Beckett to BO SOX!!!!!!!

Well, apparently Blalock and Danks or Diamond were not enough for the Marlins. According to DMN's Evan Grant
and ESPN.COM's Jayson Stark and Peter "I suck off the Red Sox given every opportunity" Gammons, Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell are going to Boston for three prospects. Most notably Hanley Ramirez who is Boston's best SS and position player in the minor league system, Annibal Sanchez who is an age-unknown Undrafted Free Agent pitcher who pitched decently at High A and Double AA ball along with a Player to be named later. Always, an intergral part of any deal. And oh yea, Florida is supposedly picking up some of Lowell's contract. Can Hicks ever get a deal done without getting taken to the cleaners? Still waiting.... Whatever the deal is, the Marlins are making a mistake not taking the Rangers deal.

Blalock just needs to not swing for the fences every AB. Ironically, his 25th birthday is the day he was almost shipped out of town. He has already played 3 full seasons in the big leagues and has the potential to be a perennial all star at 3rd. That alone makes him better than anything the Red Sox have to offer. I commend our GM, Jon Daniels, for his handling of this deal. Hicks obviously had a very close hand in the negotiating with Marlins Owner Jeff Lohria. The Marlins had the upper hand in this deal because everyone knows Hicks is desperate for an Ace. I just hope we aren't kicking ourselves in 5 years when Beckett is on the way to the Hall of Fame and Danks has thrown out his rotator cuff. Chances are the Rangers have to be right one of these times when it comes to pitching. I just hope the Rangers offered enough (and I think they did) to the Marlins to pick up a great pitcher in Josh Beckett but an increasingly older Mike Lowell would have been a big albatross of a contract. Owed 18 million over the next 2 years. But would Arias (shortstop acquired in deal with Yanks for Soriano) made the deal go?

Guess we'll never know now. Get back to work Jon...

Trust me, I was salivating at the thought of a healthy Josh Beckett pitching for the Rangers. Josh Beckett has stuff that Rangers fans have never seen in our uniform. For that reason alone, I was reluctantly going to be positive if the Blalock/Danks deal was finished. A true #1 starter (Beckett) with a FA signing (Tomko/Byrd/Morris), Chris Young, Dominguez would have been a great place to start your rotation. For that reason, I am sad this deal doesn't get done.

But assuming Blalock learns some patience, he will be a cornerstone player of this franchise with Mike Young and Tex (Boras willing). John Danks will hopefully be in the big leagues by 2007 at the latest and the Rangers will compete in 2006. We just need to find some pitching...

And that's always a nervous time for Ranger fans. I trust Jon Daniels in this offseason until proven otherwsise....