Philadelphia sent 1B-L Jeremy Giambi to Boston for RHP Josh Hancock in one of the smaller deals completed once the trades began flowing on the Sunday of the Winter Meetings. Given the new approach the Red Sox are taking to the game following the hiring of new GM Theo Epstein, I'm hardly surprised they targeted Giambi.

Jeremy's season was again restricted by a lack of playing time, however he continued to display strong skills and still possesses the potential to develop into more than his brother. At 28, Giambi should be in the middle of his prime, so Boston has every reason to expect great things. The Red Sox intend to non-tender 1B/OF-L Brian Daubach, opening ample playing time for Giambi at first and DH.

Reportedly, Oakland GM Billy Beane's hurried trade of Jeremy last season was motivated by a desire to remove Giambi's highly disruptive presence from the clubhouse. However, Jeremy's also supposedly buckled down this off-season and hopefully will respond positively to finally receiving regular playing time. Boston also possesses a far more sober clubhouse than Oakland, which may have a calming effect on the young man. With the brothers playing for opposite teams in such a historic rivalry, the sibling competition could be quite interesting to watch if Jeremy begins to meet expectations.

We discussed Hancock this fall when he joined the Red Sox for a cup-of-coffee after rosters expanded. The 24-year-old has displayed solid skills through AA, but he has only had limited AAA experience during which he suffered from command problems. However, Hancock should develop into a competent right-handed starter after spending 2003 in AAA, providing the Phillies with another competent candidate for their rotation. While Philadelphia failed to take advantage of Giambi's skills while he was with the team, GM Ed Wade was able to turn him around for more than he cost the Phillies to acquire.

On Monday, Boston completed another much smaller deal with the Padres, sending SS-R Luis Cruz to San Diego for UT-S Cesar Crespo. Crespo offers the Red Sox appealing position flexibility, as he can play all offensive positions with the exception of catcher. Consequently, he likely has a roster spot reserved headed into Spring Training.

The 23-year-old also possesses interesting offensive upside despite his limited performance in the majors to date. Crespo has displayed moderate speed and power potential and knows how to take a walk, so he merely needs to focus on making better contact to develop into an offensive threat.

Boston signed Cruz out of Mexico as a nondrafted free agent in 2000. He spent 2001 with their Rookie-level Gulf Coast League affiliate and advanced to A Augusta in the South Atlantic League this past season. However, he's not played full time and has shown very few skills in his limited at-bats. The only positive in his profile is that he's only 18, so he has ample time to develop.

Given Epstein's background with the Padres, I expect a free flow of players between the organizations, though San Diego fans should hope GM Kevin Towers isn't quite as generous in the future.

San Diego traded Crespo in order to open up a roster spot for UT-R Jose Flores, who they acquired from Oakland for RHP Buddy Hernandez. The Padres selected Hernandez from the Braves with the third overall pick in the first round of the Rule 5 draft. Atlanta signed Hernandez out of North Carolina Wesleyan College as a nondrafted free agent in 2000.

The 23-year-old reliever has moved quickly through the Braves system and spent 2002 at AA Greenville in the Southern League. While there he compiled an 81:23 K:BB with 36 H and no home runs allowed in 59 IP for a 1.22 ERA. Atlanta then sent him to the Arizona Fall League, where he managed a 29:8 K:BB with 15 H and 1 HR allowed in 19.2 IP for a 4.12 ERA.

Although Hernandez's development would almost certainly progress more smoothly with some AAA time, he's the type of player who should be able to survive Rule 5 selection and could even thrive. I expect Oakland to give him a long look in Spring Training and keep him on the roster as is necessary to retain a Rule 5 pick, giving them an inexpensive reliever with considerable upside.

We took a look at Flores when he received a September call-up with Oakland. Like Crespo, he can play all field positions with the exception of catcher. However, at 29, he's much more polished offensively. San Diego was likely wise to replace Crespo with Flores, as while Crespo offers much more potential due to his youth, Flores has the skills now to allow the Padres to lean heavily on him as a bench player. Additionally while Hernandez certainly has upside, San Diego probably doesn't want to deal with a Rule 5 pitcher in the pen while they're trying to break in young starters in the rotation. Consequently, although they appear to have received the short end of the talent stick in both deals, the trades seem to make sense from an organizational standpoint. However, I don't like to encourage such maneuvers in a team not making a hard playoff push.