We should have demanded Pujols from the Cardinals in exchange for Lugo.

I like it. At first I didn’t, mainly because I was greedy and wanted Halladay or A-Gon. But V-Mart can give us one good year plus the prospects when he walks. Until then he can switch from first to dh to and do some catching, which can give some flexabilty when deciding matchups. If he turns out to suck then he’ll be benched more and that will be that. I don’t see Kotchman creating a log jam simply because I think he’ll be traded at some point.

Boston aquires Kotchman, and Sports writer hacks call it a “Slick move by boston”. Yet before he was just an OK first baseman. Looks like the Angels were the smart ones unloading him last hear to “rent” Texeara and fill in the better hitting Morales. Casey only really plays first base, and you have have one of the best hitting firstbaseman next to Pujos. Hmmmm Me wonders if there is more down side to Big Poppy and the ’roids then we know of.

victor was almost a total win for us. Masterson will help them, he should be a starter immediately, and who knows, maybe Hagadone will be a major leaguer. But as we all know, we didn’t even come close to touching our top prospects, and they wanted masterson, who was one of the most expendable guys on the team. i don’t need to make the point that martinez is a capable hitter, we all know that, so I’ll move on to the

Kotchman Controversy. I like this move as well. Although I was expecting a move for a relief pitcher or outfielder, this gives more insurance to the fragile duo of Tek and Lowell. If Lowell goes down then Youk moves over and V-Mart plays first, but then the catching is 100% Tek, or four out of five which is what he has been doing and guess what, he’s beat up like crazy. That’s where kotchman and his decent bat and great glove come in. Tek is gonna need a little bit of time off, and that won’t hurt the team too much. His presence alone gives him value. But with the additions of Kotchman and V-Mart, we have an almost indestructible corner infielder, and more importantly, catcher corps. most teams would die for depth at catcher, and we’ve got it, good depth at that.

All that being said, i wish we had another outfielder. And one more thing, when Wake gets back, it’s to the bullpen with Smoltz.

FUTURE HALL OF FAMER, OR NOT, SMOLTZ NEEDS TO RETIRE NOW AND SAVE HIMSELF FURTHER EMBARRASSMENT. HE’S THROUGH; SOMEBODY NEEDS TO TELL HIM. I DOUBT THAT HE WILL BE EFFECTIVE AS A RELIEVER. HOW MANY TIMES HAS HE SCREWED UP IN THE FIRST INNING WHEN STARTING? CAN’T HAVE THAT AS A RELIEVER.

I agree with the opinion that there may not be enough at-bats around this year (although I`m sure Martinez will get plenty of work) but this trade may be aimed more at next year and beyond. Eventually, Martinez takes over for Varitek, Youkilis moves to third when Lowell retires and Kotchman steps in at first. Kotchman is actually a very good hitter, though more of a doubles man, a fine fielder and still very young at 26.
This team has just improved its line-up, and future.