Closing the book on the Arroyo for Pena trade

I got into a lot of arguments with people on line about the Bronson Arroyo for Willy Mo Pena trade last year.

Hours after it happened I called Dibble and Kennedy on XM screaming about it. I said "I hate hate hate this trade."

And yet many people thought it was a great trade and thought I was insane for hating it.

And do you know what? Any debate about it ended when Theo dealt Willy Mo for the always important "Player to Named Later."

How badly did this trade stink?

LET'S COUNT THE WAYS!

1) Arroyo had just given the Red Sox a hometown discount for a contract extension... and immediately dealt him. That'll show other players that you are all about loyalty!

2) Arroyo was practically the only pitcher on the 2006 Red Sox without health issues. They had Beckett and his blisters, Schilling who missed most of 2005, Foulke who missed the 2005 playoffs, Clements was hurt and was nailed in the head by a line drive, and Wells who, like Ben Franklin, had gout and a huge belly. With that staff... better deal away the only starter who was young, healthy and able to pitch in Boston.

3) What happened to the 2006 Red Sox? To the surprise of NOBODY they experienced tons of injuries (Foulke, Wakefield, Clement, Lester, Papelbon and Wells all missed significant time) meanwhile Arroyo went on to have an All Star year with Cincinnati. Granted, the NL has easier lineups, but even a mediocre Arroyo would be a better alternative than the David Pauleys, Kyle Snyders, Jason Johnsons, Jermaine Van Burens , Lenny DiNardos and the 15th caller on WEEI that the Sox pitched.

4) There was no spot in the lineup for Willy Mo! They torpedoed the pitching staff for a guy who was essentially a bench player! They had Manny, Coco and Trot. And of course each of them got hurt during the year... BUT SO DID WILLY MO! They got 84 games and 11 homers out of him... only 9 more than Arroyo hit for the Reds.

5) They signed J. D. Drew in the off season! I expressed my feelings of this rancid signing on The Nosebleeds, but this also showed there was no room for the guy. So not only was he going to rot on the bench his first year... but his second year too.

6) They dumped the guy! So in the end, they would rather have him off the team for the stretch run!


So there you have it. I don't want to hear about NL lineups being easier and how young Willy Mo was and how valuable right handed power is.

If it was, than we'd get more than a player to be named later.
So the verdict is in... the trade SUCKED.

Oh well... I'll take the 5 game lead.