ESPN: Red Sox trying to sign J.D. Drew, trade Manny

Is he insane?  probably.  does he clash with Stoneman and Scioscia's clubhouse?  probably, but not anything like Guillen.

I'd like to see this thread turn into a rigorous debate about who YOU would trade for Manny.....

My vote goes for Shields and Aybar.  In my estimation, Boston will want some pitching.  They are stocked with starters and have always coveted Shields.  Our signing of Spier (sp?) checks the loss of Scot.  We all know Boston loves OC, but so does Manny, and if he's here, there would be some good chemistry in the clubhouse.

You just know that we're going to hear soon about how the Red Sox accepted some miserable combination of minor leaguers and perhaps one every day player for ManRam.

Meanwhile, we won't be anywhere near the discussions, because Boston will demand a little more from us, and, well, we won't trade pitching, in the words of Stoneman it "would just hurt too much".

If he goes to the Dodgers for Billingsly, and/or Loney, I will be heartsick.

Heartsick.

I've pretty much given up the ghost at this point. I argued earlier this summer that we should be pursuing this guy with everything we've got. He's one of the greatest run producers of his generation.

But now, I'm sure we'll sit around and watch while others, real Stone Men, take action. Fuck it.

Let the "they can have him, he sucks" flaming begin.

The problem, obviously, is that we now have no room for him.  Vlad, GA, and Matthews cannot conceivably be part of any trade.  That only leaves Rivera, and I don't see a deal involving Rivera and others for Manny as likely.

That being said, I would still like to see us make a major move for someone like Tejada or, in the alternative, A-Rod.

I think we could benefit tremendously from a big bat at one of our corner infield spots, and I'm no longer convinced that D-Mac or Casey can be that bat.  Even though we have a very good team as is, we have not displayed enough consistency on offense the past two years to inspire confidence (at least on my part) in the current lineup.

Finally, I believe that both Shields and Figgins are (a) expendable and (b) likely to be at the height of their trade value.

For all of these reasons, I would like to see us send Figgins, Shields or Santana, and a top prospect (not named Wood) to land Tejada or A-Rod.  I think that type of package would be difficult for another team to turn down, and the benefit to us would outweigh the loss.