Monday, November 21, 2005

Waiting For Josh

What's That? Josh Beckett Might Come To Boston?

Checking my RSS reader today, as I do, this headline from the Boston Herald’s feed jumped out at me: “Texas may lead Red Sox in race for pitcher Josh Beckett.” My two-fold reaction:

  • Beckett’s on the market? Man, the Marlins really are trying to unload salary.
  • A 1, 2, 3 of Schilling (assuming he’s finally back to speed), Beckett and Papelbon, plus another great season of Timmy would be hott (definitely with two Ts), would be the Second Coming of Red Sox pitching…would be the equivalent of the 2005 White Sox.
Even with the asking price – Hanley Ramirez and Jon Lester and the requirement that the Sox take Mike Lowell, with his terrible season in ’05 and his $18 million, two year contract, I’m still for the deal. Beckett is a young, proven commodity; Lester and Ramirez, for all of their impressiveness in the minors, are still prospects. Beckett’s big problems sound mechanical – he wouldn’t be the first guy the Sox have imported to be fixed up by Messrs. Wallace and Varitek – and he’s got the biggest game experience you could possibly want in Boston, shutting down the Yankees to end the 2003 World Series. Now the Gang of 4 just has to convince Florida that they want to save money and get prospects instead of taking the underpaid Hank Blaylock from Texas. Should be easy, right?