I have to start this out by saying I love Joel Hanrahan. He has proven to be one of Huntington's best moves. He makes the Pirates immensely better and I don't propose this lightly.

I am currently living in New England...a displaced Buccos fan...and I have seen the mass hysteria of the Red Sox nation. They are in panic mode right now and a lost season is not an option for these fans...perhaps now is the moment to strike? One of the achilles heals of the Sox is clearly their bullpen especially after losing Papelbon to the Phillies and for some dumb reason converting Bard to a starting pitcher...doesn't make sense to me.

Anyhow, I'm not throwing in the towel here on the Buccos season but I do think this is a fantastic Sell High Buy Low scenario. The Red Sox top prospect is Will Middlebrooks...homerun hitting third baseman...he is currently stuck behind fan favorite Kevin Youkilis and is tearing the cover off the ball in AAA. He is batting .379 with a .406 OBP and 7 dingers so far.

If the Red Sox were in their right mind they would never make this trade....but right now...maybe with Joel and a kicker like McClouth we could land this deal.

As a side note: I'm not giving up on Pedro yet but we could move him to First...or Middlebrooks which was what were thinking we might do all along.

Thoughts?