What Could've Been

I love reading reports about trades that could've happened.

Thanks to the Globe's Chad Finn, I now hate the general manager of the Seattle Mariners. In an apparent stroke of genius to try and shore up the starting pitching, Theo Epstein attempted to pull off the mother of all trades before the 4 p.m. deadline on Friday. Word on the street is the Sox attempted to acquire both Adrian Gonzalez of the Padres and Felix Hernandez of the M's at some point prior to the deadline. The ended up with Plan B--Victor Martinez--who by the way had five hits in yesterday's shellacking of the Orioles. According to Finn, who heard it from some guy in Seattle, the Sox offered the Mariners a choice of five of the following eight prospects:

RHP Clay Buchholz
RHP Daniel Bard
RHP Justin Masterson
LHP Nick Hagadone
RHP Michael Bowden
LHP Felix Doubront
OF Josh Reddick
SS Yamaico Navarro

So much for Daniel Bard being untouchable. On the other hand, to land either Gonzalez or Hernandez, I'd say that giving him up would most likely be the only way to acquire them. The loss of Bard would set the bullpen back a bit since they swapped Masterson (along with Hagadone and Price) for V-Mart but you've got to give something up to get something back. Hernandez is a top-notch talent at a measly $3.8 million. To have landed him and V-Mart would've made Boston that much more dangerous for the stretch run, especially with series against Tampa Bay and the Yankees this week.

When that first offer was turned down (holy crap, I would've just taken any of the top 5 and Reddick--that kid has a cannon for an arm), Theo tried AGAIN. This time, he brought San Diego into the mix and tried to get them to send Gonzalez to Seattle with Buchholz prospects from Boston and San Diego. San Diego would get probably 5-7 prospects total from the Sox and M's and the local nine would end up with Hernandez.

Crazy, no? A three-way blockbuster deal that could've happened. Apparently it wouldn't have immediately benefited the Mariners. Had Theo not traded for V-Mart, it's quite possible that Seattle could have received Masterson and Buchholz--both are major league pitchers. Now I hate Seattle management and I hope that somewhere they're kicking themselves for not pulling the trigger on this one.

MLB Trade Deadline

So the Sox got the bat they needed in Victor Martinez. He's no Manny, but he's from Cleveland and can play catcher, first base and DH. He could be the Sox' solution for when Jason Varitek finally keels over with broken knees and back problems. Apparently Josh Beckett expressed concern for his backstop during his last outing on Monday when he was surprised that 'Tek even made the start because of neck pain. I like George Kottaras, but a double every five at-bats is not enough to produce runs in this lineup. Nick Green has become an easy out and so has his look-alike, Jason Bay. As soon as V-Mart arrives, he'll be inserted into the clean-up spot and Bay will hit fifth (at least that's what I'd do). Also, Nick Green, please take about 100 grounders before each game that you start from here on out.

Things just never seem to work for JD Drew. As soon as he starts looking good at the plate, he ends up missing a game due to injury. I hate his contract but with that swing, nobody looks better striking out in the league. His swing is so smooth that sometimes I forget that he strikes out...oh wait...no I don't.

The other deal that Theo made yesterday was flipping Adam Laroche for Casey Kotchman. If I remember correctly, Kotchman hits well in Fenway but I think that Epstein just did the boys in Atlanta a favor. The Sox now have too many first basemen but a bit more versatility when it comes to switching guys around. I believe that this move was made as insurance for Mike Lowell. It's almost painful how slow that hip surgery has made him and if he can't get the bat going, Youk will finish the majority of the games at third base with Kotchman/V-Mart platooning at first and Papi and 'Tek inserted in as needed. Lowell will also see more time as a DH simply because he can't move.

Lastly, my thoughts on the whole Papi using steroids allegations. In 2003 there were no rules against using steroids! Steroids saved baseball. How? Two men named Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa decided to shoot up and hit a ton of home runs in 1998. Four years prior in 1994, baseball saw some bad times and didn't have a postseason or World Series. The quest to break the all-time home run record of 61 set by former Yankee Roger Maris was one that had eluded some of baseballs most prolific home run hitters. McGwire's chase of and eventual breaking of the record got America watching the game again and put baseball back on top as our national pastime. Point being, everyone did steroids back then; it's just a shame that the Red Sox' first World Series in 86 years was most likely aided by the use of performance enhancing drugs. Then again, it seems a bit unnatural to see a dropoff from 54 dingers in 2006 to 35 in '07, to 23 in '08...to be on pace for probably less than that this season. I'm just sayin'...I saw it coming.