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Thought this would be a fun thread to start. Who Won The Trade? Trade #1- Sox send Gio Gonzalez, Daniel Hagwood and Aaron Rowand to the Phillies for Jim Thome and Cash. Gonzalez and Hagwood never pitch for the Phillies. Rowand plays (2) years, hits .290 with 39HR and 136RBI. Thome plays (4) years for the Sox. Hits .265 with 134 HR and 369 RBI. Trade #2- Sox send Freddy Garcia to the Phillies for Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez. Garcia only makes 11 starts for the Phillies going 1-5 with a 5.90ERA. Gonzalez never pitches for the Sox. Floyd goes 63-65 with a 4.22 ERA in 168 starts. Trade #3- Sox trade Gonzalez, Fautino De Los Santos and Ryan Sweeney to the A's for Nick Swisher. Gonzalez goes 38-32 with a 3.93 ERA in (4) seasons for the A's. De Los Santos goes 3-2 with a 4.21 ERA in (2) RP seasons. Sweeney hits .286 with 13 HR and 159RBI over (4) seasons with the A's. Swisher plays (1) season for the Sox, hitting .219 with 24HR and 69RBI's before being traded to the NYY.

As a certified fake GM, I hereby posit my 2 cents on the WS rebuild. First, it appears our future strength will be young pitching...hence I would be scouring for a defensively gifted catcher to mold and support our youngsters. Three minor leaguers worth noting are Sean Murphy (Oakland), Will Smith (Dodgers) and Andrew Knizner (Cardinals)...none of them will come cheap. Of the 3, I prefer Smith due to his ability to also play 3B on occasion. Now...to address area of greatest need, middle IF. I am not a fan of either Anderson or Moncada but between them, I would show more patience with Moncada. That said, I would shift him to 3B now and determine if he can stick there. I believe he can. Let Yolmer play 2B or bring up Rondon to finish year. If Moncada can cut it at 3rd, great. If not, I don't see much use in keeping him, especially if he might still hold any trade value. I'm guessing we can find a free agent who can hold down 3rd until Burger, Bush or ?? are ready. If needed, FA 3B are generally not too hard to come by. As far as Anderson, I get the fact he is athletic and fast afoot but, for me (remember I'm a fake GM), he is too unreliable. I would seek to trade him (see above 3 noteworthy catchers to target). I'm okay with him as a placeholder on a rebuilding team but I sure hope he isn't our SS two years from now (although I fear he will be). Hopefully we can find a defensive-minded SS for at least as long as it takes for Rivera or Sosa to arrive. 2nd base is Madrigal unless he flops, which I doubt happens. 1B is Collins' although I prefer a LH fielder at 1B. Collins also holds value as a backup catcher and occasional DH vs. RH pitchers. I would continue to scour market for a LH 1B who can flash leather (a la Rizzo) to save throwing errors from young IF'rs but can live with Collins if he can adjust. OF is rich in options. To me, Eloy is a lock but I can see him as DH in order to make room for any of surplus OF'rs. I don't know whether Robert can play CF better than Basabe or Gonzalez but I hope we can make room for all 3. My guess is between Rutherford, Steele and Adolfo, at least one will be traded, possibly this off-season. My sense is Rutherford holds the most trade value, especially to west coast teams (again, see 3 catcher/targets above with emphasis on Smith). So...around the horn 3B Moncada; SS FA until Laz or Sosa arrive; 2B Madrigal; 1B Collins; C any of above but partial toward Smith. OF Robert, Basabe, Gonzalez w/Eloy at DH. I wouldn't hesitate to move Avi, Abreu and/or Anderson if it aided in bringing over our catcher of the future and/or a LH fielding 1B or a young defensive oriented SS. My two top 'mind-trades' for the offseason: 1) Rodon to A's for Luzardo and Sean Murphy and 2) Anderson and Rutherford to Dodgers for Smith and Gavin Lux (ss). See you at World Series in 2020.