Alex Speier has a good piece on weei.com on why Dempster isn't a very good fit for the Sox. Short version:

-Red Sox SP depth pretty good with Cook and Morales behind the front four
-Dempster's 2012 in large part a DIPS fluke
-no draft pick compensation
-no reason for Sox to plan to re-sign Dempster post 2012, so no post 2012 value at all

Because, you know, our last general manager was GREAT at the trade deadline: http://www.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/alex-speier/2011/07/30/history-trade-deadline-under-red-sox-gm-theo-e

The trade history actually looks pretty good to me:

2010 - got Salty for nothing (so far) and gave up (probably rightly so) on Ramon Ramirez
2009 - the Victor Martinez trade is essentially a wash, no? Win/Win? Dumped Lugo, traded two MLers for Casey Kotchman
2008 - Manny for Bay - good trade
2007 - gave up (too early) on Joel Pineiro, traded David Murphy for Gagne, so a bad year overall, although not terrible
2006 - nothing really
2005 - 2 MLers for Graffanino, nothing really
2004 - traded Nomar, and traded for Dave Roberts. A win.
2003 - traded away Freddy Sanchez for Jeff Suppan, bad trade

Basically a whole lot of nothing except for the Nomar, Manny and Martinez trades + a legit (so far) win for Salty.

Justin Masterson would look good on this team now, even moreso last season.

2009 - the Victor Martinez trade is essentially a wash, no? Win/Win?

I think the Martinez trade was a great trade for the Sox.

Justin Masterson would look good on this team now, even moreso last season.

I think the Martinez trade was a great trade for the Sox.

You've got to give up something to get something...that's why I called it a wash, good for both clubs.

The good news is Ortiz did not rupture or tear his achilles. The bad news is the Sox are still waiting to decide if it's worth a DL trip. Evidently the Magic Eight ball they use for these decisions is helping them figure out how to keep Bill James in line.

Daniel Nava your DH batting third tonight.

More annoyingly, the Boston Red Sox will play another game with less than a full 25 available. By my count the Sox have played just one of their 13 games this month with a full roster;

7/17 - David Ortiz
7/14-7/16 - Ryan Sweeney
7/2-7/8 - Will Middlebrooks
7/1 - Aviles (sick)

Admittedly Aviles and Sweeney didn't need to be disabled but this is getting frustrating as all hell.

I think the Martinez trade was a great trade for the Sox.

You've got to give up something to get something...that's why I called it a wash, good for both clubs

Cool, I thought you meant a wash from the Sox' perspective.

More annoyingly, the Boston Red Sox will play another game with less than a full 25 available. By my count the Sox have played just one of their 13 games this month with a full roster;

Isn't this more the norm? I assumed someone is always a bit banged up on every team.

Isn't this more the norm? I assumed someone is always a bit banged up on every team.

It doesn't seem to be. Just generally I don't remember it this bad in years past. It's one thing to have a guy out for a day or two here and there but for example, the Middlebrooks thing was a full week, Pedroia was six days earlier in the season. Part of it is the number of injuries certainly but part of it seems to be an inability/unwillingness to be decisive when guys go down.

It doesn't seem to be. Just generally I don't remember it this bad in years past. It's one thing to have a guy out for a day or two here and there but for example, the Middlebrooks thing was a full week, Pedroia was six days earlier in the season. Part of it is the number of injuries certainly but part of it seems to be an inability/unwillingness to be decisive when guys go down.

Also, the Red Sox DH situation means that banged up players will be more likely to sit out entirely, rather take a turn at DH instead. A-Rod's dealing with a neck issue right now, but because the Yankees have a more fluid DH usage, he'll DH rather than not playing at all. I don't know if it's necessarily better either way.

Part of it is the number of injuries certainly but part of it seems to be an inability/unwillingness to be decisive when guys go down.

This happens to all teams. The Sox have had a lot of injuries, which means playing more often short-handed. They've also struggled, which shines a bigger light on all decisions. I'd rather they attempt to keep players off the DL then have them sit on it for a few days too long.

It's not like each team will play all 25 men each night.

morales back to the pen? that's madness. he throws strikes and gets k's. aside from cook's babip aberration and buchholz pitching well he's currently the only non mediocre pitcher in the rotation.

Morales back to the pen seems really dumb. He's crushing it as a starter. If they DL Papi, they have to call up Lavarnway right?

Papi not going on the DL, expected to miss a week.

morales back to the pen? that's madness. he throws strikes and gets k's. aside from cook's babip aberration and buchholz pitching well he's currently the only non mediocre pitcher in the rotation.

So what do you do then? Do you carry 6 starters? Who else do you move to the bullpen?

EDIT: I get Morales is the hot hand. We shouldn't project him forward as being this masterful starter, especially if he's generally unreliable to give you more than 5 IP.

i don't think morales is a hot hand like cook is. what cook is doing is unsustainable, it's what ching wang's employers always hoped for. no one, ever, succeeded with a k rate that rivals joe sewell's. morales is young, live armed and strikes out batters. he's not needed in the bullpen when guys like mortensen and tazawa can eat those innings. we're only a back tweak away from putting him back on the bump every fifth day anyway, but i'd keep him in the rotation and trade cook for anyone with a heartbeat.

Also, the Red Sox DH situation means that banged up players will be more likely to sit out entirely, rather take a turn at DH instead. A-Rod's dealing with a neck issue right now, but because the Yankees have a more fluid DH usage, he'll DH rather than not playing at all. I don't know if it's necessarily better either way.

Eh, I'd take Ortiz over a fluid DH.

i don't think morales is a hot hand like cook is. what cook is doing is unsustainable, it's what ching wang's employers always hoped for. no one, ever, succeeded with a k rate that rivals joe sewell's. morales is young, live armed and strikes out batters. he's not needed in the bullpen when guys like mortensen and tazawa can eat those innings. we're only a back tweak away from putting him back on the bump every fifth day anyway, but i'd keep him in the rotation and trade cook for anyone with a heartbeat.

So, doesn't it make more sense to ride the 'hot hand' and stick with Cook while he is good. Get a few starts, sell high, and go back to Morales. With the speed Morales went from the pen to the rotation previously (see, NOT Dan Bard) is there any reason Morales couldn't make the transition again?

cook's success is a mirage, it does not make sense to count on him winning another game this season. it makes sense to stick with guy striking out better than a batter an inning with the low walk rate. cook is like a really good counterfeit hundy. they should try to get change for him asap.

How much of Cook's success is truly a mirage? Obviously the K rate is ridiculous but his walk rate is almost as ridiculous and while his BABIP is very good it is not especially absurd (it would. Along with all that he is an extreme ground ball pitcher so he's going to get some saving DPs here and there.

There's almost certainly some regression coming. His line drive rate is unreasonably low (which probably accounts for some of the low BABIP) but I think as long as he can keep the ground ball rate and walk rate at the levels he is at he can be successful. Frankly I'd be fine if the Sox truly went with a six man rotation for now. There isn't anyone on this staff that I'm so geared up to see that I'm worried about taking starts away from people. The way they are performing there is pretty minor difference between the top and bottom of the rotation.

How much of Cook's success is truly a mirage? Obviously the K rate is ridiculous but his walk rate is almost as ridiculous and while his BABIP is very good it is not especially absurd (it would. Along with all that he is an extreme ground ball pitcher so he's going to get some saving DPs here and there.

People seem to forget that Cook was a pretty good pitcher with a low K rate in Colorado for several years. I mean, not 0.6/9IP low, but around 2-4 per 9 low. Like Jose said, as long as he's not really walking anyone and getting lots of double plays, I could see him being an average starter for the rest of the season. Bill Lee made a pretty good career out of being that type of pitcher.

There isn't anyone on this staff that I'm so geared up to see that I'm worried about taking starts away from people. The way they are performing there is pretty minor difference between the top and bottom of the rotation.

QFT, for goodness' sake. I've read all the arguments and I still love him, but goshdarnit I hate Jon Lester right now.

Pedro Ciriaco is DHing in tonight's lineup. What. The. ####.

2 of 3 from TB. 3 of 4 from the White Sox. Lowrie is out, Youk has a tweaked hamstring. Cody Freakin' Ross. Ellsbury and Crawford back.

This is SO not the first half. It's like the opposite of that.

BTW, Mark Melancon since being recalled from Pawtucket: 16.1 IP, .55 ERA, .329 OPS against.

123-They have talent. Maybe they can come off the pace, and make a memorable season out of it after all. That would be emotionally satisfying, sportsfan-wise.

I tweeted during the all-star break that I expected 48-28 the rest of the way and a wild card birth. 43 and 26 to go. Can anybody build an online version of the life-sized cut out in Major League?

BTW, Mark Melancon since being recalled from Pawtucket: 16.1 IP, .55 ERA, .329 OPS against.

That too. It is the opposite of the first half.

I think it's time to just 86 the season. Beckett and Lester have torpedoed any shot of this team contending in 2012 with their terrible seasons. Buchholz has at least been a very good pitcher since the start of June or so, though it's obscured in his stat line by just how horrible he was to start the season. I just don't think this Red Sox team will gain anything by trading away valuable assets for some kind of deadline acquisition if they aren't able to turn Beckett and Lester back into frontline starting pitchers. With just 9 days before the trade deadline, there's really no way to have any kind of confidence in a turnaround even if they pitch better in their next starts.

It's hard to pull the plug on a team with a $180M payroll, but Cherington needs to face facts and realize this team is going nowhere. But after his poor offseason, I fear that Cherington is going to make some desperate moves and really harm this team's future. I'd really rather see them trade away anything that can bring back some decent returns and fill out the roster for 2013 and beyond. It's not really clear who has that kind of trade value at the moment, but if any other front office comes calling with the intent to buy, I think Cherington has to listen. The only players on the major league roster who I'd be hesitant to trade away are Ellsbury and Pedroia. But if the FO doesn't think they're going to re-sign Ellsbury after next year, I can see putting him on the table too. And obviously Crawford and Gonzalez aren't going anywhere either with their big contracts.

It's starting to look like the first half again.

I think it's time to just 86 the season. ... I just don't think this Red Sox team will gain anything by trading away valuable assets for some kind of deadline acquisition if they aren't able to turn Beckett and Lester back into frontline starting pitchers.

These are two different claims.

On the second, there's definitely a case to be made for standing pat. The Sox don't have any obvious holes on the roster, they just have a bunch of players who should be good, who aren't playing that way. To really improve this roster, you'd need to trade for a star, and those are costly. There's a case to be made that since this club stands only a small chance of winning the division, they shouldn't make major trades just to get into the play-in game.

Standing pat is a perfectly reasonable choice for a contender or fringe contender. It doesn't mean you can't compete. It was just 2007 (I think) when Theo gave that press conference about how he went to the store to buy milk and it was $20 a gallon or whatever so he didn't buy milk. Or something like that. The talent is there for the Sox to turn it around, but I can see the case that they shouldn't bet any prospects on the chance of turning it around.

86'ing the season, though, actually breaking up this roster and becoming sellers, I think that's a bad idea. The rate of return in prospects for MLB contributors is looking unimpressive, and most of the good players on the Red Sox are under contract for next year and project to be good. I don't think it helps the club for 2013 to not have Clay Buchholz or something. You wrote, "I'd really rather see them trade away anything that can bring back some decent returns and fill out the roster for 2013 and beyond," but how exactly does adding prospects help the team compete in 2013? Which playoff contenders are going to trade away players that can help the Sox compete in 2013? Which free agents should the Sox target with the money saved? I don't see a real plan there, and I don't think it is easy to trade away talent and make the team better for next year.

It's hard to pull the plug on a team with a $180M payroll, but Cherington needs to face facts and realize this team is going nowhere. But after his poor offseason, I fear that Cherington is going to make some desperate moves and really harm this team's future.

If this happens I think "Cherington" would actually be an abbreviation for "Cherington, on orders from Lucchino and ownership." I get the feeling that he was handed the keys to the Sox with the caveat that he had to retool the team without significantly increasing payroll. I assume that the draconian CBT penalties in the new CBA suddenly changed how the Sox approach their projected budgets. But after 3 straight disappointing seasons the team is starting to see some cracks in ticket sales and NESN viewership and I can see them trying to force the issue.