- * People are going to be split 50/50 on last night's trade by the Celtics. In case you fell into a temporary sports coma, the Celtics gave up Jeff Green (no. 5 pick) plus Mssrs. Szczerbiak and West for Ray Allen and Glen "Big Baby" Davis (no. 35 pick). I know the C's still need defense in a big way but I think this move gives the Celts a great shot at the no. 4 seed in the East behind Cleveland, Detroit and Miami. The Celtics also got Gabe Pruitt -- a guard out of USC -- who was considered by many to be a first round pick.
- * Following up my first thought, I sent an e-mail last night to my friend, Rich Gotham, the new President of the Celtics:
Rich,
Assuming the trade goes through, this is a great move for the C's for three reasons:
- You get a guy that was one of the top five scorers in the league
- Al Jefferson is still a Celtic (and 2007 All Star to be)
- You didn't pick Yi Jianlian (I know Danny liked him but he was too long term a project)
I smell a great 2007-08 season brewing!!!
Aaron
- * The Yankees totally got "Lugo-ed" last night. They are up 8-6 in the 8th inning after scoring 4 runs and then what happens? It starts to pour. The game gets postponed with play to resume at a later date. Just when they thought they were going to break their four game losing streak. Like many other members of Red Sox Nation, I was crushed...
- * Fellow classmate of Melrose High School '86, Jeff Gorton, got let go as the assistant GM of the Bruins yesterday. It's hard to believe but this guy had been with the Bruins for 15 years. Yes, the same Bruins team that have seemingly had a new coach and GM every one of those fifteen years. Good luck Jeff -- I'm sure you'll land a nice job with a better franchise elsewhere.
- * The Sox need to make three moves before the trade deadline:
1) get rid of Mirabelli for a real backup catcher
2) find a replacement for Timlin in the bullpen (they may have one already in Delcarmen)
3) pick up another "Cora" i.e. a serviceable veteran utility infielder that can backup Cora at short and Pedroia at second. Since there is no moving Lugo, he becomes a VERY expensive pinch runner/late inning defensive substitution for the Sox - * Hope that one win was worth the $5M the Yanks have paid Rocket so far. Maybe the Bronx Bombers will be willing to trade Rocket for Matt Clement mid-season straight up.
Let's pray for another hot streak starting tonight so that we can officially put the AL East to bed by the All Star break!
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4 comments:
Sorry, I know it's not proper etiquette to be the first one to comment on one's own post but after reading a few additional articles about the C's trade, I feel compelled to do so. For one, Dan Shaugnessy is an ass -- I know, big surprise there, right? Two things that he says in today's article titled "Old in the way" that rub me the wrong way, however.
1) he mentions that the Celtics had the second worst record in the league last year. Does he (or anyone at ESPN) remember that Pierce was out for the 2nd half of the season last year and that the C's tanked for the last 20 games? 2) I know Ainge does not have a good track record as a GM (can you say "Foye for Telfair") but we might want to wait to judge the Celt's season on whether or not the C's make another move. My money is on yes. 3) I know I said I have two points but I lied -- everyone in Boston is complaining that the Celts HAD to trade the no. 5 so that we didn't have yet another young guy on the team. It sounds like he tried to get Garnett, Marion and even G. O'Neal, all to no avail. We also DID NOT have to trade Al Jefferson (at least not yet) and that was the no. 1 complaint of Celt's fans prior to the draft. So did we want a veteran who could score or not? Would we have been equally disappointed if we got Camby instead of Allen?
Stepping off the soap boax now...
Ummmm...I hate the NBA and am crushed that an 18 game losing streak has led the celtics dominating sports radio talk in this town. That being said. I agree the trade is a good thing.
Also, I love all of the moves you spelled out. Another thought to consider, do you think about sunsetting Wakefield or moving him into long relief if he doesn't pick up his game? We have young arms on the farm that could at least be equally inconsistent and could possibly light it up. I love the Wake, but I'm on pins and needles every time he pitches. Even when he's pitching well.
Becket, Schilling, Matsuzaka, Lester, Tavarez sounds pretty good to me...even leaving any big trades off the table.
I like leaving Wake in the rotation for now. He scares the hell out of me too, but I've got to imagine he helps set up the other pitchers on the team. Can you imagine standing in against Wake and the nuckleball one night and then trying to figure out one of the other big three the next night? Me neither.
I should point out that it irritates me to have everyone and their sister writing off Wake after a bad start or two. Mentally, he's a seasoned pro and I'm more terrified of seeing a trio of youngsters shouldering too much down the stretch and into the playoffs... Is it too early to mention the playoffs?
Upon reflection I think Ainge pulled off a good trade last week. Bottom line is that Ray Allen is far superior to Wally Szcrebiak and their per year salaries are pretty darn close. Wally is $26 over 2 years and Allen is $52 over 3 which is only a $4M difference per year. Obviously, Allen needs to be healthy for this to work but I would think he has 2 more good years left in him which is all Boston really needs out of him. The Celtics can definitely ship him out when he has only one year left on his contract because a team would be able to clear up $17M on their cap number but trading a guy to Boston with a longer term deal. Just like Ratliff's expiring contract has value to other teams. Delonte West is never going to be anything other than a role player and general consensus was the Celtics didn't need to get any younger by drafting another early entry to the draft.
What I really think tilts this deal in the Celtics favor is the fact that Big Baby landed to them in the second round. I think he can be a very good NBA player and a nightmare of a matchup for almost any team. The C's will definitely be playing an enjoyable brand of basketball as most games will be in the 120s next season. They will be able to score with any team in the league while any team in the league will be able to score on them. The key to their success next season will be Rondo but his strength is drive and dish. Having Pierce and Allen on the wings plays to his strength.
There are rumblings that Boston will still go after Garnett and that would be a mistake in my mind. I would love them to try and trade for Kirilenko who is unhappy in Utah and coming off an awful year. He is only 26 and I the Celtics could offer Gerald Green and Ratliff's expiring contract. Utah can't keep him and have the money needed to keep Boozer, Okur and Williams so Ratliff's contract would be huge for them and a lot of teams will not want to take on Kirilenko's contract which runs through 2011
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