BOSTON -- Hours before the Red Sox pulled off what might be their most significant trading deadline deal since they got Mike Boddicker in 1988, manager Grady Little was asked about his preference -- pitching or offense? -- for the stretch run.

"That can change from game-to-game,'' noted Little, who wasn't dodging the question so much as acknowledging his team's inconsistency. "Specifically, what we need the most, it's hard to say. You just go on a day-to-day basis.''

	Cliff Floyd Outfielder Boston Red Sox Profile
	2002 SEASON STATISTICS GM AB HR RBI SB AVG 98 345 20 60 11 .275

Last week, when Frank Castillo and Rolando Arrojo were getting shelled, in the process forfeiting their respective spots in the Boston starting rotation, it seemed like starting pitching was the priority. Then again, the Sox had lost four games in the previous 10 in which they had held a lead after the seventh inning, a sure sign that the bullpen needed to be upgraded.

But when the smoke cleared late Tuesday night, the Red Sox had neither a starter nor a reliever. What they had was, arguably, the best hitter on the marker, Cliff Floyd of the Montreal Expos, in exchange for pitching prospects Sun Woo Kim and Seung Song, plus a player to named later.

Floyd won't give the Sox quality innings or help secure a late-inning lead. But faced with the alternative -- surrendering what few prospects they had for a question mark like Kenny Rogers -- it seemed the best they could do.

"Primarily, he's going to be an offensive force,'' said Red Sox interim general manager Mike Port. "He can play either corner (outfield) position, and of course, in the American League, can DH. He gives Grady (Little) the flexibility to keep an awful lot of good bats in the lineup at the same time.''

Indeed, Floyd should slide comfortably into the fifth spot in the batting order, behind the powerful combination of Nomar Garciaparra and Manny Ramirez. Despite the presence of that duo, however, the team's attack was often unpredictable. They may have entered Tuesday's game second in the AL in runs scored and third in batting average, but only five teams had left more men on base and they had scored three runs or fewer in exactly one third of their games.

	“	Primarily, he's going to be an offensive force. He can play either corner (outfield) position, and of course, in the American League, can DH. He gives Grady (Little) the flexibility to keep an awful lot of good bats in the lineup at the same time. ”
		— Mike Port, Red Sox interim GM, on Cliff Floyd

Moreover, the Red Sox have gotten almost no offensive production out of their first basemen, and while Floyd hasn't played first since suffering a horrific wrist injury at the position in 1995, his arrival means the Sox can play Brian Daubach at first regularly, bumping Tony Clark (.218-3-27) and Jose Offerman (.232-4-27) from by-default playing time.

"He's a good player and a good teammate,'' said Little of Floyd. "He's got a lot of ability and we're glad to have him. He's going to blend right in. He might hit the ball as hard as anyone in the game.''

"Awesome ... that's a big boost,'' said Ramirez about Floyd's pending arrival. "He's a great player.''

"He definitely will make this team better,'' said catcher Jason Varitek. "He adds a lot.''

That the Red Sox obtained Floyd -- and took on about $2 million in remaining salary for the rest of the season -- was a display of good faith on the part of management. That they did so at a time when the rival Yankees were trying to land him -- again -- was seen as an extra coup.

Interestingly, the Sox indicated Tuesday night that they didn't necessarily see Floyd purely as a "rental'' for the final two months.

"Cliff is free-agent eligible,'' said Port, "and by virtue of his past association with the Marlins and (former Marlins owner and current Red Sox majority owner) John Henry, we feel we'll be on a good track to re-sign him if things are within a reasonable realm.''

Indeed, Floyd called Henry within an hour of the deal being completed, and Henry said the player was elated about the deal. Floyd's present contract was negotiated when Henry owned the Marlins.

Port said the Sox weren't necessarily done dealing, and would continue to seek pitching up to the Wednesday afternoon deadline, though sources indicated it was doubtful the Sox could land a pitcher by 4 p.m. ET.

"We still would like to improve our club,'' Port said. "We still have some things we aspire to accomplish. We were focused on a number of possibilities. This is the deal we were able to bring together first. We wanted to try to (address) one thing or another. Whatever came together first,we were prepared to move on.''

There wasn't much in the pitching department that intrigued the Sox. Rogers was seen as overpriced and, given his spotty postseason track record, more than a bit of a gamble. The rest of the available starters weren't seen as much of an upgrade over the pitchers already on hand in Boston.

But that didn't prevent Pedro Martinez from expressing a tinge of disappointment. Martinez, who was Floyd's teammate and friend in Montreal, welcomed the news but questioned the team's priorities.

"Cliff's a very good player -- just check the numbers,'' Martinez said after picking up his 14th win by tossing eight shutout innings. "He will make the team behind me better, but I believe I already had a good team behind me. But I believe our hole is another experienced starting pitcher, someone like Bartolo Colon. If we had gotten Colon, I would have been jumping up and down.''

Reminded that the Expos had deemed Colon unavailable since they have him signed for another year at a reasonable salary, Martinez amended his remarks only slightly.

"Then we should get someone like Bartolo Colon,'' he said. "Someone with experience, someone to help us beat the Yankees and teams like the Angels.''

As it is, the Sox Big 3 of Martinez, Derek Lowe and John Burkett are a combined 38-10, and the addition of Casey Fossum (two earned runs in six-plus innings in his first 2002 start Monday) and Tim Wakefield to the rotation may quell any fears Martinez or others might have.

The Red Sox also believe that they can still get a pitcher in August, since the expectation is that more players will clear waivers out of fear that teams will get stuck with contracts they were merely trying to block.

Sean McAdam of the Providence Journal covers baseball for ESPN.com.