Josh Beckett was almost traded to the Rangers instead of the Red Sox

Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell were traded to the Red Sox in a November of 2005 blockbuster deal that included then-prospects Hanley Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez going to the Marlins, but Rob Bradford of WEEI.com has an interesting article about how Beckett and Lowell were nearly dealt to the Rangers instead.

According to Bradford the Rangers offered Hank Blalock, who at the time was 24 years old and coming off three straight 25-homers seasons, plus then-prospect John Danks. Blalock eventually flamed out, while Danks was traded to the White Sox and has developed into one of the better left-handed starters in baseball.

Beckett recalled the Rangers’ interest and the Texas native would have been happy with that trade, but told Bradford that he was even more excited to play for the Red Sox:

I just remember I called Mike Lowell immediately after I heard from John Henry and we were talking about how cool it would be to go to Fenway every day. I remember that call to Mikey Lowell. We were like little kids. We were giddy.

In retrospect it’s a rare blockbuster that has worked out well for both sides. Beckett has thrown 1,082 innings with a 4.01 ERA for the Red Sox and Lowell hit .290 with an .814 OPS in five seasons for Boston, winning a World Series together in 2007. On the other hand, Ramirez developed into one of the best shortstops in baseball for the Marlins and Sanchez has thrown 636 innings with a 3.80 ERA in Florida.