Buyers or Sellers?

That seems to be a hot topic lately. Should the Red Sox be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline? That question really makes me ask two questions of my own.

Why do we need to decide now? Why on earth would we have to decide how the Sox should act on a date two months from now? A lot can happen in two month. Heck, the season is only two months old. I mean, I know why they’re asking. It makes for better controversy. People can make definitive statements, and those always play well. “The season’s over! They should sell!” “No, they’ll come back. They should buy!” Each statement begs for calls to the radio station or comments on the website. And they didn’t even need to report anything worthwhile or do any research. It’s genius. But, of course, there’s no reason to even start thinking about it now. It’s just stuff to fill space.

(Yeah, I see the irony)

The other question, that actually has merit, is why can’t they be both? Why does it have to be one or the other? (Yup. I know. The answer can be found a couple paragraphs ago.) But, the Sox seem to be perfectly set up to be both buyers and sellers at this deadline. They have some older spare parts that might make good chips for future talent. They also have some youngsters that could land the big fish they want. How would that work? Well, a large scale example would be something like a trade for Giancarlo Stanton. They could put a package of prospects together, and be buyers on him. Then, that would produce some extra parts. Then, maybe they could sell on Jonny Gomes and move his intangibles to another contender.

Or something smaller? Maybe they buy on a veteran outfielder, but sell on a veteran catcher? Sell on Peavy, and assume that a youngster can replace him, but buy on depth.

I can’t sit here and say the Sox don’t have needs. Even when everyone is back and healthy, there’s a spot or two that could use some help. There’s also a spot or two where there’s an excess. Can’t the Sox use one area to help the other?

Can’t they sell in order to buy?