MANNY AND BURNETT

Boston.com Story
So Manny Ramirez wants a trade. This despite the fact that he begged not to be traded in the whole A-Rod non-deal. This despite being thrilled not to be picked up by anyone else. I'm not going to look too much into this story. Manny seems like he is prone to whimsical thougts and ideas none of which has any long term implication or bearing. The stories Jerry Remy tells about Manny proclaiming where he'll be traded too are both funny and indicative of Manny's say what you feel attitude.

Here are some reasons why the Red Sox should get AJ Burnett:
1. Lack of depth at starting pitching. Matt Clement has come down to earth, Wells has been decent but he's no #2, Miller is a #5 guy, Wakefield is a decent #4 but no better than that, and Arroyo just isn't consistent enough. This team needs more starting pitching from somewhere. Either from Schilling or from someone outside the team.

2. Schilling doesn't look impressive. He can be lights on or lights off. He doesn't seem capable of pushing off his leg in a comfortable way. Usually when starting pitchers move to the bullpen, their velocity increases. In Game 7 of the ALCS last season, Pedro came in and threw 97 even though in starting situations he rarely got to the 94 range. Schilling has been hovering around 88-92. That isn't the way it should be. When/If he returns to the rotation, how good will he be?

3. Despite the demand for Burnett, no-one seems to be willing to take Lowell. Lowell is making quite a bit of money. Lowell is having a very unproductive season, but his numbers in previous seasons are good. He batted .293 with 27 HRs in 2003. From 2000 to 2004, he averaged 24.6 HRs, and 94.6 RBI. He's a pull hitter and a righty which means The Monster would be very inviting. I think if we got this guy, he would produce for us. If we got this guy, we could trade Mueller to the Twins for JC Romero. If Lowell continued to struggle, we could plug Youkilis in there.

4. The money situation isn't that bad here. Lowell and Burnett would cost about $3.3M total for the last two months of the season. I'm sure Florida would send a few bucks for Lowell's salary. The Red Sox are at $121M right now which is high, but if you're going to invest $121M, wouldn't you be willing to risk $3M more in the hopes of putting you over the top. Besides, the Red Sox pull in around $200M in revenues and its not like they're trying to save money for a new ballpark. The Red Sox have about $20M worth of players that will be free agents next season. Bellhorn will be gone, Mueller probably won't be here, Damon is still unclear and might be swept up by New York, Timlin could be replaced by a younger player. The Red Sox have some younger, cheaper players in the minors so we could afford to re-sign AJ Burnett. I think Burnett would really help the rotation for the next few years.

5. Arroyo could move to the bullpen and improve that area of the team.

6. A potential playoff rotation of Clement, Burnett, Schilling, and Wells wouldn't be too shabby.

7. AJ Burnett has 3 fewer homeruns than Millar in 248 fewer At-Bats. Burnett's pace would result in 6 homeruns in the amount of at-bats Millar has had.

Makes you realise how much Millar sucks

The Red Sox called up Hyde Park's own Manny Delcarmen from AAA Pawtucket. Delcarmen is the first seriously good pitching prospect the Red Sox have brought up since Brian Rose. Hopefully Manny Delcarmen will do much better in the long run.