Leading up to the trade deadline, having a good handle on what the Red Sox are seeking and what other teams have available are obviously musts.
That’s why I have contributed to TwinsCentric’s trade deadline primer eBook, and the folks over there have come out with 30 different eBooks per team, which costs just $9.95 per team.
Holding over 160 pages, the book includes a foreword by Rob Neyer — the man behind the SweetSpot network that Fire brand is part of — plus summaries of what every other team is looking to do at the deadline. There are over 150 trade targets with breakdowns, as well as impact prospects you could see debut in the second half.
As for the Red Sox part of it, you’ll find grades of every player. I gave David Ortiz a grade of a ‘C’ for the first half, as well as giving Jonathan Papelbon a tepid B. On the bright side, Clay Buchholz and Kevin Youkilis have well-deserved As.
You’ll have to grab the eBook to see why, but I highlight names such as Heath Bell, Sean Burnett, Brett Myers, Craig Counsell and David DeJesus as late-July targets for Boston. Sean Burnett might be a curious name in that list, but I had to bet on baseball knowledge and figured Burnett was one of the few left-handed relievers who could be available. With the news that the Red Sox may be interested in Blue Jays’ reliever Scott Downs, I wasn’t all that far off.
There’s also an essay on how Adrian Gonzalez went from a certain future Red Sox to someone who might very well never don a Boston uniform.
If you want an example of the eBook, a free sample of the Twins is available here. All proceeds are divided evenly between TwinsCentric (of which most goes to supporting the actual production of the eBook) and Fire Brand. Fire Brand’s costs have risen dramatically in recent days and we need every last cent in order to keep Fire Brand functioning. Not only does this eBook contain fantastic content that would make a great personal resource or gift to a baseball fanatic, it’s just $9.95. Which, believe it or not, will go a long way toward sustaining Fire Brand.