Random Thoughts (June 26, 2007)

After hitting just .224 in May, Coco Crisp has been on fire in June. Crisp has a .321 batting average in June and has raised his average on the season to a respectable .258. When you think about the Gold Glove defense he plays in centerfield and his reasonable price tag (just over $5 million a season through 2009), Crisp has a lot of value for the Sox... On the other hand, how long can the Sox continue to run Julio Lugo out at shortstop. After inking a 4-year/$36 million dollar contract in the offseason, Lugo has been a monumental bust. Lugo's stat line reads like this: .191 BA, 4 HR, 34 RBI, .256 OBP. The 34 RBI are nice and he has stolen 19 bases in as many attempts but the .191/.256 combination is 100% unacceptable. For the Sox to win the World Series, a change is necessary. It's time for Theo to get creative and for ownership to get ready to pay Lugo to play elsewhere. Remember, Theo traded Nomar and the Sox are paying Edgar Renteria (and he at least hit .276 and had a .335 OBP) to play for the Braves so anything is -- and better be -- possible... The hot Celtics rumor (as of last night) was a four way deal that would have the C's send the No. 5 pick, Al Jefferson and Theo Ratliff to Minnesota, the T-Wolves would ship Kevin Garnett to the Lakers, LA would send Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum and the No. 19 pick to the Pacers and Indiana would then move Jermaine O'Neal to Boston. If Danny Ainge signs off on that deal, I'm done with the Celtics. Jefferson is younger, healthier and just flat out a better player than the overpaid, often injured, ready to opt out of his contract after 2009 O'Neal. The team needs to build around Jefferson. Low post scorers with his size and ability don't come around too often. The best option for Boston at this point, if they ever want to compete for a championship (forget this "be relevant" crap), would be to trade Paul Pierce. He makes too much money (roughly $20 million per year through 2010) to be built around at this point of his career. Find a team with expiring deals, draft picks and young players that could be in contention immediately with Pierce on their team. Build around Jefferson, Gerald Green, Rajon Rondo, whatever you get for Pierce and the draft. The Bulls could send the C's Tyrus Thomas, Ben Gordon, the No. 9 pick and P.J. Brown in a one year contract sign-and-trade for Pierce. At the end of the summer, Ainge could ship Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West, P.J. Brown and their 2008 No. 1 pick for Andrei Kirilenko. The C's could then just allow Theo Ratliff's contract to expire after 2008 and use that money to either acquire a veteran or to re-sign their young players. Tell me this team wouldn't be good by 2010: Rajon Rondo, Corey Brewer (C's No. 5 pick in 2007), Gerald Green, Andrei Kirilenko, Al Jefferson, Ben Gordon, Tyrus Thomas, Yi Jianlian/Spencer Hawes/Brandon Wright/Joakim Noah/Jeff Green (basically whoever the Bulls take for us at No. 9 in 2007) and Kendrick Perkins. It's time to be creative and aggressive to save the Boston Celtics...