Sox Shopping Beckett

Sox Shopping Beckett

The demise of the Boston Red Sox began last September.  That is when Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz and John Lackey took it upon themselves to turn the Red Sox clubhouse into a fast food restaurant that served beer during games.  Beckett was the alleged ringleader of the insubordinate foursome and is the only one of the four to show no remorse for his actions.

Now, the Red Sox are trying to rid themselves of the Texas Twit.

Multiple published reports claim that the Red Sox continue to have discussions with the Texas Rangers about sending Beckett to the Lone Star State.  The problem is that the Rangers are apparently luke warm, at best, about bringing the high-priced, underachiever to Arlington.

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It's hard to blame them.  For the past couple of years, the Rangers have been the class of the American League and are right there again this year.  Why would they want to bring such a disruptive force into their otherwise harmonious lockerroom, particularly one who has performed so poorly on the mound?

The answer is that every team is looking for quality starting pitchers and Nolan Ryan and company may believe that Beckett can still be a quality pitcher in this league.  Maybe the Rangers believe that a change of scenerey will jump start Beckett's season and that he will be motivated to be the ace he once was after leaving Boston.  Those are a lot of "if's."

A few things seem certain.  First, there appears to be very few teams, if any, interested in Beckett.  Second, if the Red Sox are able to move him in a deal, they will likely receive very little in return.  Thirdly, it is very likely that Boston would have to pick up a big chunk of Beckett's contract which has almost $36 million remaining over then next 2 1/2 seasons.

Boston apparently tried to move Beckett during the offseason but was unsuccessful in doing so.  If they are unable to move him before Tuesday's trading deadline, he still could be placed on waivers by the team and free for any team to claim or work out a deal with the Sox for.  Boston did something similar with Manny Ramirez in his final few years with the club.  Having become disgruntled with Ramirez and his carefree attitude, the team placed him on waivers each August hoping that a team would claim him and his $20 million a year contract.  None did.

Another option for the team, and one which many believe is the most likely, would be that Boston ships Beckett to another team following this season.

The only problem is that there isn't a big market for a pitcher with a 5-9 record and an ERA of 4.57 who makes $15 million a year.  But that doesn't mean that Boston will stop trying to move him.