The Red Sox pulled it off, and worked a deal to bring Curt Schilling to Boston. It's a trade that helps both clubs; the Diamondbacks cut their payroll without decimating their roster and the Red Sox dramatically improve their rotation.

Ed Zipper points out to me that Schilling was interested in more than money:

Schilling also had a lot of initial concerns about issues other players might not be as interested in -- such as the level of detail in advance scouting reports and the amount of video and technological information that would be available. But Schilling told Stark that Epstein and his assistant, Jed Hoyer, were "very impressive."

"Obviously, they were thoroughly prepared, with a thorough understanding of what was important to me as a player," Schilling said. "They answered all of those issues right off the bat. And that made this a lot easier."

Schilling is a smart and outspoken player. It will be interesting to see how his outspokeness meshes with the Boston media.

One thing Schilling brings to the Red Sox is in-game durability. From 1997 on, Schilling has completed 52 games, the most in the majors:

So, unlike Pedro, you don't have to worry that Schilling is going to break down if he pitches more than 7 innings. That should reduce the amount of damage the bullpen can do next season.

This also makes it look like Terry Francona is going to be the manager. I wonder how he'll set up the rotation? Will he go with Pedro and Schilling back-to-back, or split them with Lowe or Wakefield to try to keep teams off balance?

Dan Shaughnessy, in typical Globe fashion, finds the dark clouds in the deal:

The Sox news doesn't end with last night's announcement. Boston will introduce new manager Terry Francona Tuesday. Meanwhile, they are still wooing Oakland closer Keith Foulke and think they can eventually talk the Rangers into a Manny Ramirez-for-Alex Rodriguez deal.

Unfortunately, Francona is going to be strapped with the notion that he was hired to lure Schilling. That's not a good start for a guy who had the reputation as a players' manager in Philadelphia. Francona certainly seems like a nice fellow, but the next Sox manager needs to address the star system in the clubhouse. Still, we're all in favor of any guy who has a dad named Tito. It has a nice ring -- Son of Tito managing the BoSox. Sounds like some kind of monster movie -- Son of Tito Meets Godzilla.

Meanwhile, Foulke strikes me as a guy who might be overwhelmed here in the Hub. He's a changeup artist and might not react well if he gets ripped after one or two bad outings early in the year. That's the beauty of Schilling. He lives for the big games, has played in the big games, and won't take the apple if things get a little tight and testy in this town without pity.

As for A-Rod, it seems too good to be true which means it probably can't happen. In their dreams, the Sox think Texas general manager John Hart might do something stupid because he likes Manny from their good old days in Cleveland. There's also the hope that the Texas owner, Tom Hicks, will be seduced by the idea of saving $80 million and still getting Manny's bat along with a Scott Williamson or Scott Sauerbeck. Nice try, Sox fans, but don't wait underwater for this deal.