Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Farewell, Kason, We Barely Knew Ya'

The Red Sox bolstered their bullpen trading David Murphy and Kason Gabbard and a low level prospect for Eric Gagne. Gagne gives the Sox additional experience in the bullpen, with questions about Mike Timlin's health, Brandon Donnelly to undergo tendon transfer (Tommy John) surgery, and Manny Delcarmen showing a little inconsistency lately.

Gabbard, who rose from obscurity to outwin Roger Clemens (4 to 3) during his brief Sox tenure, became expendable with the return of Jon Lester and the pending return of Curt Schilling.

Absent Kason, the Sox rotation will look like Beckett, Matsuzaka, Schilling, Wakefield, and Lester.

Trade talks for Jermaine Dye fell through when the White Sox and Ken Williams demanded the sun, the moon, and one of Jupiter's moons for the soon-to-be free agent slugger.

The Sox made this trade from strength, not desperation, which is a nice change. They did not give up (as far as we know) Ellsbury, Lowrie, or Moss, their top three position players. They also didn't give up Buchholz, Bowden, or Masterson, their top three minor league pitching prospects. For once, the locals didn't give up what seemed to be too much, to get something for a salary dump.

Meanwhile, being a Ranger fan (apologies to John Mauldin) has gotten a lot worse, reminiscent of the book, "Seasons from Hell."

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