GM Trade History - Theo Epstein

Tony Womack lmao! that just made me laugh...i forgot about that guy

yes these r nice. im looking at all these trades and i cant see one trade on that whole list that really favored the red sox. i also didnt see one that was terrible either(meredith deal maybe). point is, just like beane, i think he gets way too much credit. the red sox have done a great job with their scouting and developing department but they certainly havent been built around great trades. i guess we dont get one for the cards because jocketty is gone. someone could still do one because mozeliak only has had control since this year. the cards have made one or two bad trades(one in particular comes to mind) but weve made some fantastic trades as well. wainwright, rolen, edmonds, and renteria all came from trades.

OK, let me start by saying great work on putting this together. A quick addition for you: I was checking out the Dave Roberts trade. The Sox traded Henri Stanley to get Roberts; we got Stanley earlier that season (May 15) from San Diego for Brett Bonvechio. That trade isn't reflected in the database of trades, so a heads up if you want to add it. Thanks for the fun!

Tbese are great resources and I'd love to see the series continue.

The "notable" draft picks seems lacking, though. What's the definition of "notable?" If just making the big leagues is considered a notable draft pick (which would be my definition), then David Murphy is missing from that list. He was drafted 17th overall in 2003.

some more missing draft picks other than murphy... which deserve possible notability would be michael bowden and jed lowrie in 05 (both 1st round) and justin masterson in 06(2nd)...
plus he drafted beau mills in 04,but he didnt sign.

Not all the trades look great, thing is Joelcards, that the best trades got the biggest players.
Lyon, De La Rosa, Fossum, and Goss for Schilling? I'd say Theo won that one.
And i'd say Theo won the Beckett trade (Ramirez is great but Beckett and Lowell helped a ton towards that last world series deal).
A lot of the little deals don't look like much. But the big deals have been real good to Theo so far, and the Sox really haven't given away that much talent, especially considering how much they still have in the minors. As long as they keep drafting well and landing a power pitcher every few years, I'm sold on Theo.

Sorry about the mistakes everybody, I try to minimize the errors but one or two manage to slip past. P.S., for the notable picks section I mainly put in guys who have made a somewhat major contribution to a major league club, I think I skipped over Murphy because I didn't make the connection that he was the same Dave Murphy playing for the Rangers. Also, I'm pretty sure the Millar deal is in the trades section. I have him being dealt for cash. elmedius, I didn't include them because they're basically still prospects and haven't made a major contribution. Thanks again everyone and I'll try and get the errors fixed asap.

Sorry, my mistake, red sox aren't really my forte, but don't really worry about being nitpicky, everyone's input makes these better every time I make a new one. There really isn't much on the draft pick tab anyway so I'll start to include prospects rated in the top 100 as well. Thanks for the suggestions.

I do not think a little more than 13 million combined constitutes incredibly high salaries. That is what Beckett and Lowell combined to make that first year. I think almost any contender trying to get over the top could afford that.

I think people have two mistaken beliefs. One is that a GM should not get credit for building a strong organization and everything that goes into that. Why a factor such as having good scouting should be a knock against a GM is an odd argument at best. All that really says is all GMs get too much credit good or bad, which while may be true proves the logic of the original statement false. The second is that you have to fleece people in trades to be a good GM. That is not exactly the job description. One place Theo or the red sox organization has done very well is finding the right players to fill the roles they need to win. When you think about how many scrap heap cast aways contributed to the 04 title it is pretty remarkable. My point is that the intangible of winning has to be considered in trades when evaluating them. It is impossible to say the red sox received no extra tangible benefit in the lowell/beckett deal considering how vital they were to the ultimate goal. Hanley starts a 6/70 contract next year btw.

Elmedius, perhaps if you read the talk about the Hanley trade you would see that was mentioned already a few times.

I think the trade is being discussed for the same reason you felt the need to offer your opinion on it directly after your post wondering why it was being talked about. It is a compelling trade that people enjoy discussing. The term salary dump is thrown around too often. To simplify Mike Lowell to salary dump is an incorrect assessment in my opinion. How is it purely a salary dump if like you say it is an upgrade for the Sox at 3rd? Overpaid for a non-contender at his abilities, yes, but to me salary dump means your contract is so ridiculous it completely hinders your ballclub or you have absolutely no ability and a sizeable contract. Neither was true of Lowell. I also do not get why the Sox would get no credit for evaluating Lowell's talent might translate well to hitting in fenway. They would not have taken him simply as a throw in, they knew they could use him. People also forget Hanley was coming off of his most dissapointing season in the minors and his defense was already in question. Lowell had some extra luck last year but that far from means he was or is worthless, Hanley developed into a star faster than many expected, Beckett returned to October to rule it again. Bottom line interesting win-win deal but since the red sox do not win the series in 07 without this deal then you have to give them the advantage. So, yes, little to nothing to do with Theo, but everything to do with the current red sox roster so worth discussing if desired.

I think Epstein is clearly a top 5 GM. Look at what he has done with his draft picks and international signings as compared to say CASHMAN. He hasn't really signed that many Free Agents overall. It seems like everyone's free agent signings are risky. I mean look at Epstein and Cashman objectively and is there any comparison at all? I wouldn't trade Epstein for any GM in baseball although I will admit that several are basically the same in performance.