The Red Sox are an entirely different team when Offerman is slashing and getting on base. If he has what for him is an average half-season -- he should hit .310 with 17 doubles, 55 runs and 35 RBI the rest of the way. Then, if some combination of Daubach, Burkhart, Gilkey and Mike Stanley produce more than the .249 with 22 homers they got out of first base and DH combined through July 2, that's an improvement and Trot Nixon can go back into the two-hole as Izzy goes back into another hole. If O'Leary has his average half-season, that's another 12-14 homers. Sprague is theoretically an offensive upgrade.

Not that they were ever in the Sosa bidding, but unloading what's left of the farm system never was the answer. The answer for Boston to beat the Yankees and Blue Jays or edge into the wild card is pitching, starting with Pedro Martinez's health. Pitching on this team has been a thin equation after Martinez. They have Martinez, sometimes they have Paxton Crawford or Brian Rose, and otherwise they have received a lot out of the four veteran starters (Ramon Martinez, Pete Schourek, Jeff Fassero, Tim Wakefield), all of whom were released at some point in their careers.

In fact, while it's hard to use any roster numbers because it changes like metro traffic, either seven or eight members of the pitching staff were released at some point, and the roster usually has 10-12 former released players, a minor league free agent (Daubach), an independent league veteran (Burkhart) and Frye, who was effectively waived in Triple-A so he could go to Boston and the big leagues where he belonged. In contrast, Garciaparra, Scott Hatteberg, Nixon and Crawford are the only products of their farm system.

One of the failings of the Boston organization and disappointments of the seven-year Duquette reign has been failure to develop young pitchers. An executive with a team recently trying to deal with Boston, after scouring their organization, asked, "Where are their positional prospects and arms? They are very thin." An executive from another club scouting the Boston organization rated it "a C-minus, although it was a C before they traded some guys this winter. They have a few arms, but very few compared to many teams. We like (Brad) Baker and (Jerome) Gamble. That's about it." The Indians got a list of eight pitchers from the Yankees, which didn't even include all the best prospects; they couldn't get a list of eight from the Red Sox.

Duquette's stated goal when he took over in 1994 was to develop young pitching, both to fight the inflationary market cost of pitching (if Brad Radke were .500 for his career, imagine what he'd be worth!) and to build a northern version of the Braves. Carl Pavano worked, because he got them Martinez.

Otherwise? Going into Crawford's Thursday start in Minneapolis, the Red Sox had three wins from pitchers they drafted, signed and developed, and those three wins were part of Brian Rose's 3-6 resumè. Of the pitchers signed from the Duquette era, the only one with as many as four wins this season is Pavano, who is 8-4 but now slowed by an elbow problem. Otherwise the combined record of the rest -- Rose, Crawford, Peter Munro, Rob Ramsay -- is 5-9. The last pitcher signed and developed by the Red Sox that won 10 games is Aaron Sele, now a dependable innings-eater and 15-18 game winner with Seattle.

In the last few years, Duquette has become bored with U.S. players and the draft, so they do not play for a difficult sign like Ryan Anderson or Rick Ankiel or sometimes even sign half their higher picks. Their top pick in '95 was a pitcher, Andy Yount, now gone from the scene. Their No. 1 in '96 was a pitcher, Josh Garrett, a non-prospect. Their No. 1 in '97 was a pitcher, John Curtice, and he's won one game in two years in Class A. Of all their top 5-6 round pitcher picks in that period, only Matt Kinney, traded to the Twins for Greg Swindell and now in Triple-A, and '96 sandwich pick Chris Reitsma, who is pitching well in Trenton on his way back from a broken arm, are legitimate prospects.

The names on the market -- Ismael Valdes, Hideo Nomo, Andy Ashby, Steve Trachsel, Pat Hentgen -- are the same names considered by at least 10 other contenders, which only drives up the price. Scott Erickson was a great idea, but absurdly expensive in terms of prospects demanded. The Red Sox would love to go after Kirk Rueter of the Giants, but after winning six straight against the Dodgers and Rockies, the Giants may be the favorites in the NL West. The Reds will move Denny Neagle, Pete Harnisch, Steve Parris, Scott Williamson and almost anyone after dropping 10 games behind St. Louis and 7½ behind the wild card.

If the Red Sox are going to pitch well enough to beat the Yankees and Blue Jays, they have to get something out of their own organization. Last year, they went 15-0 in one stretch in games involving Pawtucket recalls, and they need that type of production again. There have been stretches when one asks, "Is this what we get on a $78 million payroll?"

Duquette's intentions were to build this organization from within. In his seventh season, it may be that organization that decides whether or not the Red Sox play on into October.