Scary

According to Tom Verducci and Jon Heyman, the Red Sox tried to acquire Hanley Ramirez (as in fantasy god Hanley Ramirez) as a way to counter the Yanks' acquisition of Teixeira. Clay Buchholz and Jacoby Ellsbury would've been part of the package for Hanley. Luckily, the talks are apparently over, and the Marlins would have had to be "overwhelmed" to have made the deal. If they had made that deal. Well I would've been scared. The interesting thing is that the Sox apparently would have used Hanley in center field (they have Jed Lowrie at short, and Hanley is no defensive gem). An outfield of Jason Bay, Hanley Ramirez, and JD Drew could have possibly been the best in baseball. Let's be thankful that this deal didn't happen. For those of you who don't know, Hanley was the centerpiece of the trade that brought Josh Beckett to Boston. Hanley isn't super well known by baseball fans who don't play fantast baseball because he's down in Florida, but he is arguably the most valuable player in baseball because of his contract, age, and stats. He's only 25 and is entering an $70mm/6 year extension he signed in May. He hit 33 home runs in 08, while stealing 35 bases (he stole 51 in both 07 and 06). He has a .400 OBP, a .540 SLG, and a .301 AVG this past season. He's a guy who can hit leadoff because of his speed and OBP, or can bat cleanup because of his power. If the Sox had acquired him, the consequences would be horrific for Yankee fans.

O, and little note here. Not saying history will repeat itself, but the last time the Red Sox failed to acquire an all star shortstop, he ended up donning pinstripes the next season.