And The Players Are????

There used to be a saying, "You can't tell the players without a program." Well, as of yesterday's trading deadline, that is the perfect description of the Red Sox. As they continued to flail around in the depths of the AL East, trade speculation heated up--in fact, was the almost exclusive dominant theme of all local Beantown papers and TV and radio stations. I was "back home" for the past week, just getting back to the Left Coast around midnite last night., and was able to suffer through the activity and speculation first hand.
Anyway, the major players who are still members of the Sox are Pedey, Papi, Nap, Vic and Uehara, along with the bulk of the rookie/soph group of young players who have come up the past 1-2 seasons. The group that has gone, and where, (what we got in return in parens) are Lester to Oakland (Cespedes--a horribly over exaggerated sometime power hitting, BA average .250-ish outfielder who MAY benefit with the Monster--I mean who gives a shit if he wins the All-Star Home Run derby?--It's just glorified batting practice; something Teddy Ballgame would have never even acknowledged, much less participated in.); Gomes (part of the Lester deal); Lackey to St. Louis (we get an outfielder I never heard of and a pitching prospect); Dubront (who appeared to have already thrown in the towel); and Drew to the Evil Empire (a part time infielder). Peavey departed a day earlier for the Angels and has already lost his first start in Anaheim.
Now I understand the need to get some more run production out of the team, but it's a cardinal rule that you build championships with your pitching, then add the hitting to complete the mix--NOT the other way around! When I saw a TV assembled pic yesterday afternoon of Lester in O's Green and Gold, I had to restrain myself from vomiting all over the floor of the Logan airport restaurant I was in at the time.
There is a possibility that Lester could return to the Sox for next year, as he's a free agent at the end of this season, and has publicly stated as recently as this week in the Globe that he'd be very happy doing so, even for less money than other teams might offer. He WANTS to be a Red Sock for the rest of his career, but only time will tell. It's a sad day at the Fens.