I'd also like to see a similar treatment of Duquette. It might hurt, but I'd like to see it. -- Allan Wood, commenting on the Village Voice article on Brian Cashman

Okay, I'll bite. It so happens I have a list of every Dan Duquette trade. (Not free-agent signing or waiver pickup, but trade.) I don't particularly care to grade things, so let's just look at the deals and try to analyze them. It'll take a few days, but maybe when it's over we'll have an idea of how The Duke has done.

Let's start at the beginning . . .

1994
MARCH 22: Outfielder Lee Tinsley from Seattle for a player to be named later (teams later reached cash settlement). Analysis: Tinsley turned in a halfway decent season for the Sox in '95 (.284/.359/.402, with 18 stolen bases), though he lost his job in September to Dwayne Hosey. He was also one of the chips the Sox used to obtain (gasp!) Heathcliff Slocumb. Long term benefit or harm: Since he had a small part in the subsequent acquisitions of Jason Varitek and Derek Lowe, you have to say getting Tinsley worked out for the Sox.

MARCH 23: Outfielder Glenn Murray from Montreal for a player to be named later (teams later reached cash settlement). Analysis: Murray was the first of what we might call Duquette's Stathead Specials, a minor-league player with good secondary offensive skills that were somewhat hidden by his Triple Crown numbers. But he never played an inning for Boston, and batted .196/.250/.289 in his 38 major-league games, all of which were with the Phillies in 1996. Long term benefit or harm: None.

MARCH 31: Catcher Rich Rowland from Detroit for catcher John Flaherty. Analysis: A stinkeroo. Rowland was two years older than his listed baseball age of 28 when the Sox acquired him (which was uncovered by some shrewd detective work from the Globe's Nick Cafardo), and he only batted .218 in parts of two seasons with Boston. Flaherty, of course, is still playing and has had some good seasons in his career. Long term benefit or harm: The Sox gave up the only player of value in the deal, getting 148 total at-bats from Rowland in exchange for seven seasons (and counting) of more or less quality catching. The question is, if the Sox had Flaherty on their roster in 1997, would they have been inclined to make the Slocumb-for-Varitek and Lowe trade?

MAY 31: Outfielder Wes Chamberlain and pitcher Mike Sullivan from Philadelphia for pitcher Paul Quantrill and outfielder Billy Hatcher. Analysis: This deal has always fascinated me, because I thought one of Duquette's overriding motivations was simply getting Hatcher off the roster; that was the only way, it seemed, that Butch Hobson would stop playing him. (And the reason that fascination lasts to this day is because I know some of you wish he'd do the same thing with Darren Lewis, for the same reason.) People were relatively excited when the trade was made, since Chamberlain had been regarded as a hot prospect in the early '90s and Quantrill was viewed as staff filler. But, of course, Chamberlain was nothing of the sort . . . and Quantrill is still pitching, and pitching effectively, in the major leagues. Long term benefit or harm: Again, the Sox gave up the only player of value in the deal. And there's no What-If? component here, since you can always use a good arm in the bullpen.

JUNE 16: Outfielder Tom Brunansky from Milwaukee for catcher Dave Valle. Analysis: You take our bum, we'll take yours. Long term benefit or harm: Please.

JULY 1: Pitchers Chris Nabholz and Steve Farr from Cleveland for pitcher Jeff Russell. Analysis: Russell was a bit of a whiner who had long since worn out his welcome in Boston (his '94 Red Sox ERA at the time of the deal: 5.14), and Duquette took a flyer on Nabholz (whom he'd had in Montreal) and Farr (who, at that stage of his career, was probably equal to Russell). The Indians, who were just beginning to flex their muscles, were looking for a closer, and Russell was probably as attractive as any available Proven Closer. The deal didn't work out for anybody. Russell was just as bad in Cleveland as he'd been in Boston, Farr was at the end of the trail, and Nabholz couldn't break the speed limit with his fastball. Long term benefit or harm: The only benefit was Russell's return to Fenway in early August, just before the strike. He blew a save by surrendering a game-tying home run in the bottom of the 11th inning, then nearly gave up a game-losing home run to the next batter, John Valentin I believe, but was spared when the drive curved foul at the last second. The crowd, or at least what was left of it (this was the second game of a doubleheader, and most everybody had vamoosed by then), took delirious delight in Russell's troubles -- as I said, he'd long since worn out his welcome before the trade -- and treated him with a venomous savageness that I didn't see again until the "Where Is Roger?" game in October, 1999. Afterwards, Russell said he wished someone would drop an atomic bomb on the city of Boston.

AUGUST 31: Player to be named later (teams later reached a cash settlement) from the N.Y. Yankees for pitcher Scott Bankhead. Analysis: This deal was made during the strike; the Yankees apparently thought it would end before much longer and were looking for bullpen help. (They were comfortably in first place at the time and headed for the playoffs.) But the strike didn't end, the remainder of the season was canceled, Bankhead went 1-1, 6.00 in 20 appearances for the Yanks in '95, and the Sox took the cash. Long term benefit or harm: None.

NOVEMBER 9: Pitcher Brian Looney from Montreal for a player to be named later (teams later reached a cash settlement). Analysis: In 4 2/3 innings, spread out over three games in 1995, Looney allowed 12 hits, 4 walks and 9 runs. That was the extent of his Red Sox contribution. Long term benefit or harm: The only harm came in the games he pitched.

DECEMBER 7: Second baseman Luis Alicea from St. Louis for pitcher Nate Minchey and outfielder Jeff McNeely. Analysis: This trade marked the beginning of a series of excellent trades by Duquette. In exchange for nothing, the Sox acquired their starting second baseman for the 1995 division champions. He hit a solid .270 with 13 stolen bases and a .742 OPS, which isn't bad for a middle infielder. They chose not to keep him after they acquired Wil Cordero from Montreal, figuring they could switch Cordero to second base. But Cordero proved to be the Dick Stuart of second basemen, and Alicea just keeps rolling along. He hit .294 for Texas just last year, and is currently with the Royals. Long term benefit or harm: They negated the benefits of the trade by ridding themselves of Alicea so quickly. Too bad, because this could have been a real steal.

DECEMBER 9: Designated hitter Jose Canseco from Texas for outfielder Otis Nixon and infielder Luis Ortiz. Analysis: Another good move. In another deal in which they gave up little of value, Canseco was very good in 1995 (24 homers, 81 RBI, .306/.378/.556, .934 OPS in 102 games) and even better in the 96 games for which he was healthy in '96 (28 homers, 82 RBI, .289/.400/.589, .989 OPS). He talked himself out of town after the '96 season, but he's never been as good since then. Long term benefit or harm: The Sox got two good years out of Canseco. We'll examine what happen after they traded him in the next few days.

DECEMBER 13: Infielder Terry Shumpert from Kansas City for a player to be named later (teams later reached a cash settlement). Analysis: The Sox bought themselves a utility infielder for a season. He's still playing, but he's no better than the guys the Sox replaced him with. Long term benefit or harm: None.

We'll continue tomorrow.