The Baker Report -v- the Williams Report

On Wednesday, news of tremendous importance swept through the news world. Most of the world was awaiting news of the report from the Iraq Study Group about 'the way forward' for the United States in Iraq. The other major news; albeit of less importance to the world at large but just as importance in its own context - was the trade of Freddy Garcia from the Sox to The Phillies for......................um....................who are our newest Sox players ?

Everyone knew that something was going to happen with the Sox rotation, but this was stunning. The rumors, started by Williams, that Brandon McCarthy was going to start next year in the minors was obviously ridiculous. The only question was who was going to go to fine tune the team, and what was Chicago going to get in return. It transpires that we will find out what we got in return next decade.

There is no question that the Sox are dealing from strength when it comes to that most important of baseball factors, pitching. To contrast strengths, the Chicago Cubs also made a move yesterday by signing Ted Lilly ($40 million/4 years). My guess is he will become the #2 pitcher in the staff (depending on the return of Mark Prior and Kerry Wood) after their super starter, Carlos Zambrano. But the reality is is that he would have been a fine #7 starter on the Sox staff as of Tuesday night. However, with a team on the cusp of returning to the World Series, it might have made sense to, well, trade some prospects for established players !?!?

There's no question that Williams has pulled off some great signings and trades in the past, the Todd Ritchie experience not being one of them. I do have faith in his works (heh heh), 2005 being the greatest of all works. But there just has to be something else going on with this trade. As it stands right now, the 90 win Sox have just salary dumped one of the better pitchers in the game for two prospects. And yes, these prospects might very well come up giant in '09 or'10, but what about 2007?

Was the Garcia Dump just a precursor to more trades in the near future? Say, how much are the Yankees willing to pay on A-Rods contract ? What about the Sox's supposed needs, a center fielder and back up catching ? Now that James Baker et al are done with Iraq, perhaps we can have them form a Sox Study Group to find a way forward in this off season.