Theo: You da man!

You had a ticking time bomb in Manny Ramirez and got us Jason Bay for him. In the same deal, you dumped the enigmatic Craig Hansen and a decent spare outfielder in Brandon Moss that didn't fit into the equation. In the process you fixed that little thing called "clubhouse chemistry" and the team is 21-9 since the trade as of this post.

You resisted temptation with Johan this past spring and instead held onto our talented youngsters Lester, Masterson, and Lowrie. You drove the price up for the Yankees to the point the Twins traded him out of the AL.

You picked up Bartolo Colon from the scrap pile and he ended up giving us some nice starts before he got injured.

You picked up Paul Byrd in a waiver wire transaction for a box of David's sunflower seeds when the back of our rotation was either injured (Wakes, Colon) or just dropping deuces on oneself (Buchholz). What an improvement he's been over the former Mancrush V.2.

You picked up Mark Kotsay for three Slim Jim's and a Powerbar and the early returns are good on that as well.

Gotta say that Sean Casey has been great for the bench and the clubhouse as well.

Just to put into perspective the job Theo has done; last year the Sox used the DL nine times. This year, the Sox have used it 20 times. Rather than fold or use it as an excuse, the team is playing its best ball of the season, and appear to be a virtual lock for a playoff berth with a five game wild card lead.

Here's to you, Theo!