Trading away a classy champion

It's not official, but the odds are the Red Sox will complete their deal with the Rangers, and Mike Lowell, who went from a throw-in in one of baseball's greatest trades to World Series MVP, will soon be a former Red Sox.

As I said last year, Mike Lowell is the type of player who is sometimes hard to appreciate if you're like me and don't get to see your team play every day. I still don't know whether I would have re-signed him after the great 2007, but I understand a bit more why the fans, enamored with his grit, defense, selflessness and toughness, demanded his return.

I'm sad to lose a player of his character but understand that he is shot. His battered body couldn't even play adequate defense last year. Max Ramirez isn't the catching prospect on the Rangers that we have been coveting, but I'm sure he will be more productive for the team than Lowell would have been - even with the countless millions the Red Sox will pay the third baseman to play for the Rangers.

There seems to be frustration in Boston that the Red Sox aren't going tit for tat with the Empire. I say be patient. We are not the Yankees. We can win without a $200 million payroll and a mercenary roster with All-Stars at every position. Theo Epstein knows what he's doing, and even though I'm not a big Adrian Beltre fan, I can understand the logic if he is playing in the Fens next year, even if Peter Abraham isn't certain:

If the impending trade of Lowell to Texas leads to the Sox signing Beltre, don't just look at Beltre's numbers at the plate. Look at his ability to prevent runs. Based on advanced defensive metrics (UZR and UZR/150), Beltre was roughly the second or third best defensive third baseman in the game last season.

That means fewer singles into left, more double plays, less pitches thrown, etc. There's value in that.

The question is whether it's worth eating $9 million on Lowell and paying whatever Scott Boras is going to demand for Beltre. That I'm not so sure of.

So, if this plays out, I thank Lowell for his service and his contribution toward the second World Series Championship in my lifetime. I also thank him for being able to be called by Nick Cafardo "one of the classiest individuals to ever don a Red Sox uniform."

That's pretty impressive considering the lengthy history of the franchise and the fact that he spent just four seasons in Boston after he was a money dump throw-in in the Josh Beckett for Hanley Ramirez swap.

Names in the news: If the deal is consummated, we could have Max Ramirez on the bench and two Ramon Ramirezes in the bullpen. No word yet whether Theo has contacted the Dodgers about bringing Manny back to fill the void in left field.

The Red Sox also signed one of our favorite baseball names, Boof Bonser. Christine and I have always enjoyed his name. We just found out that it has reminded each of us of a different cheesy Michael J. Fox movie. Me - Back to the Future because of Biff. Christine - Teen Wolf because of Lisa "Boof" Marconi. {Note to Greg: Back to the Future is not cheesy.}

Finally, the Phillies lost Carlos Monasterios in the Rule 5 draft, meaning there's just one remaining player from the Bobby Abreu trade. At least those of us at SoxandPhils who are spelling-challenged won't have to worry about screwing up his name again.

Catching up

Between Easter and Harry Kalas' unexpected death, a lot of happenings have slipped under the SoxandPhils radar this week.

Since the Red Sox game is over and the Phillies are rained out, tonight presents an opportunity to catch up.

First, when I was leaving work, a co-worker told me Tim Wakefield was working on a no-hitter. I had flashbacks to 2007 when Curt Schilling flirted with a no-hitter during a day game in Oakland. Just like then, I rushed to my car to listen to the radio. Unfortunately, I wasn't getting reception and couldn't listen as Wake gave up a hit in the 8th. He still pitched a great game, giving the bullpen a much needed day off after it went 11 innings on Tuesday.

Why did our relievers go 11 innings? Because Daisuke Matsuzaka left the game after an ineffective inning and has been placed on the DL because he's tired from the World Baseball Classic. Great - is it too early to claim a prediction win for the question about the team most hurt by this stupid tournament? Of course it is because we will survive this blow. But we do have a winner for "this year's Rays" question - Joe Wolf's Vertical Jump for predicting the Marlins.

Preoccupied with Harry's passing (I'm going to miss him too), we neglected to pay our respects to Mark Fidrych - a New England resident who played for the Red Sox in the minor leagues in an unsuccessful comeback attempt. I knew him just from replays of old broadcasts, but it's sad.

Awkward transition: Josh Beckett was suspended for throwing a ball at Bobby Abreu on Sunday. He's appealing, but even if he loses, it's just six days, or an extra day of rest to keep him fresh for October when he will be needed the most.

A jinx more widespread than Madden's?

This week, reigning NL MVP Jimmy Rollins has missed time with an ankle injury. And World Series MVP Mike Lowell landed on the DL with a sprained thumb. I had mentioned that these two players who won an MVP award last year were injured, but I forgot that Josh Beckett, who started the season on the DL, had won the ALCS MVP.

That means counting regular season, playoff and All-Star Game MVPs, half of last year's "MVPs" have been injured through the season's first two weeks. Don't be surprised if Matt Holliday (NLCS), Ichiro Suzuki (All-Star Game) and Alex Rodriguez (AL) miss time this year.

We're indifferent to Ichiro, but Christine won't mind if Holliday goes down {non-plate-touching cheater}, and I certainly won't mind if Slappy does.

Speaking of Slappy, the Yankees won round one tonight. Pathetic performance by the offense. I must acknowledge that Chien-Ming Wang just dominated tonight. (I've always thought he's good but overrated.) Through a crackly radio broadcast in the basement, I heard the announcer say that he threw 78 pitches through the 8th, and if it weren't for a J.D. Drew home run that could have easily been caught by Bobby Abreu, there would be a no-hit attempt. J.D. Drew = the Red Sox offense, tonight and through the first 11 games. Scary.

And a good first start against the Empire for Clay Buchholz; he's starting to live up to his billing.

On a happier note:

Phils win. Good performances by Pat Burrell - a two-run home run and an RBI double - and Brett Myers, who settled down after giving up two solo homers in the first.

I'm going to miss Burrell next year. Yeah, he seems like a crank and hates the media, but I don't doubt his desire to win or commitment to the team. Whenever you see a shot into the dugout, he's right there on the top step watching the game or talking with Charlie Manuel or one of the coaches. I know he gets hammered because it seems like he doesn't get upset enough when he's playing poorly, but he gets a bum deal because he hasn't lived up to all of his contract expectations.

Plus, I'll miss seeing his bulldog Elvis in a Phillies jersey.

[Photo credit: Boston Globe]

Former Phils in the agate this week

Pitching prospect Gio Gonzalez, who seemed destined to have a career shuffling between Chicago and Philly, is headed to the rebuilding A's in the Nick Swisher trade. And Matt Smith, the most productive piece of the Abreu/Lidle fleece, has been put on waivers.

Gonzalez, originally a White Sox prospect, was traded to the Phils in '05 with Aaron Rowand and Daniel Haigwood for Jim Thome. With Rowand gone to the Giants, the only piece left from this is Fabio Castro, who I still think should have been used more in the past two years. Castro was picked up from the Rangers for Haigwood who last year was released by Texas and picked up and released by the Red Sox. Gonzalez was traded back to the White Sox in the great Freddy Garcia deal last off season.

Getting nothing in trades of superstars is nothing new for the Phils... in 2000 they gave up not-yet World Series hero {gag} Curt Schilling to the D-Backs for Travis Lee, Vincente Padilla, Omar Daal and Nelson Figueroa. (Padilla was the first scrubby Phillie who always seemed to be pitching when we go to a game. That designation then went to Cory Lidle. Last year thankfully we got a good mix).

Then, of course there was the 2002 Scott Rolen deal that also netted a future World Series hero {gag, again}, Mike Timlin, who stayed for half a season. They did get a productive Placido Polanco, but flipped him three years later for Ugueth Urbina, who pitched well for half a season before that little attempted murder thing.

And that brings up the Abreu deal. I'm guess I'm glad it happened. Though the Yankees got a good player, he's overpaid and doesn't help the team regain the mental toughness that's been lacking. But I still think the Phils should have been able to get something for him.

This week, they released Matt Smith, ending his 23 game Phillies career. Also in the deal was minor league SS C.J. Henry, released by the Phils, taken back by the Empire, and P Carlos Monastrios* and C Jesus Sanchez who were both still in A ball last year. Monastrios could still pan out, but you'd like something to be able to point to for Abreu -- even if he was first obtained for Kevin Stocker.

*Correction 9/4/08: Oops. Guess we've had Carlos Monasterios' name spelled wrong for the past eight months. He was still in Clearwater this year.