It was exactly nine years ago this week that Red Sox Nation was given a bit of a surprise following Thanksgiving when it was announced the team had traded for Curt Schilling from the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Schilling needed to waive his no-trade clause in order for the deal to be made possible, with the Yankees and Phillies also in hot pursuit.Then general manager Theo Epstein had Thanksgiving dinner at the Schilling household trying to reach an agreement with the ace.
“If we didn’t sign Curt, it probably would have been the worst Thanksgiving of my life,” Epstein said at the time. “We tried to refuse, and Curt said it was a deal-breaker, they would be insulted if we didn’t go.”
The trade obviously helped the Red Sox in winning the World Series the very next season.
There most likely won’t be any major deal made by the Red Sox this Thanksgiving week, as it has been a fairly quiet offseason thus far with just the signing of manager John Farrell, the re-signing of David Ortiz and the signing of free agent catcher David Ross.
General manager Ben Cherington spoke Tuesday to the Boston Globe saying it is still relatively early in the offseason and there is still much work to be done. It should be noted at this time last year the Red Sox still did not have a manager.
“We’re working hard every day to execute the plan that we have,” Cherington told the Globe. “I’ve found that the best opportunities in free agency often come later in the offseason. That trade up north got everybody’s attention. But it’s still relatively early. It’s not even Thanksgiving. I think most people understand we have a long way to go.”
Cherington also spoke about free agent outfielder Cody Ross, who during the season appeared very likely to re-sign with mutual interest from both sides, but yet a deal has yet to be agreed upon.
“We continue to talk. There’s really no other update than to say the door is open,” he said. “We’re also talking to other guys and I presume he is talking to other teams. Those things have a way of starting to move once one of the dominos falls.”
While indeed it is still early in the offseason and there’s plenty of time, the Red Sox still have a number of voids to fill, it’s time to get to work and begin constructing a winning team again.
