Red Sox trade Lugo to Cardinals for Duncan

UPDATE: The Sox got a player to be named later too!? Wow.

Julio Lugo is a Cardinal while the Sox acquire 1B/LF Chris Duncan in the hopes of bolstering their offense against right-handed hitters.

Your newest Met: Lugo

The New York Daily News says today that “Julio Lugo already is working out at the Mets’ complex in the Dominican Republic.”

Guess we know what team he’s headed to. What I want to know is: isn’t this a violation of some sort? Lugo is still a member of the Red Sox; just designated for assignment, is all. This has to violate some sort of tampering rule.

Lugo designated for assignment

Well, that was a surprise.

Julio Lugo has been designated for assignment, bringing to a close a tumultuous two-and-a-half years with Lugo as our apparent shortstop.

Lugo’s death knell begins gonging

The Red Sox have informed all teams that they are willing to pay most of Lugo’s remaining salary, Ken Rosenthal reports. The team has publicly announced its intention of bringing Mike Lowell aboard Friday with Jed Lowrie to follow Saturday, so Lugo’s time is running short.

The Sox have realized Lugo’s sunk cost — one of the few teams to understand the idea of sunk cost — and are willing to receive a fringe prospect in return just to move him. The idea behind moving him instead of releasing him outright would be to get at least some talent into the system from a team that wants Lugo without having to fight for him in free agency.

I’m going to guess Lugo to the Pirates. The Pirates seem to be highly likely to trade second baseman Freddy Sanchez, and Jack Wilson may be on the way out as well. The Pirates need middle infield depth with these moves, and Lugo fits the bill.

Lugo’s death knell begins

With the All-Star Break finally behind us, it’s time to take a look ahead at what the second half has in store for us.

One thing it doesn’t have in store for us is Julio Lugo’s presence in a Red Sox uniform.

Read on to read what the likely scenario is to happen once games get underway again… and also possibilities the Sox might keep Lugo on the roster.

But the bottom line is that you can go ahead and pack away your Lugo t-shirts now.

Sox interested in Atkins; should Sox go to 11 pitchers?

Rumors abound that the Red Sox and Colorado Rockies have discussed a deal around reliever Takashi Saito for third-baseman Garrett Atkins, making roughly $7 million this year.

The benefit to Atkins is that he would give the Sox a legitimate power bat off the bench, something the team lacks. Atkins would play first and third base off the bench, providing invaluable depth should Mike Lowell’s return prove unsuccessful.

Which brings us to a more important question: are the Sox better served with an extra bench bat or an extra pitcher?

Bates promotion tells a lot about Sox’s concern for O

With the recent callup of first baseman Aaron Bates to the club, it’s clear that the Sox are concerned about their offensive viability.

With the All-Star break around the corner, the club could have opted to keep Jeff Bailey on the roster despite his high-ankle strain and go a couple days against a left-handed starter with Julio Lugo at short or Mark Kotsay at first (despite the latter’s left-handed bat).

Instead, the club chose to promote a 25-year old struggling in Triple-A. Bates’ numbers so far on the year are .182/.273/.295 with only 24 games at the level. And yet, the Sox brought him up to get his right-handed bat in the lineup against lefty pitchers.

Bailey likely to hit disabled list

Yesterday, first baseman Jeff Bailey suffered a high-ankle strain trying to make a play on Brad Penny’s acrobatic flip to first base Saturday. He’s likely to hit the disabled list, a loss given that the Sox are about to face two left-handed pitchers.

How can the Red Sox replace Bailey against left-handed starters?

BOS 6, BAL 5: Flip side

Boston’s bullpen had something to prove.

Keeping up with the corners

With Mike Lowell’s recent injury concerns creeping back into the active conscious of Red Sox Nation, depth at the corners and in the middle of the lineup has suddenly been thrust to the forefront of the early pre-trade deadline chatter.

Much of the Red Sox trade innuendo to this point has surrounded the potential acquisition of a shortstop or catcher, positions without organizational depth or strength. But with Jason Varitek and George Kottaras holding down the fort behind the plate with acceptable production and Nick Green earning the job at short with Jed Lowrie waiting in the wings (and Julio Lugo being Julio Lugo), those positions may not be the most critical to address as July rolls in.