Talkin’ Baseball

In his latest blog entry, Curt Schilling, asks and answers several key questions about the upcoming trade deadline as it relates to the Red Sox.

First, the question burning on everyone's brain:

Should the Red Sox pursue Roy Halladay, and if so, at what cost?

I think so, but the cost depends on the topic really. Money? Like everyone else it's not mine, so it's not an issue. Compensation in players? Certainly not at any cost and the cost would be directly tied to the time I had him under guaranteed contract. If I got a signed extension pre-deal, that changes what I would pay.

Curt seems pretty convinced that the Red Sox success depends less on their ability to make a lot of key moves in the next couple of weeks than on the team's overall level of health.

Based on what you've seen, what, if anything, do you feel the Red Sox need between now and the July 31 trade deadline?

Health, period. A healthy Mike Lowell is huge, maybe the biggest piece. They don't need anything if they have health because in my opinion if they stay completely healthy they are going to run away with the division. No team can match their staff 1-5 and certainly not in a five- or seven-game series.

True. But the Mets will be the first to tell you that where health it concerned, you can't always get what you want.

Next, he asks:

How, if at all, does the clubhouse atmosphere change during the weeks between the All-Star break and the July 31 deadline?

Depends on the players. In this clubhouse, not a lot changes simply because the usual change in other clubhouses is from some semblance of normal to frantic, and it's always frantic in Boston so it really doesn't feel any different. The major difference, and I would argue advantage, is that you never walk into this clubhouse worried that you may be seeing your team trading its way out of contention. Now remember I was in this clubhouse as a veteran -- it's different for young players who have heard their names on the block.

Right. If I had to guess, I would imagine those guys all still pretty anxious about being traded regardless of what that would do for the good of the team.