The trade deadline ended without a bang from the Red Sox. The biggest deal of the day for the Sox was the acquisition of Craig Breslow for Albers and Podsednik. We all waited for something to happen with Josh Beckett and a lot of us were bummed to find out he would be on this team for the foreseeable future. This morning, WEEI's Rob Bradford wrote that the Red Sox looked to deal Josh Beckett, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Kelly Shoppach to the Rangers for an unknown return.
According to multiple major league sources, one potential deal discussed by the Red Sox and Rangers prior to the non-waiver trade deadline included a package that would have sent Josh Beckett, Jacoby Ellsbury and Kelly Shoppach to the Rangers. It is unclear what player compensation the two teams discussed going from Texas to the Red Sox in such a deal.
The proposal was described by one source as nothing more than a theoretical back and forth of ideas that never progressed to the point where the Red Sox approached Beckett to discuss his 10-5 rights (which give the pitcher, as someone with 10 years in the majors and five with one club, the opportunity to veto a deal). Another source classified the talks as having reached a more advanced stage before hitting a wall.
"We did feel empowered to do something bold, we just didn't find something bold that made sense for us," Cherington said. "We explored a lot of things that were bold, and maybe even got close to a couple of things, but we just didn't feel like there was anything of the big, bold variety that made sense for us right now."
There was no deal involving Beckett that advanced to the stage where the pitcher was alerted by the Red Sox front office that a deal might be taking place.
We all expected something to happen involving Josh Beckett because the Red Sox were openly shopping him. There were also trade rumors involving Shoppach, as many teams were interested in his services. Dealing those two guys would be fine because the Sox have immediate replacements in Franklin Morales and Ryan Lavarnway.
The immediate replacement for Jacoby Ellsbury would possibly be Ryan Kalish and prior to his injury, I would have been fine with it. Ryan Kalish is still trying to get back to where he should be and his bat was just recently coming around in Pawtucket. Kalish had some good at-bats in Boston during his first stint this season, but had more downs. The Red Sox center fielder of the future is Jackie Bradley, that is if Jacoby Ellsbury doesn't stick around long-term. Jackie Bradley was promoted to AA Portland during this season, so he is one maybe 2 years away from being ready for the Majors.Jacoby Ellsbury hasn't knocked our socks off since returning from the DL, so Kalish as a replacement may not have been too bad.
Now we know that the Sox may try to get something in return for Ellsbury in the future before the potential loss to free-agency.
I am dying to know what the Sox would have received in return from Texas.
