The Red Sox are attempting to strike a three-way deal with the Rockies and Padres, with third baseman Mike Lowell shipped out of town and first baseman Ryan Shealy arriving here from Colorado. The Sox also would presumably obtain a more-than-reputable starter.

Another name to keep in mind as a trade option today is San Francisco right-hander Jason Schmidt, who, according to multiple sources, was being made available by the Giants.

Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox starter David Pauley also was mentioned as part of the Red Sox’ trade packages-primarily to the Rockies.

According to The Boston Globe, the Red Sox are discussing a deal with Tampa Bay and San Diego that would bring Devil Rays infielder Julio Lugo and Padres setup man Scott Linebrink to Boston, with Mike Lowell going to the Padres. The Devil Rays presumably would get prospects from one or both clubs.

A baseball source says that Roy Oswalt is likely to not be traded, and that the Astros are shopping him to assess his market value, ESPN The Magazine's Amy Nelson reports.
The Astros have had preliminary discussions about a contract extension in the last week with Oswalt, and since then have begun shopping the right-hander to gauge his long-term value.
The Mets, Red Sox, Nationals and Orioles all have expressed interest in Oswalt.

A-Rod this season has had 55 at-bats in close and late situations. He is hitting .182 with 16 strikeouts. With less than two outs and a runner on third, he’s hitting .250 with eight Ks...

The Nation Speaks:
A-Rod single handedly has made Bill James rethink the concept of "clutch." The only cure for this choking appears to be what we will call the "A-Rod Maneuver": Get him out of town, and your team will get better.

THE A-ROD MANEUVER
Instructions:
Remain calm...pick up the phone...dial Jim Bowden... make a 3-way deal that sends A-Rod to D.C. for Soriano and pitching.
-RED SOX NATION
.

For Better or Worse:

OH HENRY, LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE
Now Go Get Your Shine Box, Johnny

Laughing off a `Monster' portrait
Regardless of what Seth Mnookin wrote in his controversial new book about the Bosox, Boston Culinary bigshot Joe O'Donnell swears he's no Tony Soprano. Appearing on WEEI yesterday, O'Donnell, the tough-talking son of an Everett cop, laughed at Mnookin's portrayal of him as a made man. ``It doesn't bother me at all,' he told Gerry Callahan . ``People who know me know me.' In his book, ``Feeding the Monster,' Mnookin writes that during O'Donnell's failed negotiations to buy the Olde Towne Team, he took John Henry to the Boston waterfront -- at 1 a.m. There, according to Mnookin, O'Donnell asked that he be made managing partner if anything happened to Henry. ``That,' Henry wrote in an e - mail afterward, ``was a little scary.' O'Donnell doesn't deny he took Henry to Fan Pier -- he and Steve Karp hoped to put a new ballpark in the area -- but ridicules the suggestion that he put the arm on the Sox owner. Still, O'Donnell says he bears no ill will toward Henry, calling him a ``perfectly decent guy.' He even praised -- sort of -- the efforts of Henry, Larry Lucchino, and Tom Werner to fancy up Fenway. ``They've done a better job than I ever could have dreamed of,' O'Donnell said yesterday. ``But it's like putting a dress on a pig.' The Bosox brass haven't commented on the book but did send out an e - mail instructing Fenway folks to be ``dismissive' of its claims."

RED SOX NATION SPEAKS:
One should never let a fox into the hen house, even if it appears cute and cuddly and endorsed by one of your 19 ownership partners, the New York Times. As John Henry said(Paraphrased):
You aren't as smart as people think you are when you are successful, nor are you as dumb as they think you are when you fail. The decision to do this book borders on moronic, Mr. Henry.

"It has been said that only three things matter in the city of Boston -- politics, baseball and revenge -- and on one glorious July afternoon at Fenway Park they came together like the last chapter of a good novel.
As Roger Clemens stepped to the Fenway mound for the first time in a Toronto Blue Jays uniform, a hearty sampling of boos cut through the applause and filled the old ballpark with tension. On the streets outside, vendors had sold souvenir WANTED posters charging Clemens with treason, and TV crews had tracked his every step through his former stomping grounds. The game meant nothing in the American League East standings but everything in the town where the Rocket had always stirred the fans' emotions like no other ballplayer of his era.
After a contentious public showdown with hard-line Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette, Clemens had bolted Boston as a free agent at the end of the '96 season and signed a staggering four-year, $31.1 million deal with the rival Blue Jays. Convinced that Duquette had driven him out of Boston, Clemens attacked his 14th big league season like a desperate rookie, showing up at spring training in superb condition and winning his first 11 decisions of the regular season. He would go on to win 21 games and his fourth Cy Young Award, but not before making a dramatic campaign stop in his old district.
The Red Sox hitters never had a chance. Clemens may have left Boston for the money, but he came back for blood. He set a Toronto record with 16 strikeouts in eight innings, snuffing out the boos along with the overmatched Boston hitters. Before turning the game over to the Blue Jays' shaky bullpen, he struck out the side on 10 pitches in the eighth"

Red Sox Nation Speaks
It just goes to show you that while the players and ownership may change, it will always be open season on Red Sox stars once the writing is on the wall and they are on their way out of town. To the majority of fans, who live paycheck to paycheck, the fault will always lie with the greedy player. A minority of fans will be reflective enough to remember that the owners of the Boston Red Sox are captaining the direction of one of the top 3 most valuable, and profitable, franchises in MLB from their respective yachts and Caribbean getaways, so the money issue should be considered, at best, wash. In the Golden Age of free agency, it is rich guy agenda and rich guy agenda vs. richer guy agenda: Player and player agent versus owner(One could also throw in the players association as a 4th independent force, although I choose to let it live under the player's tent). The reality is that once these situations are allowed to come to a head, i.e. the player's contract is in its final season on the open market, professional agendas (by now tainted with a personal mix), of all 3 parties take on a life of their own, and it is usually too late to repair things both personal and professional. We all love to keep things simple and take sides, but the reality is that all 3 parties usually shoulder a portion of the blame. It is up to you to make a strong argument as to who gets the biggest piece of the blame pie. I'll take the other side and leave us at a stalemate.
-RED SOX NATION

"This time, I only used 'this much' spin..."

Lucchino Puts His World Series Ring Up For Sale??
Can't blame an Average Joe that needs the dough.

Hazel Mae's Twins campaign

RED SOX HUB

Trade Rumor Central
Trade Winds Abreu-Ing
On Sunday, reports surfaced that Boston is very interested in the services of Bobby Abreu who has a no-trade clause and is set to make $15 million from the Phillies next season.
'You'd have to ask him (if it's upsetting),' Manuel said. 'I know sometimes when you talk about trading guys some guys handle it different from others. I don't notice. He plays about the same every day.
'I can't answer for Bobby Abreu but for myself I think that's good. With the kind of caliber teams the Yankees and Red Sox are. That means somebody must think I'm a good player.

THE NATION SPEAKS:
This is an interesting development, because it could mean the end of the Boston career for either free agent-to-be Trot Nixon or Manny "White Devil Hater" Ramirez. Like Manny, Abreu can be a enigmatic personality that poses problems for management, so unless Ramirez has finally put Devils Theo, Larry, Werner, and Henry over the edge, a Manny for Abreu deal simply doesn't make much sense from a production standpoint. A three way deal, sending Trot to a contender, Abreu to Boston, and the bounty of prospects to Philly would seem to make much more sense. This rumor may be an indication that the Sox are not willing to pay Nixon $8-9 million a year for 3 years, which will likely be his market value. If Philly is willing to pay $3-4 million of Fun Bobby's $15 million salary for 2007, then this deal could make a lot of sense for the Red Sox.
-RED SOX NATION

This trade was done primarily to rid the C's of that 3rd year on Raef LaFrentz's deal vs. 2 years left on the contract of Theo Ratliff, and greatly improves the interior defense-if Theo can stay healthy enough to give them 20 minutes a game as the PF/C off the bench. Raef has been playing on 1 knee since before he was acquired in the Antoine Walker disaster deal, and it will only be getting worse. Delonte West stated on WEEI that he has had to prod him to get him motivated at times. Personally, I lean toward the the opinions of GM legend Jerry West, who stated that Rudy Gay was the #1 or #2 player in the entire draft. He should have been a Celtic at #7. Grant Hill type upside. Ainge has been pretty good with mid to late draft picks, but really has no tract record with single digit picks. Telfair might turn out to be the type of player who would have been a decent pick in the mid to late first round, but is a reach in the top 10 (Portland drafted him out of high school 2 years ago at #13). Rudy Gay has superstar potential at 20 years of age; Telfair has nice player potential at 21. Bad, and possibly a disasterous move, Danny, to simply shave 1 year off of a bad contract.

As for Portland, their motives in any deal are clearly financial over winning. They have cut their payroll from $100 a few years back to $57 million last season. Their stadium is under bankruptcy control, and owner Paul Allen is trying to sell the team, and may declare team bankruptcy to get out of a projected $100 million in losses the next few seasons.

-Celtic Nation