Sox Trade Ramirez, Sanchez

Two of last summer's "untouchable" prospects were dealt by the Red Sox to the Florida Marlins yesterday. Athletic shortstop Hanley Ramirez and hard-throwing righty Anibal Sanchez, along with Jesus Delgado are heading to Miami in exchange for one former Sea Dog, Josh Beckett (another hard-throwing righty) and third baseman Mike Lowell. As I write this, the deal is pending physicals for all players involved.

A lot was made last summer of the fact that then-general manager Theo Epstein went on record as saying that Ramirez and Sanchez, along with infielder Dustin Pedroia and pitchers Jonathan Papelbon and Jon Lester, were "untouchable" in any trading deadline deals. I've heard some speculation that this deal represents a change in philosophy now that Theo is gone, but I don't believe that's the case. Given the opportunity to get at least two years of Josh Beckett, I think Theo would have pulled the trigger.

I like the trade. If the Sox are going to trade prospects, Beckett is exactly the guy that they should be getting. He'll be 26 next year, just hitting his prime. 'Course, I'd like it even more if Beckett had ever made 30 starts in a season, but I'm choosing to be optimistic. Beckett has been beset with blister problems throughout his career. However, he set many career highs in 2005, pitching 179.2 innings over 29 starts, finishing with a 15-8 record, 3.38 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and 166/58 K/BB ratio. Beckett throws extremely hard but has decent control. When he's on, as he was in the 2003 playoffs, he is simply dominant.

Lowell has two years at $9 million per remaining on his contract. There is a lot of speculation that he will be shipped off in another deal, with the Red Sox eating some of the money, but I'm not certain that will be the case. With Bill Mueller now a free agent, the Sox may be in the market (though Kevin Youkilis is the heir apparent). Lowell was brutal with the bat last year (236/298/360-8-58), but given his track record I would think that he's likely to hit at least as well as Mueller did this year (295/365/430-10-62) while providing better defense - Lowell won the NL gold glove this year. Best case scenario is that he returns to the 30 homer, 100 RBI form that he showed in 2003-04. Everybody seems to think that Lowell will continue to be the terrible hitter that he was last season. While that could very well be the case, given his track record I see no reason to expect it.

If Lowell is moved, Youkilis would slot nicely at third base, but if Lowell sticks I can also see him taking over for Kevin Millar at first. Youkilis would undoubtedly be an upgrade here. He has terrific on-base skills, batting 278/400/405-1-9 in less than 100 plate appearances for Boston, and he absolutely destroyed AAA pitching (322/459/592-8-27 in 43 games). Youks will be 27 next year, just entering what should be his peak season, and he clearly could be an offensive force for the next couple of years.

Beckett and Lowell could both fill needs for the 2006 Red Sox, but was it worth it to trade two top prospects? In this case, I think so. I followed Ramirez and Sanchez closely this year. They're both terrific players, but both tradeable, too.

Sox fans have been tracking the progress of Hanley Ramirez for several years. Athletic and exciting to watch, I consider Ramirez a true five-tool player. However, Hanley didn't exactly take a leap forward in 2005 as I had expected, and in fact wasn't as good as in '04. After being promoted to Portland in August of that season, Ramirez tore up AA pitching to the tune of a 310/360/512-5-15 line over 32 games. Hanley started the 2005 season strong, but struggled a lot and ultimately finished at 271/335/385-6-52. Ramirez' speed was evident as he finished with 7 triples and 26 stolen bases.

A hitter who displayed terrific opposite-field gap power when he first arrived in Portland, Ramirez seemed to be intent on pulling the ball a lot this year, resulting in a ton of ground ball outs. There were some positive signs, as the reputed "free swinger" improved both his walk and strikeout rates. I don't actually consider Ramirez to be a free swinger, as he doesn't chase an inordinate number of bad pitches. He's just good at putting the ball in play, resulting in few walks. Ramirez is also a flashy glove man with good range and a strong arm, but he did commit a few errors that seemed to be the result of a lack of concentration on his part.

He's still a top prospect, but he's also blocked by Edgar Renteria for three more years, and the Sox have another top SS prospect (Jed Lowrie) who will likely make it to Portland by the end of the year and will potentially be ready to step in with the big club when Edgar's contract is done. Additionally, after all the years of buildup, there would be huge expectations for him in Boston. It may be better for his career to start out in an out-of-the-way place like Florida, where he may be the starting shortstop in 2006.

As for Sanchez, of the "big three" pitching prospects, he's the least advanced and has had the biggest injury history. Sanchez had a terrific 2005 season split between High-A Wilmington an AA Portland. In 25 total starts, Sanchez pitched 136 innings and recorded a 2.85 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and 158/40 K/BB ratio. However, he developed a tired/sore arm toward the end of the season and averaged just five innings per start over his 11 Portland appearances. Given his prior arm troubles, that's a bit of a red flag. Sanchez has loads of upside - he throws mid-high 90's heat, a nice changeup and excellent control. His ceiling appears to be somewhere between Tim Hudson and Pedro Martinez. Still, Papelbon is already in the bigs and looking comfortable there, and Lester the same age as Sanchez, a half a season ahead in development, and left handed. I don't see the Red Sox ever having room to put three young guns in the rotation at once, so at least one of them had to go.

Ultimately, the Sox traded from strength here and solved a couple of problems. This is the way trades are supposed to go. I'd have loved to have seen both Hanley and Anibal playing in Fenway Park, but I think the trade helps the team, so I'm for it.