Crawford still has value and when he comes back next year an OF of him, Kemp and Either is pretty damn good. Good column, Matt.

"It’s being called the Mega-Trade, and hooray for that because what we need now is to put names on specific trades that make them sound like Transformer knock-offs."

My White Flag transforms into an AL Central pennant.

Matt, I am just not that impressed with that potential 2013 version of the Red Sox lineup. Inglesias will most likely be a glove first guy, Middlebrooks is not a middle of the order guy (does not have much plate discipline .325 OBP, and lacks the speed to sustain a .335 BABIP), and Ross is a nice hitter, yet his skills are a dime a dozen.

My point is, if the Sox want to compete they will need to get some legit production from LF and 1B as opposed to just finding players who "don’t actively hurt the team".

"Fixing Boston’s Problems: On the field
The on-field problems for the last-season 2011 Red Sox and the 2012 version were two-fold:
1) Gadawful starting pitching
2) Underperformance by previously star-level players"

I'm not sure that your 1 & 2 are two different things; their underperformance largley happened in the rotation. The offense was scoring runs with the best of them this year, and virtually every hitter that struggled eventually came around.

I would submit that 1) Gadawful staring pitching and 2) injuries were far more to blame than anything else, including Valentine, who should be fired immediately.

Boston's GM and ownership must be laughing uncontrollably behind the scenes while they smoke big ole fat stogies and knee slap over the number they just pulled on the Dodgers. What profligate waste on the Dodgers' part.

He may not be regressing, but what you do see with Adrian Gonzalez is a player that may be morphing into a different kind of player. His HRs, walks, and TAv have all fallen each year since 2009. He has managed to keep strikeout rate relatively constant during that same time period and we have seen a higher BA with more doubles.

His partially BABIP-fueled season last year was outstanding, but his BABIP has fallen back this year (as one would expect) to his more typical career numbers (.323 career vs. .329 this season).

When I look at Gonzalez, I see a guy that was a .280/35-40 HR guy in his peak changing into a .300 guy with declining HR numbers (but more doubles). His regression in his walk rate is concerning, but if that is a byproduct of his squaring up more pitches for line drive doubles, it isn't all bad.

So yes, I agree that he may not be declining, but I also would not expect the slugger version (circa 2009) of Gonzalez. If you're OK with a .300 hitting 1B who hits 20 HRs with a bunch of doubles, then he's your man.

But the frogurt is cursed.

MAURO GOMEZ BABY