The Boston Red Sox are actively shopping ace pitcher Josh Beckett, to teams in search of pitching, including the Texas Rangers and Atlanta Braves within the last two days according to Yahoo! Sports.
The non-waiver Trade Deadline is Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET.
Trading Beckett would be a difficult maneuver for the Red Sox because of his contract, the fact that he has 10-and-5 veto rights and because his value is hardly high right now considering his statistics.
Beckett will earn $15.75 million annually for each of the next two seasons. It is all but understood that the Red Sox would have to take on a significant portion of Beckett's salary if they were to trade him.
Beckett has been portrayed as the poster child for the atmosphere in the clubhouse during last season's September collapse, when starting pitchers were drinking beer in the clubhouse during games in which they weren't pitching.
The Atlanta Braves also were contacted, but they expressed far more interest in left-hander Jon Lester. However, the Red Sox aren't compelled to trade Lester, who is four years younger than the 32-year-old Beckett, and have made that clear to inquiring teams.
The Red Sox, at 51-51, are 9 1/2 games back in the American League East and four games off the pace in the Wild Card standings.
