Krause: Sox shouldn’t try anything too flashy when it comes to midseason trades

The Major League trading deadline is today, and unless something drastic happens, the Red Sox won’t – and shouldn’t – be making any major blockbuster deals.There will be no Nomar trade. No one like Pudge Rodriguez is coming to Fenway. If general manager Theo Epstein does anything, it’ll be a cosmetic move that might – with the emphasis on might – shore up the bullpen.And even then, it’s questionable how much he’s even going to be able to do there.All of a sudden, a team that looked unbeatable in May looks tired and sputtering as we head into August.They may yet rebound, but if they do it’ll be with the crew they have.And it’s not a bad crew. The core of the team that won last year’s World Series is still there, save for Julio Lugo and Curt Schilling. Lugo has been even less effective this year than he was in 2007, and his absence will allow them to give Jed Lowrie a long look in much the same manner as the Sox got to see what they had in Dustin Pedroia at the end of the 2006 season.Schilling’s absence, and the injury to Bartolo Colon, have allowed the Sox to incorporate both Clay Buchholz and Justin Masterson into the pitching staff, and the results have been mixed at best. Buchholz, sorry to say, has been a major disappointment in his first full season; and Masterson has gone through the type of growing pains you’d expect a rookie to endure.Then again, Jon Lester got to take his lumps in 2006, and again last year, and he’s become a reliable major-league pitcher. All he did last year was win Game 4 of the World Series, and pitch a no-hitter thus far this season.Actually, I hope Epstein resists the impulse to make another Eric Gagne or Jeff Bagwell deal just for the sake of doing it. If it’s not to be in 2008, then it’s not to be.I also hope they think long and hard before they do something rash with Manny Ramirez – this season, anyway. First of all, his trade value, thanks to all his off-field antics, is radically diminished. Second, the way the team is constructed, his absence would leave a huge hole in the lineup, even if we acknowledge he’s perhaps beginning that long, inevitable decline that all players experience. It used to be impossible to blow all but a Joba Chamberlain-type fastball by him. Now, he has trouble catching up to a decent fastball.Still, if they go anywhere beyond the regular season, it’s going to be with him, and not some player of half his present ability (which is what they’re going to get if they trade him).Truthfully, the whole Manny thing intrigues me. He’s been here since 2001, and he’s been exactly the same now as he’s been SINCE 2001. If there’s anything consistent about him, off the field, it’s that he marches to his own drummer, doesn’t always think about what he says or does, and can try the patience of a saint.None of that mattered, of course, when he hit .330, knocked in 125 runs and had 35 homers a year. He was a lovable savant ? an amiable eccentric. Now that he’s just slightly off his game, he’s Jack the Ripper?He gets no points from me for the incident with Jack McCormick, but even the scuffle with Kevin Youkilis was – by many accounts – a long time coming ? because of Youkilis’ behavior.The Red Sox will have to play well above .600 ball from now until the end of the season to reach the 95 wins most people see as necessary to make the playoffs. Off what we’ve seen in the last month, that may not be possible. And unless Epstein pulls off a mid-season deal that would impress even Red Auerbach, I wouldn’t raise my hopes up too high.Steve Krause is sports editor of The Item.