The Red Sox bowed out of the Johaan Santana sweepstakes because the Twins wanted Ellsbury, so there is no way a package like that would even be considered.

no way we can pry ellsbury, lowrie and pedroia away from the red sox. rasmus be damned.

a) The Red Sox really like Ellsbury. Not happening.

b) We don’t need to upgrade in the outfield, and Ludwick is better than Ellsbury.

i think ellsbury is a felon, is what i think

Hard-nosed ball-player. Product of his home park.

.100 OPS and 25 OPS+ split home vs. away.

... get a moratorium on trade threads for the next month unless a trade actually occurs? or at least until there’s a published rumor with some credibility behind it? i know everyone is just trying to be creative and helpful, but it’s starting to get to be too much.

it’s going to be Coco Crisp.

Because why would we even be TALKING about trading for a CF? Lets not forget about the left side of our bullpen, or lack-there-of.

That is the most ludicrous trade idea I’ve heard this season. It makes no sense on BOTH sides.
In order for this kind of thing to not happen anymore, please use the following rules in “proposing trades.”
1) The team your team is trading with should be sellers at the deadline. (The only exception to this rule is a swap that can help both teams i.e. Ray Lankford for Woody Williams)
2) Ask yourself why the selling team would be selling this player. (last year on contract, bad contract, surplus of players at that position, prospects ready to play at ML level and current player not playing up to par)
3) Does this trade fill a need with your current team? (Does the acquisition improve your team? Has management stated they are searching for a player of this position? Have on field results revealed a major weakness to your team (weak offensive middle infield)?
4) Are the prospects you are giving up going to benefit the other team? (Will the prospect be blocked by a current star/current prospect playing in ML i.e. trading a 3b prospect to Washington while Zimmerman is there)
5) What type of prospect does the selling team seek? (Does the player fit into the new team’s mold i.e. Oakland wants players who have a high obp, pitchers with a low whip)
6) If the team is determined sellers, are they actually looking to trade this player? (is he on the untouchable list, cost controlled talent, is a backup ready to step in and take his place)

These seem like some basic guidelines to follow. If anyone has more they would like to add, feel free.

Rasmus will be our lead off hitter / center fielder. Ellsbury offers nothing that we don’t already get from Ankiel or Ludwick, in fact, i’d say both of them are better players.

Ellsbury is a nice little player with a fairly low ceiling. The Epstein man-crush is, to me, a bit misplaced, considering the guy’s peak is probably a slappy, high-OBP, fast leadoff man, maybe a poor-man’s Ichiro or Johnny Damon or something. His production is on par with Schumaker’s, and in some ways inferior, and is significantly below that of Ludwick and Ankiel. Considering he would be replacing one of these three, and likely blocking Rasmus in some way, I see no real scenario in which acquiring him is to the BOB’s advantage. He would cost more than he’s worth in terms of prospects as well, compounding the costly nature of his acquisition. However, this is one of the more unrealistic scenarios I’ve seen, considering that the Sox would not part with him as part of any package for Johan Santana, arguably the best pitcher in the game right now. The guy isn’t leaving unless it’s in a pine box.

Another issue I have here is the overall sloppiness of this post. I am not generally the grammar police, as I realize this is an internet forum. Most mistakes are honest ones that just kind of happen. However, this post possesses two sentence-ending punctuation marks in its entire body. It comes across as a stream-of-consciousness poured out onto a keyboard and then sent off. It is distracting and in no real way adds to any kind of intelligent baseball discussion. If I seem curt, I apologize and do not mean to personally disparage the author in any way. I do feel, however, that we as posters have a responsibility to maintain the high standards of this forum that lboros, azruavatar, the red baron, and houstoncardinal have set.