Earlier today, ESPN's Buster Olney joined WEEI's Mut & Merloni to talk all things Red Sox and we have the highlights courtesy of Annie Maroon..
- One major league GM told Olney that the Red Sox would get nothing by trading pitcher Alfredo Aceves. His trade value is extremely low because of his reputation as a poor teammate, though it's conceivable that he could go elsewhere and rebound. The best Boston could do might be to get some salary relief for Aceves and a team starving for bullpen help like the Angels could be a fit.
- Rival teams were shocked that the Dodgers gave up both Allen Webster and Rubby De La Rosa in the blockbuster trade seeing as how they were taking so much dead money off of Boston's payroll. In fact, baseball people felt that Red Sox GM Ben Cherington pulled off one of the best trades in years, even when factoring in all of the talent he parted with.
- Olney sees Mike Napoli’s hip condition impacting the offers he’ll see as a free agent next year but he was surprised to see the catcher's deal affected so much by the hip issues this past offseason with the Red Sox. Olney expected another team to jump in while the deal was in limbo and steal him away, but that didn't happen. At the same time, it's possible that Napoli had other attractive offers on the table but decided that he liked the situation in Boston and the chance to show that he can provide value at first base.
