[NT!]

there was no reason to expect crisp to underperform so badly. he seemed like a good fit for boston, got hurt and wasn't ever really the same. he projected much better than he has been. i was fine with that trade at the time. we got a crap prospect in marte but we flipped him before the indians had a chance to realize he was crap [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

theo has made some dubious moves but he gets away with it because boston has a great scouting / farm system and a big payroll. the matsuzaka signing will pan out for us - dice did pretty well for his first year in the AL East. it took beckett a full year to adjust, now look at him. you also help yourself by putting up that money, because if the sox don't get the bid, there's a good chance he ends up on NYY. hence you hurt your opponent while helping yourself.

the drew and lugo signings are pretty blah so far, but i think they learned from the renteria debacle - they won't give up on those guys right away, and they're both likely to bounce back next year.

kason gabbard showing anything other than AAAA caliber stuff is baffling. the guy languished in pawtucket for a long time, never really seemed to have it together. we have a bunch of other guys with similar minor-league numbers (corey, hansack, etc) and a wealth of young pitching talent coming up through the lower minors. there really wasn't much room for gabbard or murphy on the sox in the next few years, and they are both pretty old for being marginal prospects. nothing wrong with giving these guys up while in GFIN mode, the problem was not figuring out that gagne was hurt. i think everyone had an inkling that he was hiding an injury (hell, how else did we get him so cheap?) but the sox decided to say [censored] it, let's see if he can help out. it's a gamble worth taking when you can deal guys who are blocked anyway or nearing the end of their window.

none of these moves (other than bard/meredith, that was awful) are half as bad as your buddy thinks. theo isn't the genius he is heralded as, but he is a bold GM with the luxury of great job security who generally does a good job.

i didn't hear your friend mention anything about how he has patched together the best bullpen in baseball from a couple of young farm system studs, some journeyman vets and a guy who was supposed to be dice-k's caddy when they brought him over. or about how the sox are loaded with young pitching talent and have more of it coming up through the minors as we speak. beckett's extension was a great deal for us and we already have maybe the best post-arb SP contract in baseball in timmy dubs.

theo is overrated, but he does a good job nonetheless.