Monday speculation post and comment thread
The M’s seem to need and be looking for (one or both of) an additional starting pitcher of modest talent (since with current MLB playoff scheduling you barely need two SPs once you get there) and a right-handed outfielder you can play part-time and who can field well.
And possibly a catcher on a short deal.
However… we’ve seen that what the front-office really likes to do is make some crazy awesome “win-win” move that hasn’t even been speculated about yet.
So: what could the next move possibly be, then? You want:
1. Plausibility (Cards aren’t going to give up Pujols)
2. Awesomeness
3. Lack of previous predictions by punditry
4. And a full ten points for style
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Jose Lopez for Carlos Guillen. Sign Orlando Hudson.
Hudson becomes the everday 2B. Guillen platoons with Langerhans in LF and subs at 1B and 3B. (Langerhans also becomes the late inning defensive sub in games that Guillen starts in LF.)He can also function for a short while at SS. He is not as defensively useful as Hall, but he is a much better hitter.
Detroit could use a 2B after losing Polanco. The M’s could ask the Tigers to pick up some (obviously not all) of Guillen’s salary (26 mil) over the next two years.
Just heard Sheets is on his way to Oakland on XM 175 (MLB Home Plate)…and Xavier Nady to the Cubs. Details forthcoming.
Tweet from: SI_JonHeyman – sheets goes to a’s, nady to cubs. good job by cbssports.com on sheets.
Sheets would have looked great in an M’s uniform.
Maybe we’re still in on Bedard.
It’s been sounding like he’s going to the A’s since last night. Just like Beane…get em signed and trade him by July to a contender for prospects, to build his farm system. After traded by July, the A’s only will end up spending approx $4-$4.5M for 1/2 a year for Sheets, and getting some really decent prospects/talent back “if” he’s healthy.
I was thinking this morning that if it was the A’s, which it now is, hopefully this will pull some wins away from the Rangers & Angels between now and July to give us some assistance. Of course, that is expecting that Seattle wins those starts against Sheets.
I was really hoping Z would pull off a Sheets signing for us. I now betting that he gets Bedard signed on a minor league deal, and a base + incentives once he hits the 25-man roster. We can probably land BOTH Bedard AND Washburn for the price Sheets signed for (damn I wanted him).
With all of the Nats/Willingham news since Friday, and the Rays news with Crawford & Pena, you have to think that “if” there is something to all of these rumors that the Z Man is right in the middle of all of this.
I have a feeling he was gauging the Sheets direction FIRST, in order to fine tune his final offseason direction. You can put money on it that “if” Nats and TB have put those offensive players on the market, he has been right in their all along negotiating.
I kind of expect, since Sheets dropped, Z will counter with his next move in the next 48 hours. Just a hunch.
With Bedard suddenly at the forefront again, Matthew Caruth had this to say last August about him:
Basically, Bedard’s wussy reputation is undeserved; but because of it, he may be slightly undervalued (maybe less so now with Sheets off the market?).
He was worth 3.4, 5.0 and 5.4 WAR in ’05, ’06 and ’07, respectively, before the injuries arose. I admittedly have a slight man crush on the quiet Canadian, but for good reason.
I wanted a healty Sheets as well, but now the questions are:
1) How quickly will Z make his plan B or C move now? I assume he was waiting on this and possibly Nady. I bet he moves very quickly.
2) What are his plan B or C?
3) If Seattle is in contention, which we all assume they will be, and when Oakland is out, will Sheets be traded to Seattle at the deadline?
TWEET: It’s for $10M + Incentives
Jesus Beane! The poor Mets!
WOW am I shocked he landed that much. If healthy though, the A’s will move him to a contender in July and only have to pay $5M. The contender inheriting him will end up being on the hook for all of the incentives more than likely.
So basically the A’s dish out $5M for 1/2 years service of an ACE, if healthy, and ends up stocking their farm system come June/July. What a Billy Beane move!
Has Houston found a shortstop? They should be interested in J. Lopez; a nice fit in their ballpark, and then Matsui would shift back over to short.
I think Jose Lopez for Felipe Paulino would work out spectacularly well for Seattle; if we could get Sam Gervacio, JR Towles or Chris Sampson as well, all the better.
Paulino had an ugly ERA, but look at the peripherals: 8.59 k per 9, 3.41 bb per 9, and (here’s what killed him) 1.84 hr per 9. Nothing in his minor league track record (or stuff) suggests he’s Yusmeiro Petit 2.0. He had bad luck.
Bring him to Seattle, in a better ballpark, with an all-word outfield defense behind him, and we’re looking at a cheap, young #2 starter.
Towles is 26, and hasn’t won the starting job, though he’s hit quite well in AAA the last two years. Jason Castro is the official catcher of the future, so Towles should be acquirable. He’s Adam Moore with a touch more power.
I don’t blame Bedard for his body failing him, but he’s pitched 77 and one-third lifetime innings in September and October. That’s an average of around 13 IP in the home stretch of a season over his 6 years in the major leagues, going along with his precisely zero 200+ IP seasons.
3-5 WAR talent doesn’t add wins when it’s on the DL. Erik Bedard makes Bret Saberhagen (another guy with world-beating stuff and a glass arm) look like Iron Man McGinnity. Pass.
Are there humorous comment guidelines? There are these mistakes that people keep on making. For example, I think that some of us need to reminded that implausibility is not inherently funny. We can all come up with trades that no GM would make, but not many of them are likely to make anyone laugh. The bar is pretty high for humor these days, given that we can all find Youtube videos of dudes getting hit in the crotch. Let’s step it up!
After Nady signed with the Cubs today, it looks like our right handed hitting OF possibilities are down to Jermaine Dye, Ryan Garko, Jonny Gomes, or the oft injured Rocco Baldelli. Personally I like Garko as he can play 1B and a little 3B in a pinch. Has a pretty decent history in Safeco!
Now that Sheets is signed, how about this one:
Brandon League and Johermyn Chavez for Brandon Morrow.
What about… I can’t believe I am about to do this… Jose Guillen. He becomes our DH against lefties and a bat off the bench in other situations. We pay $2.5M of his $12M salary. Meanwhile, the Royals get to see what Kila Ka’aihue can do at the big league level. He might not be good at defense, but he might still be able to hit a little, has buy-low value because of his injury last year, and he is blocking a promising Royals prospect from getting his chance to hit.
This thread has become a train wreck I simply cannot pull my eyes away from. lol
I don’t know if anybody is still reading this thread, but: Jose Lopez, Matt Tuiasosopo, and Triunfel for Ian Stewart and Ryan Spillborghs. Figgons moves to second and Stewart takes over third.
There doesn’t seem to be a winner yet, so…
Aardsma and Lopez to the Orioles for Wieters, Tejada and Mickolio. They still owe us.
Jose Lopez and Jason Vargas for Gil Meche and cash