Bye Doug, Edgah

Who needs Theo Epstein? This seven headed "General Manager by committee" seems to be working full throttle for the Boston Red Sox.

Two weeks after the coup that landed the Sox Josh Beckett, Guillermo Mota and Mike Lowell from the Florida Marlins, the Sox have made two big trades in the last twenty-four hours.

1. Doug Mirabelli to the San Diego Padres for Mark Loretta
As much as I hate to wave goodbye to Mirabelli, (and I seriously worry about who is actually going to be able to catch Tim Wakefield's knuckleball), this is a good trade for the Red Sox. Loretta is not a "big name" player, but he is a solid option at second base (.301 career batting average). Loretta takes a lot of pitches, can hit-and-run and lay down a bunt. He will be a nice addition to the top of the Sox lineup.


2. E6gar Renteria to the Atlanta Braves for Andy Marte
I'm not heartbroken to hear that Edgar is leaving Boston. It would have been interesting to see if he could "turn it around" in 2006 but his numbers just weren't worthy of a $10 million per year contract. If the Sox were able to clear away some of his salary to put towards signing Johnny Damon, I am all for it.

It is also good to see the Sox get a good young prospect in return. Marte doesn't have stellar numbers so far in the big leagues (.140 batting average in 25 games ), so he is truly only a "prospect". The final evaluation of the trade will also depend on who ends up filling the vacancy at shortstop.

Isn't Nomar still on the market?