WCSox

Agreed that the Sox won't move one of the starters. Freddy's trade value is very low and since he doesn't look like a long-term prospect, they almost need to hold onto Javy. The bullpen has improved tremendously over the past month or so and the offensive production is more than adequate.

Speaking of inappropriate touching, what's Clinton up to these days?

Vazquez reminds me of James Baldwin: Four good innings and then... BAM! He spiffs his pants. However, with Freddy getting rocked and not looking like a long-term option, the idea to trade Vazquez right now isn't a good one.

QUOTE(iamshack @ Jul 19, 2006 -> 04:41 PM) That's a brilliant idea. Trade for the guy with the mental issues and bring him to New York. That's been tried already, pal. I'm not your "pal." And look how awesome Trachsel and his aging arm are doing. And look at the big bucks that the Mets are paying Trachsel and El Duque. :rolly The comparison of a (supposedly) power pitcher like Freddy to a finesse guy like Glavine and a power-pitcher-turned-finesse-guy-years-ago like Pedro is equally stupid. Oh, and Freddy throws about two or three 94 mph pitches in a start... the rest are in the upper 80s. Nice try, though.

QUOTE(iamshack @ Jul 19, 2006 -> 04:30 PM) Teams wanted Schmidt last year. That is the point. Teams are desperate to improve their pitching at the break. The key word here is "improve." Freddy isn't much of an improvement of Trachsel and that's why Minaya isn't going to trade for him... especially if he's obligated to pay him another $13-$14 million. How the hell is Freddy Garcia going to help the Mets win? Nobody with an 88 mph fastball and little command of his offspeed pitches is going to help the Mets in the playoffs. Mets fans should thank God that you're not their GM. I could see the Mets trading for somebody like Vazquez, who can still throw heat and has a good curve and slider to accompany it. Command can be improved, but an aging, worn-out arm can't.

QUOTE(iamshack @ Jul 19, 2006 -> 04:25 PM) How do you know that Freddy isn't injured? If he is, that another reason that Minaya won't want him. The Mets are trying to win NOW, not next season. They're not. You act like quality starters grow on trees or something.

QUOTE(iamshack @ Jul 19, 2006 -> 04:16 PM) And what would you have said about Jason Schmidt last year, when he was struggling badly, his velocity was down, and he was in a contract situation very similar to Garcia's now? Seems to me that I recall a certain GM from Chicago looking at him... Schmidt was injured last season. Freddy doesn't have an injury to excuse his 5 mph drop-off in velocity. The comparison is ridiculous anyway. The Mets need a quality starter RIGHT NOW. They can't wait for Freddy's velocity to return next season... and there's no evidence that it will. That arugment is beyond stupid. Their career numbers have nothing to do with how they're pitching this season.

QUOTE(iamshack @ Jul 19, 2006 -> 04:05 PM) The money is not even an issue. Their new television station has amazing ratings right now, and their attendance is outstanding. Michael Wilpon is not exactly known the be stingy either. They can take on Freddy's salary without blinkiing at this point. Even if the money isn't an issue, Freddy isn't much of an improvement of Trachsel. If Minaya has to give up something in return, he's going to do it for a guy that's going to SIGNIFICANTLY improve his staff. Freddy isn't that guy. If I were Minaya, I'd be talking to SF about Schmidt.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Jul 19, 2006 -> 03:23 PM) Not really. There's a boatload of NL teams that are interested. He would dominate in the NL. Freddy would be a below-average pitcher in the NL as well. Any team that would have to pick up the $13-$14 million left on his contract AND give up prospects for him would want something better in return.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Jul 19, 2006 -> 03:18 PM) I would say it's pretty much a lock if he went to the Mets. Trachsel has been brutal. His ERA is a little better, but his WHIP is horrendous. If you moved Freddy from the Cell to Shea, he'd probably shave off at least half a run, probably a little more. There are a lot of mediocre pitchers doing pretty well in the NL. That doesn't mean that they'd give up two top prospects, but he's still better than what they have, especially when you consider that he's their THIRD starter. Even if Freddy is a slight improvement of Trachsel, the prospects to get Freddy plus the $14 million or so left on his contract would preclude the deal. If Minaya has to give up something to get a better pitcher, he's going to need a significant improvement over Trachsel in return, not just a minor one.

QUOTE(iamshack @ Jul 19, 2006 -> 01:29 PM) IMHO, I don't think it is imperative that they get Brandon though. I would think if you could get Heilman and Humber from the Mets for Garcia, they would take them both, along with Fields, plus another one of our pitching prospects (Phillips?). Obviously, this probably won't happen. But not because it would require BMac. The D-Rays want young, inexpensive, quality players or prospects. If the rejected the straight-up deal for Ervin Santana because they wanted the Angels' best young prospect as well, they're going to want the best two young players that the Sox have. That would be McCarthy and either Fields or Anderson. If B-Mac isn't involved in the deal, you can forget about it. And the Mets aren't going to want Garcia... not with the way that he's been pitching this season and not with the $14+ million left on his contract.

QUOTE(Rex Kickass @ Jul 19, 2006 -> 12:27 PM) http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentra...epting_gop_line Apparently if Lieberman doesn't win as a Democrat, he'd consider running on the GOP line instead of the independent line. Sounds like he's trying to get a feel for how much GOP support he'd get if he chose to go down that path. Given his voting record, character, and name recognition, I think that he'd get quite a bit.

QUOTE(iamshack @ Jul 19, 2006 -> 12:52 PM) They didn't reject Santana because he wasn't good enough. They rejected the deal because they wanted a top-flight prospect to go along with it, and Stoneman wouldn't do it. And given that Santana has produced more in the majors than B-Mac and is equally cheap, the D-Rays would definitely want another "top-flight" prospect to go along with him... and probably a second prospect as well (or possibly Anderson). Given that our only "top-flight" prospect is Fields, he'd definitely be involved in the deal. And since there's almost no way in hell that KW would trade B-Mac, the Crawford deal ain't gonna happen.

QUOTE(iamshack @ Jul 19, 2006 -> 12:12 PM) I never advocated dealing BMac or Anderson. I said deal Garcia for young pitching, and combine that with Fields (who we wouldn't need were we to acquire Crawford), and possibly one of our better pitching prospects (not BMac), and I think you have them listening closely. (1) B-Mac would be needed to acquire Crawford. TB will settle for nothing less than a young, cheap pitcher with a tremendous amount of upside. The fact that they rejected Ervin Santana speaks volumes. Since our pitching prospects aren't exactly stellar right now, Fields would probably have to be included in the deal as well. (2) Garcia is worth crap at this point and we're not going to get any decent prospects for him. And we'd probably have to eat part of his salary as well.

QUOTE(iamshack @ Jul 19, 2006 -> 11:55 AM) Yeah, because we all know Kenny refuses to "overpay." Kenny's not going to trade BMac, Anderson, Fields, and a couple of other minor-leaguers for another outfielder when our current problem is pitching, not run production or defense.

QUOTE(Contreras @ Jul 19, 2006 -> 11:44 AM) I really can't figure out why there are Crawford rumors. Why the hell would they move him? He's Mr. SuperTeamBuildingBlock. No kidding. If the D-Rays considered the Angels' offer of Ervin Santana (young, cheap, 11-3, 3.88 ERA, 1.16 WHIP) a "low-ball" offer, they're obviously not going to move him unless another GM is willing to over-pay. So, no, KW isn't going to trade for Crawford.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jul 19, 2006 -> 10:29 AM) and Garcia; if he's on this team in August I'm going to be upset. You're most likely going to be upset then, as his trade value is at an all-time low now.

QUOTE(bmags @ Jul 17, 2006 -> 05:43 PM) its probably in green because he doesn't want people to think its associated with him. It's in green because I was half-joking. BTW, do you plan on contributing anything intellectually-stimulating to this discussion, or do you just want to take shots at people who are?

QUOTE(Athomeboy_2000 @ Jul 19, 2006 -> 07:50 AM) If you had to watch the Cubs everyday, you'd be driven to drink too! (no pun intended) If my job security was dependent how these clowns played, I'd be hitting the bottle as well.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Jul 18, 2006 -> 11:52 PM) Except that it didn't take anywhere near that long for people to overreact. It basically took his first two starts in April. Which is becuase Jon was a very mediocre pitcher from '02-'04... and just got paid $29 million this past winter. I'm glad to see that he's (apparently) back on track. If Freddy's arm is dying as quickly as it seems to be and Vazquez continues to have the mental toughness of a 12-year-old, we're going to need solid pitching from Jon.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jul 17, 2006 -> 01:35 PM) I'd say 3/36 or 3/39 with a 4th year option along with a nice $1.5M/$2M buyout would be pretty damn plausible. Considering that he's a power pitcher in his mid-30's, I agree. While there are some notable exceptions (Clemens, Johnson, Schilling), power arms tend to abruptly decline at some point in the 30's.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jul 17, 2006 -> 01:27 PM) He probably wont get the years, but he's he'll get 10+ a year with ease, probably much more than that. Agreed about the years. I'm thinking 4 years/$45 million. If he continues to dominate throughout this season, it could be closer to $50 million.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jul 17, 2006 -> 01:21 PM) Schmidt has only had one bad season since he's been on the Giants. That was last season because he was injured through out. He'll be a huge commodity on the market. Schmidt was very average when he was with the Pirates and will be 34 on going into Spring Training next season. He'll get a good deal, but not in the same realm as Zito and Buehrle.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Jul 17, 2006 -> 12:56 PM) A couple comments on the other pitchers: Judging by his current performance, it'd be hard to say that Schmidt is over the hill. I can definitely see the Yankees giving him a 2 or 3 year deal at a pretty high price. I would definitely think they go for Zito over Buehrle. However, that's all probably mute because it's pretty much a lock that we exercise his option if we don't work out an extension. Boston probably will keep Beckett, but who knows, he might want to test the market. Schilling will be an interesting situation, it could end up similar to what happened with Pedro. He'll probably want a 3-year deal at a high price, and they may or may not want to pay that. He'd almost certainly end up with another contender. Carpenter is kind of similar, although in the long run I see him staying with St, Louis. You're right, Oswalt probably stays. I can definitely see Zambrano going though. Zambrano might want to get out of that situation. I sure would if I were him. I also get the feeling that teams like Boston and New York would offer more money than the Cubs, they don't exactly have a good history in that area. My problem is how many open rotation spots will these teams have? Only so many pitchers can go to those three teams, and Boston might not even be in the market for a starter with Beckett and Schilling potentially back and Lester and Papelbon developing. The other two might have holes, but they might also fill them this off-season. Those teams can't sign everyone. (1) Schmidt did not pitch well at all last season and only has one "ace"-type season and two "good" seasons under his belt. I'm not convinced that he's going to be a super-hot commodity on the market. (2) The Yanks will definitely make a run at Zito before Buehrle because Buehrle won't be available until '08. Of course, George wants to win now. Whether or not they'll sign him remains to be seen. (3) Schilling will be 41 this winter and he's already lost about 4-5 mph off of his fastball. Unlike Pedro, who can put a ton of movement on his pitches, I don't see Schilling being an ace without that dominating fastball. If I were a GM, I'd stay away. His agent will leverage his past dominance to over-inflate his price. (4) I see your point about Zambrano and agree that there's a good chance that he'll bolt. I'm sure that the Cubs will try to overwhelm him with a really sweet deal, though. It's going to be interesting. (5) I see at least two or three spots opening up on the Yankess staff over the next two seasons. Johnson will be a free agent soon (next season?) and they'll do what they can to dump Pavano and Wright (even if they have to eat salary).

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jul 17, 2006 -> 12:54 PM) The cubs have one good healthy young pitcher. So you suggest they trade that guy, for one guy who lost a ton of velocity on his fastball and someone who has been a gas can. And the Sox can eat half of Freddy and Javy's remaining deals, while watching Zambrano walk as a free agent soon after. Yeah, I don't think that this will work for either side.