So the Winter Meetings came to a close Thursday afternoon and Boston made quite a splash with trades involving Doug Mirabelli and Edgar Renteria. I’m sad to see Mirabelli disappear because he was always well-liked by the fans here, never one to grab the spotlight, especially in a negative way. Wonder who Wakefield will be serving knuckleballs to in 2006.
As for Renteria, I was willing to give him another chance, but the brass felt otherwise and, in the end, he cost us $23 million for his one season because we had to send cash to the Braves to offset the difference, especially with us getting Andy Marte, a top prospect but not commanding near the salary of Renteria. Now it remains to be seen how the Sox will fill the position that seemed to be a lock for years to come not too long ago in recent memory…
Odd to think, too, that it’s possible that the only returning fielder from the 2005 squad might be Jason Varitek!