Red Sox wonder, "Who needs a GM anyway?"

A potentially crazy offseason is underway in earnest as some big names find themselves in a glamorous new location while the 2003 World Series Champs really put their back into their latest rebuilding effort. Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell are apparently headed to Boston in exchange for prospects Hanley Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez as well as a player to be named later. Somewhere, George Steinbrenner is displeased.

Now, Josh Beckett may be the most unproven star athlete this side of Michael Vick, but that doesn't mean he's not a fine pitcher. The 178 2/3 innings he pitched in 2005 were a career high. But, as has been well documented, his problem has largely been blisters rather than arm trouble, meaning he's made it to his mid-twenties with a relatively healthy arm. He still needs to figure out how to stay on the field for 200 innings or so if he's going to turn into the ace so many have been predicting for years that he would be. But 160 innings of Josh Beckett is not a bad worst case scenario.

A full season of Mike Lowell, however, might be pretty scary. The three-time All-Star third baseman utterly collapsed in 2005, batting a laughable .236/.298/.360. The Red Sox have the sort of budget that allows that to gamble on his bouncing back, but that's far from a certainty. He will only be thirty-two years old, and if he does regain his old form this deal could look like grand larceny, but right now, Lowell is just the salary the Red Sox have to take to get Beckett.

As for the other side, the Marlins get a couple of interesting prospects. Ramirez is a highly touted shortstop whose appeal has always been more "tools" than stats. This year he hit .271/.335/.385 in 465 at bats for AA Portland. His defense gets good reviews, but he's still got some improving to do before he'll start looking like an impact player at the major league level. Sanchez, on the other hand, is rather intriguing. After losing the entire 2003 season to elbow surgery, he's spent the last two years striking out more than a batter per inning at three different minor league levels without walking too many batters. Even predicting that he'd have a major league career as good as Beckett's would be foolishly bold, but if the Marlins are going to seriously rebuild, this is the kind of guy they should be getting in exchange for their high-priced stars.

So the Red Sox made a good deal for themselves that could wind up looking okay for the Marlins in a few years with some luck. As a Mets fan, of course I'm happy to see Florida taking a year off from competing for a division title. Seeing them exchange one of their premier players for a less than exorbitant price gives me some hope about the Carlos Delgado trade negotiations, too. But one thing is for sure. Sportscenter is going to show some highlights from game six of the 2003 World Series tomorrow.