Sports Redux: Trades, Homers, and a W

On a day when an actual game was overshadowed by front office moves and clubhouse goodbyes, the Red Sox managed to win anyway. Justin Masterson, Adam LaRoche and two minor-league arms left the Nation in order to bring back Casey Kotchman and Victor Martinez as Theo Epstein was active again at the trading deadline. Martinez is in Boston possibly because of one word: versatility. Theo says he can hit, catch and play first base. Kotchman is supposedly a defensive upgrade over LaRoche. Theo may have created a few headaches for Terry Francona, though.

Speaking of headaches, John Smoltz started against another crappy team and, once again, failed to resemble the great pitcher he once was in Atlanta. Thanks to a rejuvenated offense that produced three home runs from David Ortiz, Jacoby Ellsbury and Kevin Youkilis, Smoltz got the 6-5 win after allowing five runs and eight hits in six innings. Ramon Ramirez, Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon pitched three scoreless innings in relief. Ortiz still hasn't provided answers on the steroid front but Thursday's revelation that he tested positive in 2003 hasn't affected his performance at the plate as he went 2-4 with a home run and two RBI against Baltimore. Interestingly, two players directly affected by the acquisition of Martinez, Youkilis and Ortiz, responded by going a combined 5-8 with four RBI and two homers.

Trades were made all around baseball and none involved Roy Halladay. Jake Peavy finaly ended up in Chicago. The NYY made no huge moves and then went out and lost to the White Sox, 10-5, which means the Sox picked up a game.

Bostonist likes focus on results when it comes to sports. We're more interested in Tom Brady's on-field relationship with Randy Moss (touchdowns) than his brat adorable son or his old lady beautiful wife. However, we noticed a new "Gillette" logo on the team's practice gear this week at training camp, which is probably unimportant and almost certainly will be gone before the regular season begins, but is noteworthy. More importantly, Brady said he expects to play in preseason games and doesn't think about his knee brace. The 2009 preseason games are easily the most important non-games in franchise history. Oh, in case you heard otherwise, Michael Vick wasn't in Foxboro today.

Can anyone build a better Daisuke? Well, someone may have tried to do just that. According to Stephen Colbert, some enterprising techno-whiz from Japan invented machines capable of hitting and pitching better than people. A pitcher from Japan capable of hitting the strike zone and remaining healthy for an entire season while not ever whining? Fire up John Henry's jet.

A final comment on baseball's trading deadline: Theo had a lot to say about his two trades today. Bostonist found something really interesting. He said "We shot big on a couple things, a deal that could provide maximum impact... Maybe the foundation is laid for the offseason." Anything can happen between now and November. But, that comment suggests Theo came close on a bigger deal, a deal he wanted to do, and it's one he'll return to when the season ends. Stay tuned...