I'll plead to the guilty pleasure. It's a lot of fun.Grimace-HS said:Agreed....and this is really a pretty unique position that Boston is in. To have won three World Series championships this decade (and one just last year), and be in the selling position with a top-of-the-rotation left hander can really help retool. And the fact that Lester seems to be very open to returning, this could be a pivotal few days to set the stage for a long term core (perhaps even more than with the Varitek/Lowe trade). And Pittsburgh has the young talent (Bell/Taillon/??) to do it; and it is unlikely he'd sign long-term there anyways.
It is an odd position for them to have this type of a trading chip, and the next 48 hours could be key to the next 4-6 years.
But I'm a bit surprised at the lack of concern of how this could go sideways. They are called prospects for a reason. Many of them could fail to blossom, the great bulk of them in fact. There is no guarantee that trading partners will give you what you need, and there is a substantial risk that Boston begins to look dicey from a FA perspective.
For every Miami Marlins success story, there are countless Royals and Pirates disappointments. I suppose, though, we could try to buy our way out of this after a few down years.