Banner Day in Beantown

First, the news on the court: the Celtics picked up Kevin Garnett to put themselves far ahead of where they used to be in the Eastern Conference.

On the field, the Sox picked up Eric Gagné from Texas in exchange for Kason Gabbard, David Murphy, and Engel Beltre. his deal is, essentially a tour de magie in the vein of "win now without sacrificing the future."

In limited service with the Red Sox Gabbard has managed to pick up 4 wins over his seven starts, holding down a 3.73 ERA and 1.12 WHIP over those 41 innings. With the return of Curt Schilling to the rotation after his final AAA rehab start tonight, the Sox rotation had some fat able to be trimmed. Gabbard, as the latest "lightning in a bottle" AAAA starter to grab wins for the big club, will be of value to Texas as a groundball pitcher in that hellish rotation, but is definitely not carrying enough overall stuff to regret too much.

David Murphy, a left-handed outfielder who posted forgettable numbers with the Sox last year, was posting .283/.348/.429 at Pawtucket. His best upside is likely along the lines of David Dellucci with more defensive promise.

Engel Beltre, a seventeen year old outfield prospect with the Gulf Coast League Red Sox, will assume a similar position inside the Ranger system. In rookie ball he's only hitting .215 and getting on base at a .314 clip, but Beltre has such a physical presence that his upside (granted 4 or 5 years from now) could be very significant.

Together these three players managed to net the top closer in the National League from 2002-2004, and one who was able to reconstruct the foundation of his career in Texas after two years out with injury. Gagné proved me and a number of other pundits who thought Texas would be his final resting place. He's averaging almost eight strikeouts per nine innings, and his WHIP is barely over one (1.05). That Gagné has been able to translate his abilities from the National League (and Dodgers Stadium) to the American League and the worst pitcher's park in baseball is, I feel, indicative of how far he has come from the injured pitcher that weighed on the Dodger payroll for two years.

Theo managed to bolster what was already one of the top bullpens in the American League by turning some glorified spare parts into a premier closer-turned-setup-man. And for those of you who are scared that every member of the Sox staff could be struck by lightning, leaving the club to limp into October behind Devern Hansack and a rehab-rushed Matt Clement, fear not: we'll always have Kyle Snyder.