Clean Pair of Sox

With the trade deadline approaching on July 31, what can the Red Sox do to improve their lineup? Pitching? Debatably the best starting rotation in all of baseball, a premier closer, and a middle relief with only one pitcher who has allowed more than 9 runs in a grand total of 153.7 innings. Batting? I guess Varitek isn't the best offensive catcher, but he's the smartest catcher in the game, and no one can replace that. At shortstop, Nick Green has performed unexpectedly well both in the field and at the plate, and let's not forget we have Jed Lowrie waiting to return from his left wrist surgery. There's a lot riding on Lowrie, but he's certainly capable of driving in 50+ runs, and batting at least .275 during the second half of the season And I'm not forgetting about Julio Lugo, who is costing the Sox over $9 million this year alone. But, at the same time, I am forgetting about J. Lugo. Then we have:

Lowell (4x All-Star and 2005 Gold Glove)
Pedroia (Rookie of the Year and MVP the past two seasons)
Youkilis (a puny $3 million a year for a Gold Glove first baseball and 2008 All-Star)
Ortiz (All-Star selection the past 5 years, and great in the clutch)
Bay (2004 Rookie of the Year, 2x All-Star, having a breakout 2009 season)
Ellsbury (finally batting for average (.298), most stolen bases in AL 2008, stole home this year, and future Gold Glover)
Drew (2nd overall draft pick-1997, his 2008 All-Star Game MVP shows he's finally reaching his star potential)

The Boston Red Sox bench players could be starters on virtually any other MLB team. Should any player need a day off, I feel more than comfortable giving him one. The results a rested Kevin Youkilis or Jacoby Ellsbury are worth more than giving Mark Kotsay or Rocco Baldelli a start every once in a while.
Rocco Baldelli (First round draft pick-2000, second in Rookie of the Year voting-2003, injury-plagued 2005-2007)
Mark Kotsay (First round draft pick-1996, Bronze Medal winner in 1996 Olympics)
George Kottaras has assumed the damn-near impossible role of Wakefield's designated catcher role rather well (.993 fielding percentage, T-13 in doubles, .289 OBP)

The one problem the Red Sox face as the season rolls on is how well our aging players will continue to perform. Jason Varitek and Mike Lowell are more than past their prime (37 and 35, respectively), and who knows when Tim Wakefield's back will give up on him again (last year, an inflammation of the back of his pitching shoulder kept him off the roster for some time in October). 'Tek already gets one out of five games off for Wakefield's start, but the more rest we can give Mike Lowell, the better. We have Clay Buchholz waiting in Pawtucket, and, should Wake go down, we'll have him to fall back on. The Red Sox are clearly a buyer this trading season, and what we should be looking for is a team way down in the standings, needing young talent rather than a good player already in his prime. If you think it looks like the Red Sox don't need anything to boost them the postseason, think again. Even a team as deep as the BoSox would benefit from a deadline move to rejuvenate a team that has surely grown lackluster over the course of 182 games.