I would only trade Crisp if they were able to get something good for him. And my guess is that right around deadline time there will be one or two teams looking for an upgrade and perhaps Theo will be able to pull off a deal where he gets one or two good prospects…If Crisp is gone they can bring up Moss, he showed he can be at least a 4th outfielder in the majors. he might not be a speedy guy but he has more pop than crisp.

Regarding Colon…here is how I would write it out if I had control over the universe: Colon comes up in about a month and replaces Bucky in the starters role. Colon pitches very well. They move Bucky to the pen (he is a swing and miss pitcher) and he is joined by Masterson. This keeps the youngsters innings counts in check for the year and give the pen a needed lift. If Colon injures his third chin they yank him and put Bucky back in the starting role, but the month or two from Colon bought him enough rest to pitch through the payoffs as the number three starter, which he has now become.

If Colon, kicks ass, he is our #3 and we have a 6-9inning combo of masterson, bucky, oki, paps.

Personally, I think Hansen is doing well but I don’t think he is ready for big game pitching yet. I’d use him in 6th inning type relief (maybe on nights Lester pitches he can come in and pitch the 6th…Next year I think is the go/ no go for him. He’s shown some good stuff this year but he still seems mentally unstable on the mound-like he expects something bad to happen.

I’d love to see Masterson come up and start pitching in relief but only if they are commited to playing him regularly. I heard a quote from him where he said he wants another year starting in the minors to work on his change up but I have a feeling if he was brough up after the all-star break and started pitching regularly out of the pen he’d be psyched. Plus, he’s a big dude-he might intimidate a few folks as a reliever.

I have a feeling Schilling will attempt a comeback-perhaps pitching a few games but will in the end shut it down and retire. We do not, I repeat NOT, want him as a set-up guy for Paps. We saw that experiment, it didn’t work.

Lugo should go bye bye and I think every error he makes brings that closer to reality. We all know Theo likes infield defense and realizes the value of defense in the playoffs (remember the nomar trade?)so let’s pray for omar…

All in all, the Sox are looking pretty good this year. Their starting pitching is getting stronger as the season wears on and I think the only REAL issue is middle relief, which is important, but not as crucial as late inning relief or starting pitching. Come playoff time, the rotation tightens up o four starters anyway and you don’t play as many games in a row so the headliners will be available almost every night.