The Hot Stove

Can someone please tell me who is pirating this Red Sox ship these days, because GM by committee is starting to look a little bit like closer by committee, i.e. not good.
A few weeks ago I'm on here saying that it's okay that the Red Sox traded Hanely Ramirez because if he were as good as everyone was predicting they never would have signed Edgar Renterria for 40 million. Now this week they have traded Renterria for Andy Marte, a minor league third baseman from Atlanta and the Sox are paying 11 million of Renterria's remaining salary.

Um...guys...now that you've traded your best infield prospect and your shortstop I just have one question... Who the hell is going to PLAY shortstop? If Alex Cora just popped into your head you need to seek professional help.

Don't get me wrong, Reterria was awful last year and the majority of me is happy that he's gone but a tiny part of me looks at his career stats and thinks that maybe paying another team 11 million dollars to take him off of our hands after just one season is a tad premature, especially with no back-up plan. I think it's safe to say that the Sox soured on Edgar in a hurry.

The thinking by...whoever did this must be along one of two lines. 1: He is no longer the player he was in the NL and that what we saw last year is what he has become. Or 2: He would never have become comfortable in Boston and thus would never have been able to produce under the pressure.

It's a great move IF you can get someone better to replace him. Don't even mention the names Alex Gonzalez (he could not bat his way out of a room full of baseballs) or Julio Lugo (24 errors to Edgar's 30 with less pop, not an upgrade) to me, in my mind those are not options. This is Boston, guys like that get eaten for breakfast in this town. Talk to me about trading for Miguel Tejada (he wants out of Baltimore...Manny for Tejada?) or tell me about bringing back Pokey Reese (at least we know he can play here).

Important Sidenote: We all know that another ex-Red Sox shortstop is available, but that is NOT going to happen. I repeat NOT going to happen, forget it. Remember when he refused to play in the Bronx while Jeter was leaping face first into thorn bushes and burning buildings to catch foul balls?

I'm not crazy about the idea of moving 22 year old Dustin Pedroia into the limelight either especially since he has been groomed as a second baseman and has not really played shortstop since college. The upside of that idea is that you already have him for free.

The fact is we can speculate all day but in reality we have no concrete idea who will be playing the most important infield position next year.

The other question is what exactly did they buy for that 11 million? By all reports Marte (right) was the maquee prospect in the Braves organization and should be one of the future starts of the league. Everything I've read on him calls him a "throwback" third baseman. I have no idea what that means but he seems to have good power numbers, a strong arm, and huge potential. If he develops into the star the experts say he will be the Red Sox will have come out of this deal on top by a long shot. The question is will he be ready to play next year and if so what do you do with the excess baggage of Mike Lowell? Move him to first? Take him out back and shoot him?

Imagine this opening day infield, Marte at third, Pedroia at short, Cora at second, and Lowell at first. I'll be losing some sleep over that image for a while.

While it's clear that this was a financial move what did it open up space for? They offered Damon arbitration so hopefully they were allowing space for his contract, and they did just take on Lowell's 7 million per year but it doesn't feel like they are done to me. It looks like the pieces are being laid out for a blockbuster at some point in the near future like these are the warning shots before the actual attack.

Am I offically allowed to be worried yet? I'm a great fan of procrastination but it's December and we don't have a shortstop or a GM. Call me crazy, but I think we should have both by the time spring training starts in February.

Now for my weekly plea: Don't trade Manny, please please God in heaven don't let them trade Manny. If the opening day lineup card reads: Damon, Cora, Nixon, Ortiz, Varitek, Marte, Pedroia, "left fielder", and Lowell I will stick a screwdriver into my neck. Please please don't trade Manny.