Dontrelle For Lugo?

If the Red Sox could get Dontrelle Willis to come over to Boston and recreate himself with Josh Beckett his former teammate then they would definitely be gaining a hell of a lot by just giving up Julio Lugo.

well all we need now is burnett and we would have the florida marlins ex starting staff. willis is an interesting guy. i would like to see him get back t form but for the money the sox will be paying to get him back into form? wayyy to much. lugo needs to go and there is no way the tigers will take him. if they do then see if you can rework willis' deal.

if we are gonna pick up 22 million for a pitcher go get cc sabathia, burnett, or ben sheets. not some "project"

It's not $22 million per season, its a 2 year deal, and it is rare to get a pitcher in a short-term deal. Next year the Red Sox rotation looks like 1. Beckett 2. Lester 3. Matsuzaka 4. Wakefield 5. Buchholz with Bowden fighting for a spot either out of spring training or before the All-Star break. This deal could make sense for the Red Sox if it is used to push Buchholz to fight for a spot, with upside if Willis earns it and contributes. One aspect I would like to see is if we would have the ability to send Willis to the minors like the Tigers did last year with him, because then if Buchholz earns his spot over Willis, the Dontrelle would be there if/when we need a starter with Bowden and would create another season of insane depth at SP for the Red Sox. Overall I would like this deal, and seeing as money isn't an impediment for the Red Sox (see Renteria, Edgar) and the fact that Lugo is replaced with a $350K player in Lowrie, I like the potential this deal contains for the Red Sox, and perhaps the Tigers get a league-average shortstop in the process, and it's a win-win trade of prohibitive contracts.

I don't know why the Tigers would want to trade a pitcher who could bounce back and be good again for a SS who was never that good and who I am not sure is any better than Ramon Santiago.

As an Orioles fan my only question is how does Duquette get to decide which trades make sense? He was terrible in Baltimore and now is terrible working for MLB. Things don't change just because you change jobs.

"The Red Sox have shown a willingness to take on reclamation projects in pitchers like Wade Miller and Bartolo Colon..."

Shouldn't these two be used as reasons why the the Red Sox shouldn't trade for Willis? Willingness and success are two different things...

Picking up the D-Train I think is a good idea when you think about it. Because if he can get back to being good and lets say Buchholz doesn't pan out like he's suppose to then he can be used as trade bait for a future player we might need. I like Buchholz alot and believe he's gonna be a really great pitcher but I just dont believe he's gonna be what I like 2 call a "Boston" pitcher. Even though he has showed promise, I dont know why but he reminds me of Bronson Arroyo just a tad better. But, you have to remember how much Arroyo was hyped in Boston for a while. I think Clay is a at most # 4-5 starter , the highest 3 but no more. Dontrelle on the other hand can be a 2,3, or 4. But when they're both performing their best D-Train takes the cake.

How is everyone forgetting Justin Masterson as a rotation candidate? The only reason he is in the bullpen is need, not because he's shown he belongs there. He's shown, to date, that he may be a more consistent major league starter than Clay Buchholz. Maybe not the same "upside" but he has surely gone past Clay in the depth chart.

As for Lugo, first off, he's costing 9 million a year for two more years. Beyond a doubt the worst contract Theo has given, non-JD Drew division. If you can trade him without having to pay his salary, you ought to do it. Anything that Dontrelle gives is icing on the cake.

And furthermore, if Dontrelle fails to return to his prior form at all, their pitching depth, with Buchholz and Bowden waiting for a chance, gives them the freedom to take a flier.

And furthermore, that's assuming they don't use the payroll flexibility to go after C.C.!

Wait, scratch that. Willis would be getting paid more than Lugo. As per Cot's Baseball Contracts, Lugo will be paid $9mil for '09, $9mil for '10, as a $9mil vesting option for '11. Willis would be getting pad $10mil for '09, and $12mil for '10.

I should also mention, IF this trade was done, then I'm sure the BoSox could always use Buchholz as a trading chip to acquire a promising young catcher (I'm looking at you, Salty) and then some.

Plus, like some of you have mentioned, they still have Masterson and Bowden as depth pitchers with tons of upside, so why not trade some of your surplus (in this case, young pitchers) for an improvement somewhere else (ie. catcher)?

Dontrelle Willis could stab a small child in the face and take a dump on the mound during the singing of Sweet Caroline and still be more valuable than Julio Lugo.

I'd trade Lugo for a malignant tumor.

His average season is irrelevant. Take a good look at his two most recent seasons. Or, try plotting his stats on a graph and see how that turns out.

Willis is a mess. To think that he can bounce back is taking an extremely optimistic perspective on his situation.

That's not to say that this is a bad deal. Just don't get your hopes up too high that he will suddenly remember how to pitch. The Tigers thought they had figured out the Dontrelle puzzle. Obviously, they failed miserably.

I think the least that Detroit should get for Willis is a SS with a reasonable ceiling. Lugo would just mean that they're going to want to get a new SS when he gets as bad as Reteria. Personally, I'd say completely switch up the infield and let Guillen take over SS again and grab up a talented 1B or 3B depending on where they want Cabrera (Dimitri Young probably wouldn't be too expensive). Or maybe give Matt Joyce or Mike Hessman a shot at a regular job. I think they have a lot of options, which is one of the few things going for this team since they cleared out their farm.

Who said Dontrelle was getting a spot in the major league rotation?

As silly as this sounds... a trade straight up actually hurts the Red Sox more than dealing with Lugo on his own. The Sox can eat his contract and probably still get at least an ok reliever. Or worst case scenario, force Lugo into a utility role slash back up plan in case of injury.

I'm willing to bet Willis has reached his high water mark on his career. He'll get decent contracts once this one is over, but it'll be mostly because of the desperate hope that he could regain his 2005 magic.

Renteria always has a higher RZR and OOZ/9 than Lugo does.

Renteria has no range left, and at this point is much less athletic than Lugo, who is a significantly better defensive shortstop than Renteria. Another thing to consider here is the health of both players. Lugo has been out with his quad injury, and Willis pitched 60-something innings between the majors and minors this year, which significantly decreases both players' value.

Lugo is not worth$18 million, and you cant just trade him straight up. The BoSox might have to make a deal similar to the Beckett/Lowell trade.
Boston wanted Beckett and Florida was willing to trade him as long as Lowell was included. (No team wanted Lowell). So here is a deal that could possibly work.
Youklis and Lugo for a ML ready starter and a catcher.
Then the money from saved from Manny go out and sign Texiera.

"Youklis and Lugo for a ML ready starter and a catcher."

Why do people constantly seem to believe Youk is the guy the Sox are ready to trade? It makes absolutely no sense. Youk is one of the Sox best hitters, a gold glover at first, has the rare ability to hit in almost any spot in the batting order, and has the mentality to play for a team like Boston. Add to that, the Sox have no one waiting in the wings to take over first, Anderson is likely to spend most of next year in Portland, maybe the last month in Pawtucket. And don't count on them signing Tex.

I doubt the Sox have any interest in moving Youk. Once Lowell is gone, Youk will be shifted to 3B and Lars Anderson will take over at 1B.

I don't see the reason for the Sox to trade Lugo for Willis. Like someone said earlier, they could just eat most of his salary and get a decent bullpen piece instead of taking on a reclamation project making MORE than Lugo. This is actually nothing like the Wade Miller/Bartolo contracts since they were both for low money/minor league type deals.

"If you fully read my post, I stated that the money you save from Manny ($20 million). The Red Sox could sign Mark Texiera. Youkilis is a good player but does have the power like Tex does.
Varitek is getting old and unproductive, the Sox need fresh blood behind the plate someone like Salty from Texas."

So cliche to throw his name out. Not to mention the Youk idea. Theo would only trade Youk if it was for Peavy and the Padres picking up his contract.

Wow. Youkilis will not be traded... ever.

"Youkilis is a good player but does have the power like Tex does."

That statement is actually laughable:

Kevin Youkilis: .309/26 HR/107 RBI/41 2B/.553 SLG
Mark Teixeira: .304/32 HR/119 RBI/38 2B/.547 SLG

Oh, and Teix has played in 11 more games, with 31 more AB's. Youk is actually slumping now, though, hitting .231 this month. Regardless, he is staying in Boston for a long time.

Now I'm just waiting for Dustin Pedroia rumors to fly haha.

"and he has played outfield with the Angels"

Angels huh? I wonder if Mike Scioscia knows he put Julio Lugo out there?

He has played a handful of games in the outfield for Houston and the Dodgers.

"That statement is actually laughable"

No it isn't. Youk is an excellent player with a great eye, but he is not the proven, consistent power hitter Teixiera is.