Entering this season, Garciaparra's stats per 162 games were .323 BA, 30 HR, 117 RBI, 120 R, 215 H, 47 2B, 14 SB. Five times he was an All-Star, five times he finished among the top 10 vote-getters for AL MVP, twice he was a batting champ. And now, apparently, the Red Sox are "better off" with Orlando Cabrera — an eight-year, .267 career-hitting shortstop whom I've never heard of — and Doug Mientkiewicz, who has one of the weakest Baseball-Reference.com profile pages I've ever come across. (Check out the Similar Batters section at the bottom.)

However we got to this point — whether you want to blame Nomar or A-Rod or management or the segment of Red Sox Nation that was particularly cruel (a headline on Boston Dirt Dogs reads: "Theo Cures Cancer in the Clubhouse") — this unceremonial exile of a future Hall of Famer is a perfect Cliffs Notes summary of the futility of the Boston Red Sox.

Wade Boggs was no longer good enough for the Red Sox, so the Yankees got four All-Star seasons out of him and won the 1996 World Series. Roger Clemens was in "the twilight of his career," so the Blue Jays, Yankees and Astros picked him up for five All-Star seasons, three Cy Young Awards and World Series titles in 1999 and 2000. The Sox got nothing in return for either. They got nothing for Carlton Fisk, who had four All-Star seasons with the White Sox. They got Frank Tanana (4-10 in 1981), Jim Dorsey, and Joe Rudi for Fred Lynn, who had three All-Star seasons for the Angels. And there was that whole Babe Ruth thing you may have heard about.

In 1990, the Sox traded Jeff Bagwell to Houston for Larry Anderson, but every team has made its share of trade blunders involving young prospects. The Red Sox, however, are world champions in running an established player out of town too early. Now that doesn't mean this trade won't pay dividends for Boston. Most agree a deal had to get done. But how do you get to this point? How do you blow up eight years of Hall of Fame performance and fond memories just like that?

I bet Nomar would look good in Yankees pinstripes, too. Maybe we'll sign him as a DH next year and then re-acquire Alfonso Soriano to play second base in 2006, when he becomes a free agent. Soriano, you may recall, was involved in an A-Rod deal, too. But we didn't screw that one up and tear apart the clubhouse.

Today's Sports Links:

• Stark: Yanks Losers at Trade Deadline — Jayson Stark quotes a baseball scout who says that Jose Contreras' stuff is "two grades better" than Loaiza's. Perhaps. I ain't gonna argue with a scout, even if I wonder if he saw some of Contreras' stuff being hit 400 feet on seemingly every pitch against Boston. Stark also writes that, "The Yankees knew, heading for the deadline, they didn't have a win-the-World Series kind of rotation — not unless Kevin Brown and Mike Mussina make a remarkable return to health." I didn't know I should be hoping for anything "remarkable" in terms of their returns. I'll tell ya one thing, though. Loaiza was an All-Star in 2003 and 2004, finished second in Cy Young voting last year, and doesn't seem like a bad No. 4 starter to me.

• Mets Suspend Spencer After DUI Arrest — He was stopped for driving 96 mph "between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. Tuesday," and "acknowledged that he had a few drinks," failed several roadside sobriety tests and refused to take a breathalyzer test. Anyone wanna bet he'll do it again? These guys who drive at such reckless speeds while drunk just don't give a shit about anything.

• Armstrong Accused by Italian Cyclist — Filippo Simeoni was quoted by an Italian sports daily as saying that he was threatened by the Tour de France champ for telling an Italian court in 2002 that Ferrari advised him to take performance-enhancing drugs. He claims that while riding with Armstrong in a July 23 stage, he was told, "You made a mistake to speak against Ferrari, and you made a mistake to take legal action against me. I have money and time and lots of lawyers. I can destroy you.''

• Matt Leinart's Blog — The USC quarterback and Heisman hopeful takes to the web. (Found on SportsByBrooks.com)

• Rock Gods vs. Jock Gods — Laura Boswell does a Nick Bakay impersonation on ESPN.com's Page 3, weighing advantages of being a rock star or sports star. I covered this very topic in May, and I side with the rock stars. The reason: you're expected to embrace a hedonistic lifestyle, without consequence. Instead of being vilified for participating in drunken orgies, you're celebrated for it. Although, truth be told, I don't think most people look down on drunken orgies. But I think the sports stars and movie stars try to be a little more discreet about such debauchery, since media seem to probe their personal lives quite a bit more.