conference room looking disheveled.
His tie and sport coat are long gone. His knit shirt is unbuttoned a few notches and bears the stains of a careless coffee drinker and frustrated pizza eater. His five o’clock shadow is growing its own five o’clock shadow.
As Epstein shuffles past a pool of reporters, each looking as equally haggard, he mumbles just two sentences: “We finally got it done. You’ll know all the details and get my comments in a few hours – when the sun comes up.”
Those details have come to light now and center on the biggest blockbuster trade of the season. Nine players in all will change hands in the next day between the Boston Red Sox and Florida Marlins organization.
The Sox will get their most prized trophy – 2003 World Series MVP
Josh Beckett as well as fellow pitchers
Brad Penny (starter) and
Armando Benitez (reliever). What will be determined over the coming months – and years – is whether the Sox paid too steep a price to shore up a shaky pitching rotation.
Boston gave up three members of its current roster, all pitchers: starters
BK Kim and
Tim Wakefield, and long reliever
Ramiro Mendoza – essentially trading those three for Beckett, Penny and Benitez. But they also shipped away three of their most coveted prospects – SS
Hanley Ramirez, 2B
Freddie Lindstrom Jr. and RF
Matt Murton. Lindstrom was the Sox’s first pick in the June draft. He and Ramirez were expected to be the infield combination of the future in Boston.
Boston’s minor league system is now listed as the worst in the majors – a stark contrast to the Big Club that has the best record in all of baseball.
“The Red Sox are definitely operating on the win-it-all-right-now principle,” said ESPN baseball analyst Peter Gammons. “Florida fleeced them for some pretty good young talent. Gosh, if there’s no pennant in Boston this year. It could be many, many years before they have another chance at one.”
The trade process proved just as intriguing as the player moves. Things began several weeks ago when Beckett, answering a reporter’s question about a frustrating 2004 season after winning the Series in ’03, casually mused over how he’d love to pitch for a contender like Boston.
“Red Sox officials jumped all over that,” Gammons said. “They laughed it off publicly but sent plenty of feelers along the back channels to see if he was serious.”
This week’s deal actually was made two parts. The first was a one-for-one trade – shortstop Hanley Ramirez (20 year old, 3.5 stars) for reliever/stopper Armando Benitez (age 31, 5 stars). Florida, in fifth place in the NL East, was ready to dump some salary for a quality prospect, and Boston of course was looking for a better reliever than 38-year-old Mike Timlin (5+ ERA), who was released earlier this week.
For awhile, it appeared the wheeling and dealing would end there. But Epstein wanted to get at least one starting pitcher as well. Both teams worked for hours on countless combinations. The Marlins made one thing clear – no trade would pass that didn’t involve Lindstrom, the grandson of a Hall-of-Fame infielder. They certainly weren’t going to let Beckett go without getting Kim in return. Both are 4.5 star guys, and both are young with tremendous upside.
“It looked for awhile that Boston would take Brad Penny for Tim Wakefield and some minor leaguers,” said Gammons, who hung around the Miami Hilton used for negotiations the past few nights.
“But Florida was demanding Lindstrom in any trade involving its starting pitchers. Epstein got furious at one point and said something like, ‘Heck if we’re parting with Freddie than we had better get Beckett. Let’s pull out all the stops. We’ve got to win the World Series this year. I want Josh.’’”
Boston got their Josh. Now it remains to be seen if they’ll get their Series crown as well.
“If you look at the symbolism of who Boston let go, it’s startling,” Gammons said. “Tim Wakefield gave up the home run to Aaron Boone in last year’s crushing ALCS game six. BK Kim had been coming along this year but still has a shadow over him due to two collapses in Yankee Stadium while with the Diamondbacks.
“Penny was 3-1 in the post-season a year ago. Beckett, meanwhile, shrugged his shoulders over the mystique of Yankee Stadium, took the ball on three days rest and pitched an improbable team to a World Series championship. Boston’s hoping for a repeat.”