The guy the Redsocks gave up

They blinked.

We stayed calm. They pushed the button marked "PANNNNNNNIC!"

We looked at our farm system and saw young, evolving players. We looked at what was out there, and we saw no Cliff Lee, no giant hitter. We saw moves that would churn the roster, not improve it.  Moreover, we saw players without New York experience, who might find the AL East a bigger challenge than they've even known.

We stayed the course. They blinked.

And this is the fellow to watch. His name is Chih-Hsien Chiang. He's 23, from Taiwan, and he absolutely destroying the Eastern League. I cannot vouch for the guy, but with numbers like that, he would be generating huge hype if we were a Yankee prospect. And I gotta believe every hardcore Redsock fan in the world is holding his breath today, wondering what they gave for the china doll that is Eric Bedtard.

When you trade a guy like this, you can really mess up your francise karma. Look at these numbers: He's leading the league in practically every category. (Note: No Yankees on this top-10 list.)  Bedtard is a rental, and an expensive one. If he gets shelled this weekend, Seattle is going to look like the cat that ate the canary, and Theo Epstein is going to look mighty nervous.

Of course, the Redsock propaganda machine won't bother to expound on this. They'll churn full bore on how they managed to get Bedtard from Seattle. 

But take a look. They gave away this guy for a pitcher who wouldn't have cracked our rotation.

We held the course. They blinked. It's that simple.