News -- of any sort -- is hard to come by as the MLB lockout drags toward two and a half months. There's only so much of "What the Red Sox need to do when a deal gets reached'' we can debate over the old hot stove.
So, consider this another opportunity to look back, since looking at the present is uneventful and looking at the future is an exercise in guessing for the moment.
A few weeks ago, we brought you "The Best (and Worst) Free Agents in Red Sox history,'' and figured now is as good a time as any for our latest project: "The Best (and Worst) Trades in Red Sox history.''
For our purposes, we're going to keep it (relatively) modern. I'm sure there were plenty of good (and bad) deals made in the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, but I'm not sure how much interest there is reviewing them. (Spoiler alert: trading the pudgy guy on spindly legs after the 1919 season still ranks as the worst move the franchise ever made, ever,)
So, for now, we're going to concentrate on the 1967 season forward as our time frame.
Without further ado:
THE BEST
1) Carl Pavano and Tony Armas to Montreal for Pedro Martinez, 1997.
Other deals -- as you'll see below -- brought the Red Sox multiple important pieces. But for impact, it's hard to top this one.
Some context: The Red Sox had foolishly allowed Roger Clemens to leave via free agency the previous season, leaving them without a legitimate front-of-the-rotation starter. So, naturally, they traded for the guy who would become the best righthanded starter of the modern era in Martinez.
Martinez brought a level of excitement to Fenway that had been lacking. Not even the starts by Clemens in his prime had the same festive atmosphere associated with Pedro outings. The crowd at Fenway also got a lot more diverse, with proud Dominicans waving flags of their home country.
Martinez had charisma to burn and you didn't dare miss one of his starts. He proceeded to give the Sox some of the most dominant seasons in modern baseball history, highlighted by the 2000 season. This was at the height of baseball's steroid era, and the offensive numbers being put up were cartoonish. And yet, Martinez had a 1.74 ERA at a time when the league average was 4.91.
Let me repeat that: Martinez had a 1.74 ERA at a time when the league average was 4.91.
As for the two "promising'' arms the Sox sacrificed to obtain Martinez, Pavano would go on to win 107 games over 14 seasons, though just 24 of those victories would come with the Expos. He had a decent career, which is more than could be said of Armas (53-65, 4.65 ERA over 10 seasons).
Martinez? He won 76 percent of his decisions, two Cy Young Awards while finishing second two other times, and helped the Sox win a World Series in 2004. Not a bad swap, when you think about it.
2) Heathcliff Slocumb to Seattle for Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek.
Lowe was of great value, both as a closer (85 saves) and a starter (averaging better than 200 innings per year, while averaging 17 wins over a three-year stretch), while Varitek blossomed and became arguably the second-best catcher in franchise history behind only Carlton Fisk -- 14 seasons of solid work behind and at the plate (career OPS of .776) while serving as the team captain.
Slocumb remained with the Mariners for a season and a half, but basically, the trade signaled the decline of his career. Over his final four years, he kicked around with four different teams.
Don't forget that GM Dan Duquette made both of these trades -- landing Martinez, Lowe and Varitek -- in the same year, in the span of five months.
3) Anibal Sanchez, Hanley Ramirez, Harvey Garcia and Jesus Delgado to Florida in 2005 for Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell and Guillermo Mota.
It didn't end well for either Lowell or Beckett in Boston, with the former broken down because of injuries and the latter unloaded in the Great 2012 Salary Dump to the Dodgers.
But for a time, Lowell was a critical piece of the Red Sox lineup, and Beckett was, briefly, among the best starters in the game.
And know this: The Sox don't come close to winning the 2007 World Series without Beckett (4-0, 1.20 ERA in four postseason starts that October), while Lowell was named World Series MVP.
4) Casey Fossum, Mike Goss, Brandon Lyon and Jorge de la Rosa in 2003 to Arizona for Curt Schilling.
Schilling gave the Red Sox another No. 1 starter to go with Martinez in 2004. He also brought an undeniable presence -- with a penchant for winning the biggest of games.
Sure enough, the same franchise that had gone 86 seasons without winning a World Series promptly won two in the next four seasons. Coincidence? Hardly.
Meanwhile, of the four prospects the Sox gave the Diamondbacks, only de la Rosa had any significant career, winning 104 games over the next 14 seasons -- none, however, with Arizona, which traded him less than a week after acquiring him.
5) Rick Wise, Mike Paxton, Bo Diaz and Ted Cox to Cleveland for Dennis Eckersley, 1978.
Wise was near the end of his career and would lose 19 games for the Indians. Paxton had a strong first season with the Tribe, but was out of baseball two years later.
But in Eckersley, the Sox got that rarity -- a young ace in the making. Eckersley, then 23, had two great years to start -- collecting Cy Young votes in both seasons -- and won 88 games for the Sox over the next eight seasons. In the end, he didn't have the kind of a career as a starter the Sox had hoped. But he was terrific his first two seasons, with 37 wins and more than 500 innings. And it's not as if the Sox were sorry to give up any of the four players they shipped to Cleveland.
HONORABLE MENTION: Mike Easler to the Yankees for Don Baylor, 1986; Nomar Garciaparra and Matt Murton in 2004 for Orlando Cabrera and Doug Mientkiewicz (four-team deal); Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech, Luis Alexander Basabe and Victor Diaz in 2016 to Chicago for Chris Sale.
WORST TRADES
1) Jeff Bagwell to Houston in 1990 for Larry Anderson.
The Red Sox were in desperate need for bullpen help to hold onto the division in 1990, and for the month he was with them, Anderson performed well, with a 1.23 ERA in 15 games. But the Sox were easily outclassed in the ALCS by Oakland and Anderson left as a free agent.
Meanwhile, the Sox weren't convinced that Bagwell would hit for power in the big leagues after he hit just four homers at Double-A in his final season in the Sox' organization. They were, in fact, incorrect in that assessment.
Bagwell would hit 449 homers with the Astros, finish with a .948 career OPS, won an MVP, three SIlver Sluggers and was elected to the Hall of Fame.
So, bad trade. Really bad trade. Worst. Trade. Ever.
2) Sparky Lyle to the Yankees in 1972 for Danny Cater and Mario Guerrero
My contention is that Dick O'Connell is one of the most underrated figures in Red Sox history, and he had a long list of shrewd moves -- big and small -- in his capacity as GM (or de facto GM) from 1965 through 1977.
This deal, however, was not his finest moment. In point of fact, it may well have been his worst.
Several seasons earlier, Cater had finished behind Carl Yastrzemski in the A.L. batting race, but he never was much of a run producer, especially for a first baseman. Cater was a one-dimensional singles hitter, averaging 11 doubles and five homers over three seasons in Boston. His .384 slugging percentage in that span tells you all you need to know.
Lyle, meanwhile, helped the Yankees win three pennants and won an American League MVP and a Cy Young Award while racking up 141 saves over seven seasons.
And no, the performance of Guerrero, a career utility infielder, didn't make up the difference for the Sox.
3) Reggie Smith and Ken Tatum to St. Louis in 1972 for Rick Wise and Bernie Carbo
Wise was a good No. 2 starter for the Sox over four seasons (47-32, 3.96) and Carbo had his moments, none bigger than in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series.
But Smith played another 10 seasons in the National League, selected to the All-Star team four times and twice garnering Top 4 support for NL MVP. He isn't in the Hall of Fame, but he is recognized as one of the best switch-hitters in the game's history and finished with 314 homers and a .889 OPS post-Boston. The Red Sox traded him, at 28, just as he was entering the prime of his career
HONORABLE MENTION: Cecil Cooper to Milwaukee for George Scott and Bernie Carbo in 1976.; Fred Lynn and Steve Renko for Joe Rudi, Frank Tanana and Jim Dorsey in 1980; Jon Lester and Jonny Gomes to Oakland for Yoenis Cespedes in 2014; Curt Schilling and Brady Anderson to Baltimore for Mike Boddicker in 1988; Josh Reddick and Ryan Sweeney to Oakland in 2011 for Andrew Bailey.