Oh, that crafty Kenny Williams.  Not content with his incumbent overweight shortstop who he already re-signed and tired of waiting for Torii Hunter to complete his world tour before deciding where he'd wind up, Kenny woke up this morning with an itchy trigger finger.

So, with little thought and just the idea of doing anything coursing through his veins, he traded his best bargaining chip, Judy Jon Garland to the Angels for shortstop Orlando Cabrera.  And poof, just like that, any chance of the Sox getting what they legitimately need went over the rainbow with Garland.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am not a big fan of Judy Jon Garland.  However, I realize a couple of things that are important.  Firstly, that you have to trade pitching for pitching, especially when your staff is now reduced to an ancient Cuban, an overworked lefty, a guy who is about as consistent as oatmeal and a kid who is still on probation.

Despite his lack of fire, Garland gave you innings.  Innings that precluded you from having to trot out a stiff like Mike MacUseless or Mike Meyers or Brett Prinz.  And now, Pink Gavin Floyd gets into the starting rotation.  Now, the Sox go to training camp wondering who that fifth starter will be, knowing that nobody in their system is going to blow anyone away.  I doubt that Mike Dubee is going to wow anyone in Tucson. 

As for who the Sox got, Cabrera is coming off his best year in the majors, but he is also 33 years old on a team that already creaks when it walks.  And although he hit .301 last year, he's a career .273 hitter, which really is nothing to write home about.

It was my hope that Kenny would use Garland as part of a package to woo Tampa Bay into coughing up a 26 year-old left fielder named Carl Crawford.  It has become increasingly obvious to me that either Kenny doesn't read this blog or he chooses to ignore me.  Bad move, Kenny.  Really bad move.

Some other things that bother me about this deal:

• What do you do with 290 pounds of extra shortstop?  Will you trade him?  Stick his fat ass ample body out in left field where he can daydream even more?  Put him at second base?  Third base?  Why do you acquire a shortstop if you already are committed to one?  Why not a damned outfielder? 
  
• You couldn't get Judy Garland out of the league?  The Angels, who were a good team last year already have good pitching and you just helped them out.  What's next, Crede to the Red Sox?  Paulie to the Yankees?  At least you got Freddie Garcia and Aaron Rowand out of the league.
• Was this a salary dump (Garland was in his last year and made about $2 million more than Cabrera already and stands to earn $12-14 million in his next deal) to grease the coffers for Torii Hunter?  If so, I might be able to look the other way.
  
• This is like trading your turkey for tofu Kenny.  Really, it is.