Just because Jon Daniels didn't make a big splash at this year's trade deadline doesn't mean that he didn't try.
According to WEEI, the Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers discussed a blockbuster deal that would have sent Josh Beckett, Jacoby Ellsbury and Kelly Shoppach to Texas.
According to multiple major league sources, one potential deal discussed by the Red Sox and Rangers prior to the non-waiver trade deadline included a package that would have sent Josh Beckett, Jacoby Ellsbury and Kelly Shoppach to the Rangers. It is unclear what player compensation the two teams discussed going from Texas to the Red Sox in such a deal.
The proposal was described by one source as nothing more than a theoretical back and forth of ideas that never progressed to the point where the Red Sox approached Beckett to discuss his 10-5 rights. Another source classified the talks as having reached a more advanced stage before hitting a wall.
As WEEI notes, it's unclear what Texas would have had to surrender to land Ellsbury, Beckett and Shoppach, but it presumably would have been quite a bit. Texas may have wanted the Red Sox to pick up the tab on some of Beckett's contract as well.
It's tough to discuss if the deal would have been good for the Rangers, since we've no real idea what would have been going to Boston. Adding Beckett and Ellsbury would likely have been a nice boost down the stretch and in 2013, but Ryan Dempster and Geovany Soto will suffice -- at a fraction of the likely price, no less.