The team did not expect that the players who were brought up in connection with the Twins would necessarily have to play such a large role in the season. But the Sox were certainly aware that they would compromise their depth significantly if they made a deal for Santana.
"A big part of our calculus," one team official said of the Santana talks, "was appreciating the value of depth."
That emphasis became immensely important over the course of the year. The team unexpectedly needed rotation reinforcements when Curt Schilling and Bartolo Colon were rendered non-factors and Clay Buchholz failed to take possession of a rotation spot. Masterson was there.
The team needed to reinforce a bullpen that seemed thin through its inconsistencies. And so, Masterson was moved to relief.
Mike Lowell spent two separate spells on the disabled list. Julio Lugo missed the entire second half. Lowrie proved a capable replacement, helping to keep the left side of the infield steady when it would have been easy for it to become a glaring weakness.
"You see the teams in the playoffs -- Anaheim, Tampa, us, they're deep, deep organizations," observed Sox infielder Alex Cora. "You lose one guy, and another guy comes up and plays. You don't take a step back because someone else is playing."
Masterson and Lowrie have both exceeded expectations. Masterson was never fazed by his rapid ascent from Double-A to the majors. He went 4-3 with a 3.67 ERA as a starter, and has dominated while going 2-2 with a 2.36 mark as a reliever.
Lowrie offered a striking amount of production (39 RBIs in his first 58 games) before cooling off offensively over the last month. Yet even while he has slowed at the plate, he has remained a source of great stability in the field.
He has yet to commit an error at shortstop, and despite doubts about his range, most statistical measures indicate that he has gotten to as many balls as anyone in baseball since coming to the majors.
"I don't think any of the guys whose names appeared in articles surrounding that trade, those players that have had some success for us this year, I don't think we're surprised by it," said Sox Vice President of Personnel Ben Cherington. "But we're certainly pleased.
"You never know until they get there and adjust to that environment. It's nice that we were able to make a decision to hold those guys and have some of the kids give a return on that decision in the short-run."
This year and beyond
Several years from now, it may be that the Sox lament the day when they did not trade for Santana. The perceptions about trades (and non-trades) change dramatically over time.
In 2006, it looked like the deal for Josh Beckett might prove a devastating one for the Sox. In 2007, Hanley Ramirez represented the necessary cost of a World Series win.
That deal offers a reminder that it would be a mistake to draw conclusions about the long-term ramifications of the Sox' decision not to deal for Santana. But remarkably, it is hard to imagine that in 2008 the team would have reached the postseason if it had made the decision to acquire the most dominant pitcher of this decade.
"For us," said Casey, "not making that trade was humungous."
Alex Speier is a senior writer for WEEI.com.
