It was a busy week for Scott Williamson. He became a father nine days ago, and became a member of the Red Sox four days after that. His wife had a difficult delivery, giving birth after weeks of bed rest. She was readmitted to the hospital days later, but is now home and doing well.

Her husband is expected to help his new team give birth to a championship.

“It was quite a week,” Williamson said after being traded by Cincinatti for Single A prospect Phil Dumatrait and cash, “but I’m truly excited. This is a chance for me to help the Boston Red Sox achieve what they want to do, and that’s to win a World Series.”

And how about the week put in by Theo Epstein? In the nine days leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline, the Sox general manager finished an impressive pitching overhaul by adding two top-notch relievers and a quality starter.

Epstein can say he got the three best relief pitchers traded this season: Byung-Hyun Kim, Scott Sauerbeck, and Williams. Plus, he added Jeff Suppan, who in July was the hottest starter in all of baseball.

The Sox 29-year old wunderkind, the brunt of so many jokes before the season, got the last laugh this week. He has proven to be a master craftsman at getting talent – and getting under George Steinbrenner’s skin.

That latter attribute is just as important as the former. Watching the Yankees panic – calling emergency meetings at corporate headquarters and trading away their best pitching prospect – was as fun as watching the Sox take two of three from New York last weekend.

The New York Daily News ran a back-page photo of Epstein with the headline “Revenge of the Nerd.” How do you think that went over in the halls of Steinbrenner, Inc?

Re-acquiring Suppan, who made his major-league debut with Boston eight years ago, was a tricky task. Epstein had to undo the Sauerbeck deal, which included Brandon Lyon. The Pirates claim that Lyon is injured, and that the Sox knew it. If the Commissioner’s office agreed, the Sox stood to lose a key player or prospect with no recourse.

So each player involved in the original deal returned to his original team, save Sauerbeck.

“I got traded for nothing,” laughed Sauerbeck. “I thought I was pretty good, but I got traded for air.”

Actually, Sauerbeck (and Suppan) got traded for Freddy Sanchez and cash. Sanchez has a good future, but there are still doubts about his ability to hit major-league pitching. All in all, it’s not a lot to pay for a lefty reliever coveted by the Yankees and a starter who went 5-0 with a 2.45 ERA and three complete games in July.

Ultimately, the Sox seriously upgraded their pitching staff without giving up anyone from the major-league roster, and just one of their top prospects. They out-dealt, out-hustled, and outdid the Yankees … something we haven’t been able to say in a long time.

Well done, Theo.

Now, we wait. The ramifications of these deals won’t fully be felt until the end of September. Between now and then, a lot can go wrong, as New Englanders know so well.

But, how about this? A lot can go right, too. Yes, it’s a foreign concept to Red Sox fans, but so is beating the Yankees to the punch and watching the New Yorkers cry about it.

Could this be the year? There’s no way to know right now. But, as we stand here on August 3, Epstein has put the Sox in the best possible position to make that happen. You can’t ask more of a GM than that.

Tom Caron works on Red Sox telecats for New England Sports Net-work.

Copy the Story Link