Hanley, Boston and the Big What If?

The Red Sox and Marlins met Tuesday night for the first time since 2006. This was significant -- and only in a minor way -- not because it was the first time the two teams met since the fateful Josh Beckett-Hanley Ramirez (and other significant parts) trade, but because it was the first time where we could even begin to evaluate that swap with any historical perspective.

Back then, Ramirez was just a rookie shortstop with plenty of talent and two good months under his belt. Beckett, brought in as the presumptive ace, was struggling with the transition from the NL to the AL East and sported a bloated ERA hovering near 5.00 for a Boston team headed for a mighty fall in the second half.

Much has changed since then, not the least of which is Ramirez, who, particularly this season it seems, has emerged from his shell and begun to make his voice heard a bit more in the media. (Beckett, for the record, seems largely unchanged -- still has dominating stuff, uneven performances and complete contempt for anyone carrying a bat or a tape recorder.)

Ramirez had plenty to say about his first trip back to Fenway Park since the Red Sox traded him.

Hanley Ramirez never believed he had the faith of the entire Red Sox organization when he was the team's No. 1 prospect four years ago.

And those doubts -- real or imagined -- still drive him. ...

"People said I couldn't play in the big leagues," Ramirez said in comments relayed by the Miami Herald. "Now they know. Eighty-five percent of the people thought I could play because I was the No. 1 prospect. The other 15, you know. ... I just look forward to having a good series." ...

"Theo didn't want to trade me," Ramirez said. "And I got traded when he quit."

Ah, yes. It's easy to forget the halcyon days of '05.

Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein left the organization after the end of that season -- escaping Fenway Park in a gorilla suit, no less -- amid speculation of a falling out with team president Larry Lucchino. Weeks later, but before Epstein returned to his post in the front office, Boston traded Ramirez to the Marlins for Beckett, the front-line pitcher it had craved since the departure of Pedro Martinez prior to the season. It also sent Anibal Sanchez and two other pitchers to Florida, receiving third baseman Mike Lowell and reliever Guillermo Mota in return.

Two things stand out. First, it's awfully strange to think of the Red Sox as dysfunctional these days, but that's just what they were in '05. (There was plenty of entirely unsubstantiated speculation back then in Boston that Lucchino orchestrated the trade to distract fans from the Epstein black eye.) Now, they just seem like a machine, a full realization of Epstein's dream, loaded with pitching and teeming with high-ceiling talent in the minors.

Second, and more interestingly, Ramirez-for-Beckett has got to be one of the more fascinating what ifs of this decade in American sports.

Beckett and the oft-forgotten Lowell were instrumental in Boston's 2007 World Series championship, its second of the decade and a satisfying affirmation of the 2004 title for all Red Sox fans. Ramirez, not that he had much competition from Jeff Conine or 1994-97 Gary Sheffield, is the most recognizable Marlin in franchise history already and arguably the most dynamic player in all of baseball with his rare power-speed combination.

It's safe to say there is no one in Miami or on Yawkey Way wishing for a mulligan right now.

It couldn't have worked out any better for the Marlins, that much is certain. Beckett was going one way or another that winter, and they weren't getting Albert Pujols back for him. Who else in the entire baseball landscape would you prefer?

The Red Sox got their trophy, and as sports fans we're trained not to question that sort of thing because they are so precious and rare and there are so many variables.

Causation is a tricky game -- maybe the trickiest -- but let's play it anyway. Ramirez would certainly be the Red Sox shortstop by now. Since, Alex Gonzalez, Julio Lugo, Alex Cora, Jed Lowrie and lately Nick Green have manned the position, which has really had a revolving door since the Nomar Garciaparra trade in 2004.

There is no Lowell and no Beckett, so no 2007 World Series in all likelihood, but Kevin Youkilis would surely make a fine third baseman, the Sox would still have Sanchez and, we have to assume since all of it is either of the homegrown or free-agent variety, one of the very deepest pitching rotations in all of baseball. Hey, there would even be room for Clay Buchholz and/or Michael Bowden, both of whom would be in most major league rotations right now, but are languishing at Triple-A Pawtucket because of Boston's borderline absurd depth.

The Red Sox would also have more money. Ramirez will make $5.5 million this season, but he has made a little over $1 million the last three seasons combined. By season's end Beckett and Lowell will have cashed a combined $72.325 million in checks from the Red Sox. That's a gaping disparity, even if you factor in all the extra revenue from winning a World Series etc.

What to do with all that money laying around?

Mark Teixeira -- the first baseman Boston so desperately coveted this offseason, but ultimately decided not to sign over a few million -- immediately comes to mind.

Perhaps the only game trickier than causation is assuming the Yankees can be outbid for anything, and if pressed, most Red Sox fans probably wouldn't want to press the reset button. But can you imagine a Red Sox team minus Beckett and Lowell, but plus Ramirez and Teixeira?

We're pretty sure Theo Epstein has.