Welcome to Boston, Victor Jesus Martinez

Let the handshakes begin!

LaRoche Back to Braves

Yahoo!’s Gordon Edes is reporting that Adam LaRoche is headed back to the Atlanta Braves, one of his former teams. No word yet on who the Sox received in return.

I don’t know about you, but I thoroughly enjoyed the Adam LaRoche era.

***UPDATE: NESN is reporting that the Sox are receiving first baseman Casey Kotchman in the deal, which only raises further questions. Looks like there must be something else going on.

FOX Reporting No Buchholz or Bard in the Martinez Deal

Fox Sports is reporting that the Sox are on the verge of completing a deal for Victor Martinez, one that will include neither Clay Buchholz nor Daniel Bard.

Let me repeat that:

NEITHER BUCHHOLZ NOR BARD IS INCLUDED IN THIS DEAL.

Whew.

If that is the case, I would bet my meager life savings that another blockbuster is in the works.

Could this mean Halladay?

We shall see.

***UPDATE: Sources are now reporting that the Sox are sending Justin Masterson and pitcher Nick Hagadone plus a 2007 first-rounder to the Indians for Martinez.

USA Today: Martinez to Boston

Bob Nightengale of USA Today just reported via Twitter that the Sox are about to complete a deal for the Indians’ Victor Martinez:

@BNightengale: The Red Sox are about to acquire Victor Martinez from Indians.

We’ll soon learn whether there’s any truth to this, but in the meantime count me among those who hope it’s legitimate.

Trade Deadline Predictions

Here we are, folks. We’ve finally arrived at one of my favorite sports days of the year – Trade Deadline Day. Before 4 PM rolls around, I thought I’d toss out a couple thoughts:

What I hope happens that I think actually could: The Sox trade for Victor Martinez, CLE

Will V-Mart be on the Sox by day's end?

I’ll admit it – I have a man crush on Victor Martinez. 30-years-old, Martinez can hit for both average and power and he’s still young enough to continue improving. He also plays both catcher and first base and – while not the greatest defensive catcher – Martinez could at least take the strain off Varitek from time to time. When not catching, Martinez would take the helm at first, moving Youkilis back to his natural position at third. Plus, by all accounts Martinez is a superb clubhouse guy – the kind of player the 2004 World Champion Sox were built around. He’s been known to create handshakes for every member of his team (shades of Orlando Cabrera), and he is generally regarded as a fun guy to be around. Martinez would be a breath of fresh air for a Sox team sorely lacking in color and characters. All in all, a deal for Martinez seems like a win-win, though I’m hesistant to hope for it because of an earlier report from Peter Gammons explaining that the Sox already refused a Clay Buchholz-for-Martinez deal. Right now, the rumor mill is pumping out stories of a possible three-teamer, in which the Sox would part with Buchholz and possibly LaRoche, while receiving Martinez and something else in return.

What I hope happens that I think is completely unrealistic: The Sox trade for Roy Halladay, TOR

Or will it be Halladay?

Though just yesterday the Sox were considered the frontrunners to land Halladay, I just don’t see it happening. Theo simply won’t want to part with the prospects it would take to get a deal done. It’s been argued – and I’m not going to totally disagree – that Theo overvalues his prospects, protecting guys like Buchholz from being dealt far past any logical timeline. Everyone forgets that Clay is only 7 months younger than Jon Lester. The developmental discrepancy between these two guys at this point in their respective careers should tell the whole story. Sure, maybe in two or three years Clay will finally figure it all out and come back to haunt the Sox, and that’s fine. That’s the risk you take. But it’s not like he hasn’t been given a chance to succeed. He’s 25 years old. If  Buchholz is traded and he becomes a star in three years, no one – well no one intelligent, that is – is going to eviscerate Theo for dealing away some unknown youngster who just needed a little bit of spit and polish to become an ace. Maybe if he was 21, but he’s not. A guy like Halladay, however, is a known quantity. Everyone knows that for the next couple years, barring injury, he is going to dominate. That’s just a fact. With Buchholz, you can’t be sure. It’s the difference between potential and proven. Sometimes I think MLB general managers like potential a little too much. Theo’s certainly fallen victim to this. You can get too cute, trying too hard to farm-raise the next homegrown superstar. And sometimes it works wonders, like with Pedroia, but a lot of times these top-level prospects flame out and their actual value – as trade bait in a productive deal – is wasted (see: the immortal Craig Hansen). You can’t run an actual major league organization like it’s ESPN Fantasy Baseball. If you can get a dominant starter like Halladay, you do it. Don’t overthink it. The Yankees did that a couple years ago when they failed to trade for Johan Santana. Maybe it’s just me, but I’d like the Sox chances in a playoff series if they could trot out a 1-2-3 of Beckett, Lester, and Halladay. There’s just no arguing with that. If I was a major league GM with a chance to get it done, I would.

What I think will happen: The Sox trade for Adrian Gonzalez, SDP

What about Gonzalez?

There have been hints that the Sox and Padres are in talks regarding Gonzalez and generally when there’s smoke, there’s fire. It’s been my observation that as the deadline nears, the big time rumors are usually false – this doesn’t mean the teams in question aren’t doing anything, it just means they aren’t doing what everybody thinks they are doing.  Sources are sources, but the Red Sox run a pretty tight ship, especially when it comes to negotiations. And after getting burned by the Mark Teixeira negotiations, they’ll be especially careful not to tip their hand early on. So, while everything I’ve heard points to Victor Martinez, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see a Gonzalez deal emerge last-minute. Gonzalez is a good player with some pop in his bat and he’s only 27, which is a big plus. As a lefty with power, he could absolutely rake in Fenway. Hell, he had 40-homer potential in the cavernous Petco. His .250 average worries me slightly, however, and I hope his steadily declining numbers over the last few years (.304, .282, .279, .252) aren’t a sign of things to come.

Regardless, I expect to see a deal completed before the end of the day, though who knows when it will happen. We all remember last year, when the Manny trade wasn’t announced until the deadline had come and gone. So enjoy the rumors, everyone, and stay tuned.

It is, after all, one of the best days of the year.

Official Game Six Response

ESPN could report tomorrow that David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez were operating a worldwide steroid ring headquartered in the Green freakin’ Monster and it still wouldn’t change this:

More Breaking News: Sportscenter Now Unwatchable For Foreseeable Future

Breaking News: Ortiz and Ramirez Tested Positive in ’03

Ringling Bros.

Lawyers with knowledge of the results told the NY Times today that both Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003.

Here comes the circus.

Yet Another Satisfied Customer

How many does LeBron have?

“(Actually, I was wrong: LeBron was a better scorer than MJ during one season. In 2003-2004, Lebron’s rookie year, he scored almost one more point per game than Jordan, with a 20.9 PPG.

Jordan was 38 and playing for the Wizards.)”

What are you trying to say? LeBron James has scored 31.4 PPG for a season, are you saying MJ has never scored less than that in a season besides his final year in the league?

Your argument makes no sense. Are you adjusting those stats for pace? The pace of the game is much slower now, with fewer possessions per game and less scoring.

And you talk about LeBron behind horrible from behind the arc? Jordan didn’t shoot above .300 until his 6th year in the league! LeBron has shot above .300 every year except his rookie season (.290)

Through their first 6 seasons, 3pt%:
MJ: .282
LJ: .328

For you to suggest that LeBron is awful from behind the arc and won’t improve his ridiculous speculation.

You also said that 2 rebounds and 1 assist per game more was ” the stuff of legend right there.”

2 RPG and 1 APG may not sound like much, but when you’re comparing that to the GREATEST OF ALL TIME it is the STUFF OF LEGENDS RIGHT THERE.

I didn’t even finish your article because it is so completely biased.

– JW

Is that you, LeBron? So you ARE a Game Six reader! I knew it!

But wait, why did you sign your comment “JW?” Ohhhh, I get it.

It stands for “Jordan Wannabe,” doesn’t it?

Six Flags New England Unveils New Roller Coaster

Don't look down, Sox fans.

It’s called “The Papelbon.”