Sox' Epstein confident despite whiffing at deadline

	The Red Sox tried to bring the Rocket back to Boston, but the Astros weren't interested in dealing him. AP
	RELATED • VERDUCCI: Abreu move could backfire • HEYMAN: Winners, losers from trade deadline • TRUTH & RUMORS: Big deals fell through

The Boston Red Sox were in on everyone, but they got next to no one.

They talked to the Braves about Andruw Jones but didn't want to surrender Jon Lester and Craig Hansen and Coco Crisp. Maybe one of those players in a package (Crisp), but not all three.

They talked to the Astros about Roy Oswalt. And when that didn't work, they broached the subject of a return of Roger Clemens. Why the heck not? Wouldn't that be a coup?

Alas, that talk was short-lived. Astros owner Drayton McLane reportedly didn't want Clemens going anywhere (which, of course, implies that ol' Rodj wouldn't have minded one bit).

The Red Sox didn't miss an available star.

They checked in on Alfonso Soriano. If the Nationals were selling cheap, Boston was buying. Turns out the Nationals weren't selling at all.

The Red Sox talked about sending Trot Nixon to the Phillies for Bobby Abreu. But the Sox wouldn't pick up the entire $17 million owed Abreu for 2007 ($15 million plus a $2 million option for '08). They offered to pay $10 million. Not enough, not when the Yankees were picking up the entire tab.

They thought they made a good offer for Cory Lidle, a better one than the Yankees made. But again, the difference was the dollars.

The Yankees got Lidle by agreeing to take the full $22 million left on Abreu's contract. The Red Sox have a big budget; the Yankees' is bigger.

When Abreu and Lidle went together to the Yankees, bigger names started to be associated with Boston. But GM Theo Epstein insisted that the Red Sox didn't want to change their course. And in the end, unlike the Yankees, who added three good pieces, the Red Sox, who were seemingly willing to do just about anything, did just about nothing.

"We really consciously try not to react to the Yankees' every move. That's not part of our approach,'' Epstein said by phone on Tuesday. "We respect the heck out of what they do. But we focus on our team. We never get emotional. We never get reactive.''

If Epstein feels under siege for acquiring no one when his archrival was almost everyone's biggest trade-deadline winner (mine, too), he didn't sound like it. If he's upset, he didn't show it.

"We're disappointed we weren't able to present a significant piece. But we were pleased with the process and the results,'' Epstein said. "Sometimes it's best not to mortgage the future for incremental results now.''

As it turned out, they didn't mortgage anything, not past, present or future. Many of their players heard their names mentioned in trade talks, from Crisp to Mike Lowell to even All-Star Mark Loretta. Yet they're all still in Boston.

Some competitors suggested that the Red Sox tried to do too much, which is why they ultimately did nothing (other than acquiring right-handed reliever Bryan Corey from Texas for minor league right-hander Luis Mendoza). Some said they tried to work too many three-way deals. Epstein said that isn't true, that their discussions weren't overly complex, just ultimately unfruitful.

If anything, the Red Sox wanted to improve their pitching. Big names were thrown about. Yet they all stayed put, or they were dealt elsewhere.

"We had a plan and we executed it,'' Epstein said. "Sometimes the best deals are the one you don't do. That said, look at how many quality pitchers changed hands.''

It's true, the pitchers who did move will fill out the back ends of rotations. Yet, some might argue that's exactly where Boston needs the most help.

No matter what happened (or didn't happen) on deadline day, Epstein hasn't changed how he feels about his team (which fell into a tie for first place with the Yankees on the day after the deadline) and its chances.

"I feel great about our team this year,'' he said. "We're right where we want to be.''