Headache in a Suitcase said:
i have a question for our sawk fans...
would you rather have
a) mike lowell and josh beckett
or
b) hanley ramirez (and his future) and the huge salary number that beckett and lowell make, which of course could be spent on another pitcher, although that pitcher might not be as good as beckett...
If I may answer.
About this time last year when Anibal Sanchez threw his no hitter, Beckett was struggling, Lowell was cooling off and Hanley was dominating, the answer was easily b.
A year later, the answer is a.
Beckett is a legit Cy Young candidate this year (that race is still wide open thanks in large part to Johann Santana being human in 2007), and frankly Mike Lowell is a legit MVP candidate. We all know Arod will win it, but Lowell's numers, .333 18 HR 101 RBI currently, on the best team in baseball (sorry John Lackey), make him worthy of a top 5, probably top 3 finish. If Arod hadn't had the April he had, Lowell might be odds on favorite, especially considering the production drop offs from Manny and Ortiz.
The salary for both is quite palatable this year, Lowell has proven that 2005 was the aberration and will get a decent offer (whether its from the Sox remains to be seen) this winter, and Beckett's extension looks like a stroke of brilliance by Epstein in this the Gil Meche era of MLB.
Hanley Ramirez has turned out to be better than advertised, and he was advertised as the Sox' top prospect, so thats saying something. I'd love to have him in Boston, but it was a price worth paying to get an ace type pitcher like Beckett, its much easier to find a shortstop than a frontline starter. Heck the Red Sox have gone out and found 73 shortstops since trading Nomar in 2004.
And Sanchez has become persona non grata in FLA after his no no, so not concerned about his addition to the deal tilting the scale in the south's favor.