MLB Off-season Thread

[geniusMoment 0]

This is a great signing by the Reds.

 

You now have:

Cordero

Jared Burton (who was lights out as an 8th inning guy)

Weathers

Bray

 

All of whom could be very good in their bullpen roles. It's not so much just Cordero, it's how he pushes everyone down into a more suitable role. Also, rumors are flying in Cincy that the Reds are willing to deal Hamilton, looking at Garza from Minnesota as one strong possibility, and bringing up Bruce for center field.

 

 

A starting rotation of:

Harang

Arroyo

Garza

Bailey

Cueto

 

A bullpen of:

Cordero

Burton

Weathers

Bray

Coutlangus

Salmon

 

And a lineup of:

Keppinger/Alex Gonz.

Brandon Phillips

Dunn

Griffey

Encarnacion

Bruce

Votto

Valentin

 

Gives them an actual shot of winning the central

[Guest RyechnaiaSobaka]

Hamilton for Garza would be a neat trade for the Reds. What about Scott Baker?

 

I'm not sure the Twins would do it, given that Santana might be gone, but yeah.

[migoli 0]

Listen as a life long Twins fan and knowing how they roll, you can wish in one hand and crap in the other and see which one gets filled first if you think they would trade eithe Baker or Garza. Those were the players both Washington and Texas wanted for Soriano so what they hell could Cinncy really have for either of them?

 

Move on Reds fans if you think either Baker or Garza will end up there

[Guest RyechnaiaSobaka]

Listen as a life long Twins fan and knowing how they roll, you can wish in one hand and crap in the other and see which one gets filled first if you think they would trade eithe Baker or Garza. Those were the players both Washington and Texas wanted for Soriano so what they hell could Cinncy really have for either of them?

 

Move on Reds fans if you think either Baker or Garza will end up there

 

I hope you're right. I like the Twins. I just wish they didn't do so many stupid things. I know I'm not exactly preaching to the choir - more like the Pope, given that you're a Twins fan - about that, but yeah.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Cubs got a nice little bargain by re-signing Kerry Wood to a one year, $4 million deal. He declined several multi-year offers to return.

 

The Cubs buddies to the south got the opposite of a bargain in Scott Linebrink, who they signed to a four year, $19 million deal. Linebrink had a few nice years as a set-up guy but has shown signs of declining recently and appears to be a product of Petco Park. But when teams start givng three year deals to JC Romero, the market goes out of whack.

[Guest Pizza Hut's Game Face]

The Wood signing isn't so hot, because he'll probably get hurt again and it's another four million down the drain. But hey, it's not my money. In fact, I'm not sure whose money it will be.

 

I saw a good deal of Scott Linebrink this summer during his Milwaukee tenure. He failed to strike fear in my heart. That's a lot of money for a reliever, but when your middle relief comprises the flailing arms of Matt Thornton and Mike MacDougal, you do what you have to do. Don't worry, though, Coop'll make him a stud, because apparently Don Cooper is the most brilliant pitching coach in the history of the game. Just ask Kenny Williams, or better yet, Matt Thornton and Mike MacDougal.

[Guest Pizza Hut's Game Face]

Wait a minute, I missed the part where this was for four years. Jim Hendry looks smart by comparison. Besides, I thought Reinsdorf's hard-and-fast rule was "no long-term contracts for pitchers." They broke that with Buehrle, which I can kinda get, but Scott Linebrink? Honestly?

[Guest NYankees]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3129086

 

So it begins. The Yankees and the Twins are discussing a Santana trade. Cano and Chamberlain better be untouchables and not included in the trade.

[CanadianChris 0]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3129086

 

So it begins. The Yankees and the Twins are discussing a Santana trade. Cano and Chamberlain better be untouchables and not included in the trade.

I kind of doubt they could keep Cano out of a deal. Hughes, Kennedy and Cabrera doesn't seem like enough. That seems like the proverbial "three quarters for a dollar" deal.

[Guest NYankees]

I am sorry, I am not looking to rip off the Twins. However, I am not trading a future superstar 2b and 2-3 blue chip major league ready starting pitchers for a person one year away from free agency.

[Brett Favre 0]

The Twins want Hughes, Cabrera, and Austin Jackson. I hope they work it out without giving up Hughes. Maybe something like Kennedy and Horne or something.

[Failed Bridge 0]

I would think it would cost Cano, Melky, and either Hughes or Kennedy.

[Brett Favre 0]

It won't. Not when he's asking for an extension with the trade. The Yankees aren't trading Joba and Cano. Not sure about Hughes, but they shouldn't trade him either. Anyone from Wang, Kennedy, Horne, Jackson, Tabata, Horne, and Betances is probably available.

[mike546 0]

Just watch, if the Sox get Santana, they won't give up Ellsbury, Pedroia or Lester.

 

(Ok, that definitley won't happen, but I swear the Red Sox always give up shit in trades and get what they want.)

 

I think Cano and Joba are untouchable, they really don't want to give up Hughes or Jackson, and everyone else is fair game.

[the max 0]

If Santana's going to sign an extension as part of the trade, wouldn't the Yanks give up more?

 

And I don't think quantity is going to get it done. The Yanks would be acquiring arguably the best lefty in the game in the prime of his career. With an extension. Quality gets that done. Not just piling more players into the trade.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Guys, it's JOHAN SANTANA. Stop griping about giving up largely unproven guys. Jeez, you guys wouldn't deserve him with that mentality.

[Brett Favre 0]

They aren't pileups. Those are top prospects in our system (Horne, Jackson, Tabata, Betances).

 

And since we're one of the few teams who would give him like 25 million a year, then yeah, we probably shouldn't give too much up.

[the max 0]

They aren't pileups. Those are top prospects in our system (Horne, Jackson, Tabata, Betances).

 

And since we're one of the few teams who would give him like 25 million a year, then yeah, we probably shouldn't give too much up.

 

If they're not willing to take players not named Hughes, Cano, etc. the Yanks can wait until free agency or let Santana go to another team then. They're going to have to give up something to get something. Especially when it's a player of that caliber.

[Brett Favre 0]

No one is giving up players the caliber of Hughes or Cano. Like I said, Horne, Jackson, Tabata, and Betances are really good prospects, as good as anyone is giving up. Not to mention Ian Kennedy.

[Failed Bridge 0]

I'd be ok with them giving up Crisp, Lester, Masterson, and a PTBNL. I don't wanna see Pedroia, Ellsbury, Buchholz or Lowrie sent packing.

[Precious Roy 0]

No one is giving up players the caliber of Hughes or Cano. Like I said, Horne, Jackson, Tabata, and Betances are really good prospects, as good as anyone is giving up. Not to mention Ian Kennedy.

 

I agree.

 

Unfortunately I don't think a deal will get done without Hughes involved. Chamberlain and Cano are untouchable, and Cashman will do everything in his power to not part with Hughes, but if he really wants Santana that's probably the price that he'll have to pay.

 

I'd be okay with that. I'm really high on Hughes, but this is Johan F'n Santana. If we can get him to a 5 year extension as part of the trade and we aren't giving up the rest of the farm in the process we have to do it. Hughes/Tabata as the core of the package should get it done.

 

 

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

If the Yankees could get Johan Santana for Hughes, Jackson and Melky, they would have done it yesterday. Are you guys even being serious here? Horne, Tabata, Kennedy? You really think the Twins are going to trade the best pitcher in baseball for the poo-poo platter of low-ceiling guys and unproven minor leaguers?

 

What if I said that I think the Sox should trade Lester, Coco and Lars Anderson for Johan, but Theo should really try to keep Lester. He could use Masterson or Bowden to get it done... do you really how stupid this sounds? That's essentially what you all are saying.

 

You have to part with a blue chip player and two good prospects to get this done. The Dodgers, Mets and Angels can all blow your offer out of the water. Hank Steinbrenner is proving to be every bit the loud blowhard that his father was.

[Precious Roy 0]

If the Yankees could get Johan Santana for Hughes, Jackson and Melky, they would have done it yesterday. Are you guys even being serious here? Horne, Tabata, Kennedy? You really think the Twins are going to trade the best pitcher in baseball for the poo-poo platter of low-ceiling guys and unproven minor leaguers?

 

What if I said that I think the Sox should trade Lester, Coco and Lars Anderson for Johan, but Theo should really try to keep Lester. He could use Masterson or Bowden to get it done... do you really how stupid this sounds? That's essentially what you all are saying.

 

You have to part with a blue chip player and two good prospects to get this done. The Dodgers, Mets and Angels can all blow your offer out of the water. Hank Steinbrenner is proving to be every bit the loud blowhard that his father was.

 

Are you seriously comparing Hughes/Jackson/Melky to Lester/Coco/some guy named Lars???

 

The Yankees wouldn't trade Hughes alone for those 3. Hughes is a grade A top young pitcher, one of the highest rated in the sport. He's the kind of guy trades are built around. Lester.....isn't. Lester is comparable to a guy like Ian Kennedy, nice pitcher who projects as a middle of the rotation guy, the only difference is Lester has a little more major league experience, but he's certainly not in the same class as Hughes. Hughes is higher rated than Buchholz, so if you want to start comparing our packages, heh, start by including him.

 

As for Crisp, everyone in baseball knows the Sox want to unload the guy. I'm sure the Twins would happily take him as a dump off in a trade, but he won't mean shit as far as the bread and butter of the deal goes. Hell, I love Melky, but he won't mean shit to the Twins either. They'd happily take the guy, but he's not even close to mattering in the grand scheme of the trade.

 

You have to part with a blue chipper and two good prospects? Well that the fuck are Hughes and Tabata then? Christ, the Yankees offering Hughes is tantamount to offering the #1 pitcher in their system, if that can't facilitate a deal I don't know what can.

[naiwf 0]

The best trade proposal I heard on WFAN last week went something like this,

 

Caller: "Hey host, I'm tired of hearing Mets fans callin' up and tryin' to get Santana for garbage like Pelphrey, Humber and Milledge or Gomez. Even if they throw Reyes in the deal they don't have enough to make the Twins want to take that trade. The Yankees clearly have what it takes to get the deal done with guys like Hughes, Cano, Melky, and Joba. As a matter of fact if the Yankees offered Joba STRAIGHT UP for Santana, the Twins basically gotta take the deal!"

 

Host: "Are you serious?"

 

Caller: "Absolutely. We're talking about JOBA for Santana! If anything the Twins would be the ones who might need to throw something else in."

 

Host: "So you want the Twins to trade a 2-time Cy Young winner and the best pitcher in baseball straight up for a guy with a handful of innings in the major leagues when they could get a king's ransom from the Mets, Dodgers or Red Sox instead?"

 

Caller: "But are those teams gonna pay Santana what he wants?l"

 

Host: "Uh, for Johan Santana I think they'd pay him whatever he wants since he's easily the best pitcher in baseball and he's in his prime."

 

*The host referenced some of the retarded deals borderline pitchers have been getting and said Santana could easily get $ 25 million per from all of the teams mentioned without a doubt*

 

Caller: "But still, he'd be playing for the Yankees and the Twins would get JOBA who would probably be the second best pitcher in baseball next year. If anything, the Twins would be getting a cheaper version of Santana."

 

*The host finally saw where this was going and hung up.*

 

The sad part is that there are some fans out there who are acting like this is Kazmir for the lesser Zambrano when mentioning the Yankees top pitching prospects. Hughes, Kennedy and Joba haven't proven anything as major league starters while Santana is at his worst, still in the top 5 in all of MLB as far as starters go. I mean, there's no guarantee that Joba will be a better starter than Mariano was. I'm not saying you clean out the farm system for anyone, but if you have a chance to get the best pitcher in the league for a couple of your top prospects I think it's a no brainer. Offering them throw ins, or your 7th and 8th best prospects in a deal is just insulting.

[Precious Roy 0]

The thing of it is, we're so early into the process right now, and off the top of my head I can't think of a situation where arguably the best (and in my opinion he is the best, all things considered) pitcher in the sport has been in the trade market like this. I think it's kind of a unique situation where you consider the team that's putting him on the market has him under contract for next year but has basically given up on signing him, which all potential trade partners are certainly aware of, and the trade market as it stands right now consists only of a handful of major market teams who can afford to pay him $20+ million a year, and then there's the big if where the trade hinges on him signing to an extension and that effects the deal, because there's no point in giving up a bunch of top prospects for a one year rental when you could wait it out till the trade deadline/08 free agency. And apparently Santana also has some sort of no trade clause.

 

The Twins don't exactly hold all the cards here, they're hoping that a bidding war materializes because they want to get maximum value while they still can, but the more teams that agree that the Twins are forced to deal him the lower the starting bids will be, and then it comes down to teams upping their bids against each other. There's so many variables involved, and whatever is going on now is basically a game of chicken between the Twins and the few teams with the resources/wherewithal to make a trade of this magnitude.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Rob Dibble was making fun of all the JOBA hype on XM a while ago, after the Yankees were eliminated from the post-season. The guy has pitched like 30 MLB innings, and people are ready to call him the next Clemens or something? Please.

[Precious Roy 0]

Rod Diddle is jealous

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

If the Yankees want Johan Santana it is going to take Phil Hughes or Chamberlain as part of a package. If the Yankees do not offer that deal, the Twins can turn to a team who will part with a top prospect. If Santana goes to free agency the Twins get two first rounders, so they are not quite in a position where they MUST trade him.

[Jorge Gorgeous 0]

If the Yankees want Johan Santana it is going to take Phil Hughes or Chamberlain as part of a package. If the Yankees do not offer that deal, the Twins can turn to a team who will part with a top prospect. If Santana goes to free agency the Twins get two first rounders, so they are not quite in a position where they MUST trade him.

 

If Santana is willing to sign an extension, trade Joba AND Hughes. Hughes might be Santana, if he's lucky, whereas Santana is Santana.

 

Its that simple.

 

Hughes could end up being as good as Santana.

 

Santana IS Santana.

[CanadianChris 0]

Exactly, you always trade top prospects for a top-shelf known quantity. Look at the Pedro deal -- a lot of Red Sox fans thought giving up Carl Pavano and Tony Armas Jr. for Pedro was too much.

 

I don't know why Cano should be untouchable anyway. I'd rather give up Cano than Hughes. The Yankees aren't exactly hurting for offence, while they have a clear need for pitching.