But I think Mendoza used to be on the Red Sox organization. Sort of a David Pauley/Kyle Snyder he seems.

I’m going to say no to both. Beckett is going nowhere. This year he’s been less impressive than he was in 2007, but he’s still a good pitcher. More importantly, he is the best active playoff pitcher in the game. He has three complete game shutouts in the playoffs and a 1.73 ERA. Kinsler’s a good player, but we already have a good second baseman, and Beckett would cost much more than Kinsler.

As for the Buchholz – Davis idea (note the two H’s in Buchholz), it doesn’t fit the Red Sox needs. We have a very good first baseman already in Youkilis, who can also cover third. Long-term we have heralded prospect Lars Anderson to cover first. Acquiring Davis in this context makes little sense. Also, Clay Buchholz, even with his recent struggles, is still one of the top pitching prospects in the game. His curve and change are plus plus pitches, and he has a decent fastball; Buchholz has dominated the minors throughout his entire career. Davis, from what I can tell, has only recently come onto the scene as a top player, starting the year in AA ball; he needs to repeat his performance to be worth Buchholz. I think the Sox are determined to hold onto Buchholz unless absolutely blown away by an offer – they aren’t going to trade him now, when he’s underperforming.

The Sox major area of need is catching, and here the Rangers and Sox match up well. Your farm system has several top catching prospects (Salty, Max Ramirez, and Teagarden); we have a deep farm system with plenty of pitching. I’d expect if the two teams make a trade, it’ll be centered around a Ranger catcher and a Sox pitcher (Bowden, Masterson, maybe Buchholz).

what about charlie zink?

the ERA leader board is tantamount to a list of pitchers ranked in order of goodness, especially for pitchers who have a sample size of 2.67 innings.

My point was that as much as mendoza has struggled, stealie needs to look no further than this very series to see a pitcher who’s struggled worse. Heck even feldman’s debacle tuesday night merits some note, though it falls way short of canceling out his many solid performances when the rangers sounded the call of duty this year, just as Mendoza’s occasional quality outings should be taken into account too. He is clearly struggling and way over his head in the big leagues right now but calling him the worst pitcher in the majors is a joke!