JUGGERNAUT

As you know I will never make a trade suggestion w/out backing it up with stats & facts to support it. Either they are. There is approx $10M left on Kaz $21M/3yr deal. The Mets are willing to pick up more than 1/2 of it so you are looking at a yr & half of Kaz for about $4M. He's a SH & his numbers are not as bad as some think. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/spli...tting&year=2004 2004 vLH 98AB, 13R, 8D, 3HR, 11RBI, 11W, .306A, .376O, .480S 2004 vRH 362AB, 52R, 24D, 2T, 4HR, 33RBI, 29W, 14 SB, .262A, .319O, .373S On this team RON numbers are the most important. That's why Perez is still on this team. 2004 RON 60R, 39RBI, .299A, .358O, .408S So far in 2005 he's struggled vs RH but still hitting LH w authority. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/spli...tting&year=2005 2005 RON 15R, 16RBI, .281A, .306O, .404S 2005 CL&L 5R, 3RBI, .286A, .375O, .500S He's a better SS than he is a 2B. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/fielding?statsId=7250 He's an improvement in the lineup over Crede, & I believe Uribe-Kaz-Iguchi is stronger D than Crede-Uribe-Iguchi. Cameron is probably too high a price to pay. I just wish Ozzie would give Dye more fielding practice for balls hit in front of him.

Mike Cameron's name surfaced as well. He's rumored to go SD, but he would mean so much more to the WSox right now. You're going to pay the highest price imaginable to get him right now. 83AB .373A .475O .699S 1.174OPS. He's having a career year. He's platooning with Diaz right now who's having a good yr himself. So the WSox are more likely to have to use Dye in a 3-way to get some talent the NYM will want. But nothingless than Anderson will land this deal. Don't expect the NYM to pick up any of Cameron's salary either. I think it goes without saying he'll want to play CF. It goes w/out saying that an OF of Pods, Cameron, & Rowand will be the best D in MLB. Not even the Twins with Hunter could match up against us. That might mean more to a team built on pitching & defense than even a new addition to the bullpen. What is for certain is that the WSox can not simply sit back & let the Twins overtake them like they have in years past. They need to make a move to either make the team stingier or more lethal or both. Cameron would do both.

I think you're selling Kaz too short on what the WSox are getting & too much on what the WSox would have to give up to get him. I think Crede in a 3-way would get enough to get Kaz. Uribe has proven himself at both SS, & 3B. Crede's best value to the team is D & HR's. Uribe is an improvement over his D & Kaz makes up for his HR's. I won't say their aren't question marks behind Kaz's D. But that's not the way he played in Japan & playing with Iguchi could greatly improve that. This is a trade based more on potential than results to date. But I think if we could get Kaz at the expense of only Crede we should do it.

The rumor pages today feature Kaz Matsui & the willingness of the NYM to eat a good portion of his salary to trade him. They are very happy with the play of Cairo. He has not played SS this yr but he played a 110 gms as a SS in 2004. With Wright playing well at 3B, they have no use for Crede so this would probably shape up as a 3 team trade where Crede is used to get a player the NYM want from another team. The trade makes sense for the WSox if they can pull it off: Uribe - 3B, Kaz - SS, Iguchi - 2B. Your most skilled positions locked up for 2-3 yrs. Playing with Iguchi could be exactly what Kaz needs. If they are successful together it could mean many more tickets sold.

That schedule heavily favors us. I've shown you before that over the last 5 yrs the home record has been virtually the same. About 10 wins over .500. This team has always been able to win at home. There is not a team we play at home in Jun that we are not capable of winning a series against. On the road SD is probably the only series we won't win. Looking at the Twins, they are not likely to win most of those series at home or on the road. KC & DET are the only series you could pencil as a win. It's important for the WSox to stretch their lead in Jun because they will need it come Aug.

In 2006 & 2008 the central issue will be healthcare. The costs have spiraled out of control & the industry & beuracrats (AMA, etc.) are not offering solutions. The people are fed up. Hillary faced stiff opposition when she first attempted to expand government's power & influence over our healthcare system. A decade later the tune is radically different. The polls show the people now believe more government involvement is needed to lower costs. The problem both parties face though is how far are they willing to anger the current healthcare leaders to appease their constituents. The wealth & power of those in the healthcare industry has grown dramatically since Hillary's first proposal during Bill's terms. In particular the Democrats are not so willing to sell out business leaders for votes as they have in the past. The party that win's this issue will win the presidency & the senate.

No one could have imagined back in 1977 that STAR WARS would go on produce the greatest 6 film saga the world has ever seen. Likewise no one could have believed that such a sci-fi opera would have such clarity of vision on our own world in the last 3 films. This is not a pro/con GOP film nor is it a pro/con DEM film. If DEM's want to rally behind "If you are not with me, you are my enemy" bummer stickers for the 2006 elections then they will just further the demise of their own party. The entire 6 film saga is a statement warning against the global economy & the emergence of global super-corps. The fact that Lucas' foresaw this during Nixon's campaign to embrace China is worthy of applause. He envisioned the power of the beast when it's eyes were first starting to open. In Ep 1 despite a Galactic Senate & democracy we learn of not just slave states but slave systems. Slavery arises out of economic conditions. The bigger the expanse of the economy the harder it is to regulate. What do we see in our global economy today? Slave labor at it's heart. Lucas is a billionaire many times over not because he wished to be but simply because he sought to get something (considered worthless at the time) from STAR WARS. FOX made the bulk of the money from it's film release but Lucas secured the rights to merchandising & ancillary revenues. So he made a profit on the first film but he hit the jackpot on the stuff FOX thought was worseless. Likewise he had secured the rights to the sequels which delegated FOX to nothing more than a distributor for the films. It was the greatest indie film contract ever written & will likely be the only one of it's kind. So it comes as no surprise that Lucas' shows no affinity for wealth in the saga. Nealry every time the good guys are in need of something they have to risk a trial of death to get it simply because they have little to no wealth to speak of. The first step in the demise of the Jedi stems from terrorist acts on the Republic orchestrated from the Trade Federation. As you would expect the TF deny any involvment. In Revenge of the Sith we learn that the head of the TF is none other than Palapatine himself. Or should I say the Sith Lord, Darth Sidious. In AOTC, Refusing to sit by & watch her people die admist the denials of the TF, Padme willingly gives up liberty to give emergency executive power to Palpatine. Palpatine manipulates the media into believing that with the military might of the TF vanquished the Jedi pose the greatest new terrorist threat to the Republic. Because of the power this threat poses he convinces the Senate to extend his powers & convert the Republic into an Empire so that all my live in the peace, safety, & security the Empire can provide. Anakin is a metaphor for both Nixon & Bush. Both of these men are considered to be amongst the most highly virtuous persons to have served the presidency. They believed in virtues much the same as Benjamin Frankling did. But both of them lack principles. Having virtues is one thing but having the discipline to live by them as principles is quite another. It is their lack of principles that make them pawns to be manipulated by the real power brokers: those who posess the greatest amount of wealth & power in the world. Perhaps what is most frightening about ROTS is that in a secularist world it is no longer religion that is the opium of the people but rather government. It's a fasade that creates an imaginary belief that we have a voice in the matters of this world. We do not. When we exercise that voice it's only to choose between our perception of the least of two evils. Nothing more. The matters of the world are decided by the wealthiest amongst us. The same as it was centuries before our time. One day soon the wealth & power of super-corps will lead to their ability to protect themselves. They will support their own troops & their own arms so as to not only protect but expand their wealth & power. Is this science-fiction? No. In US World & News Report this year an article focused on wealth in China. It exists w/in the leaders of the Communist party & the super-corps. Many of which are American. There is very little distribution of wealth amongst the Chinese people. It's percentage is far worse than ours. What's more disturbing is that the work camps that support the super-corps in SE Asia are secured with privatized troops & arms. The seeds are already beginning to take root. What Lucas' is preaching is that the 3 greatest principles in this world should be liberty, democracy, & diplomacy. Everything else should flow to support & strengthen these principles. Especially a construct such as the UN. If current campaigns weaken these principles then we should reform them. If current trade practices weaken these principles then we should reform them as well. Lucas' has given us a vision that the greatest threat to these principles is not ideology but rather the concentration of wealth & power in a select few. You could make the argument that in Lucas' eyes a greater distribution of wealth is the most important principle of them all.

I'm not surprised at all. The citizens of France haven't bought into the global economy like we have. They voted no to an expansion of powers that would have given greater wealth & power to multi-national corps. Including greater ability to import cheaper labor. It didn't help the EU that Lucas' Revenge of the Sith paints a frightening picture of what could happen when sovereign nations give up their power to a chancellor/president. Without a balance of power & a constitution to insure that balance a chancellor is one step away from an emperor.

Somebody polluted the other trade thread that had begun a decision of Polanco for Crede. Never really got to elaborate on it. So I'll do it now. First off just throwing out names like Castilla & Randa is senseless. You first need to have at least a rumor suggesting a team is peddling a player. Polanco fits that bill. I don't know about the other two. 05 Crede 3.71 RPG,4HR vs 05 Polanco 4.19 RPG,1HR Why does Philly do this trade? Salary purge, & Crede's HR power. At 3B, PHI has the $4.7M Bell & the $4.6M Polanco & 2H between them. With Thome ailing they need HR power. Polanco is a career .293A .339O .406S .745OPS player. He's in a bit of slump but he's still managed a .333OBP. Crede's making 400K & is a much cheaper option for the Phils in 2006. A change might be the best thing for him. If it's done before the deadline the Sox will pick up about $2M in salary. If it's done now they'll pick up about $3M. I would try to get $1M from the Phils in the deal. Polanco is a slow starter but a strong finisher. 3yr monthly's: BA, OBP, SLG, OPS April .280 .356 .364 .720 May .227 .280 .369 .649 June .279 .310 .408 .718 July .327 .381 .451 .832 August .294 .341 .472 .813 September .321 .363 .466 .829 He can play 3B, 2B, & even some SS. Looking at those numbers now's the best time to get him. Before he rebounds in June & the price is driven up. Joe it's been fun but you like Boras too much & your way too inconsistent.

I don't see why the M's would ever trade Ichiro. He's a big reason why they have a good season ticket holder base. But if they were to peddle him to the WSox then I woul d make that deal if the M's allowed me to replace Anderson in the deal.

Kenny get your arse down there & check him out. The ideal situation is to send BMac back to Charlotte after his start on Fri & bring Thomas up for the homestand vs LAA & CLE. Crede, Uribe, & Everett are all struggling. Less than 3H in their past 30+AB. CLE is on a roll. 2-1 @MIN, 1-2 @TEX, 2-1 @LAA, 2-1 vTOR, 1-2 vLAA, 2-1 @CIN, 2-1 vMIN. They have 4 more at home before going on the road. Then it's 3 @MIN, & 3@CHW. They've been winning on the strength of good starting pitching, great relief, & timely hitting. They've even shown signs of thumping again. If they win that series @MIN they'll be flying high with confidence. The last thing I want is to lose a series to CLE before beginning the NL road trip. Thomas has great career numbers at the Cell. Don't let this opportunity get wasted because you have a greivance against him.

It's a known fact that NYY misued El Duque & that's why he experienced so much time on the DL. All you have to do is look at his game logs to see it. 3 or 4 consecutive games of high 120-130 pitch counts & then a 3 inning effort. The WSox are not going to do that this year. They are going to keep in in the 100-110 mark & not hesitate to sit him down if he feels any discomfort at all. That's a good method for keeping him healthy & fresh for the Sept stretch. He's already paid for his salary in his impact on Contreras.

I've got nothing against Oz trying to build up confidence in Shingo & Viz. But allowing Viz to put another guy on & then face a HR hitter in a park stacked against him is not smart. Then again building his confidence vs the Cubs has the least impact on home field advantage in the AL. If not Politte what about Cotts? He had been pitching better of late & wasn't he supposed to be groomed for the early relief innings? As for the confidence building when does Marte get a turn? Will he ever be afforded the opportunity to pitch out of a 2ON jam?

My point was that Shingo & Viz should have the shortest leashes & not Marte. I'm just getting so sick of watching Ozzie do that to him. Though I can't rule out Politte either. Did you know they both have 22K's now? So tell me why was it Viz (Ozzie's love child) in there relieving BMac instead of Politte? You're up a few runs for some reason you decide to pull you rookie after he just recorded an out & what do you do? Bring in a guy who has HORRIBLE numbers at Wrigley Field in his career. What frustrates me the most about this season is Ozzie's mgmt of the pen. A little better mgmt there & we've got more wins to show for it. Of course what frustrated me about the Lee trade was not getting Adams. With Adams we probably have 3 more wins. Oh well it's a small gripe. Can't be too upset with a team that is now 33-14 & on a pace to win 60 games before the all-star break. Wow!

Anthrax I think you need to check his numbers again. El Duque has one of the best GS/L ratio's in the league. Likewise you misunderstood what KW meant with the glowing El Duque health report. Reading between the lines it really meant we hope to get 160 IP out of him & have him healthy for the post season. The glowing health report meant that it's unlikely the WSox would lose him to a season ending injury. At his age it's expected for him to spend a little time on the DL in a season. All near 40 yr old pitchers do. I fully expected a GS/L of 8 at this point in the season. After all he had a GS/L of 7.5 last yr. What I didn't expect is that his influence would turn Contreras into a GS/L of 9. That's an avg of 9 GS for each loss. Phenomenal. But then again everyone always said Contreras had great stuff to be #1/#2 pitcher in the league. It took El Duque & the WSox to bring it out. KW should get credit for that pairing. Let's look at the rest of your NL rotation. 1. Derek Lowe - I'll take M Buehrle 2. Matt Clement - I'll take Garcia 3. Doug Davis - This is a pipe dream. There is no way the Brewers are parting with a LH who was ranked 12th in the NL as a starter last year. 4. Russ Ortiz - I'll take Contreras. 5. El Duque. When in doubt I always choose the AL guy over the NL one because if the NL guy fails he'll get rocked. There's no middle ground. Garcia has a +32W in his career. Best on the WSox. Better than Matt Clement. M Buehrle has +30W in his career. Better than Lowe. His 2004 numbers were better than Lowe's. Funny how you said nothing about C. Do you give any credit to KW for getting AJ & Widger? Do you think the two of them deserve some of the credit for the phenomenal rotation we have? Widger was kept because Cooper felt he did a better job than Davis calling a game & because he had the best SLG numbers of the 3. It turns out they weren't just right they were dead on. Look at Widger's SLG numbers. He's a big part of why are bench might be the strongest in the ALC. Realistically KW only made 1 bad move: not getting Adams in the Lee deal. Viz was a mistake. Put Adams on this team & we likely have 3 more wins. And please get off the Everett horse. He's a big part of why this team jumped out & grabbed the best record in baseball in April. Big timely hits were the difference between winning & losing. He's never griped about playing time & just keeps delivering the big hits when they need them. The guy is killing LH .370A .380O .522S .902OPS & struggling vs RH .184A .265O, .367S, .633OPS. But you want to know something? That might be the most productive .633OPS I've ever seen. It's produced 16RBI, & 11R. His .902OPS produced 14RBI, & 4R. You can't look at just one set of numbers. You need to look at them all.

I would like to see Marte emerge as that guy. His splits: RH .221, 10K, ERA 3.27. LH .220, 12K, ERA 0.00. He gave up 4R in April, & 1R in May. Give the guy a break! It should be a sin to leave Viz in there with 2 on. LH .441, 1K. RH .224, 15K He gave up 11R in April & 6R in May. That's not good. There's no reason to have confidence in that. I know you weren't around when Marte was one of the best in the AL, but in 2003 RH .199, 45K, WHIP 1.24. LH .168, 42K, WHIP 0.85. If you give him some room to get his confidence back he could be the ideal setup man. That would leave opposing teams pressing against our starters more feeling they need to score before the 8th because then it's Marte & Hermy time.

I don't think Anthrax is aware that Contreras+El Duque have just 2L combined in 17 starts. IMO wins for a starter are meaningless. It just means the offense scored early. What really matters is GS/L. Both these guys continue to get written up in NY press because of their GS/L ratio.

Did Anthrax actually suggest Russ Ortiz over El Duque? Is he insane? 04 A-NPERA 4.00 vs El Duque 04 B-NPERA 3.17 Did we sign El Duque to just win games or win in the post season? Ortiz would give us more innings & that's it. El Duque did it in the AL. A 3.17 in the AL is probably worth a 2.50 in the NL. A big difference. El Duque is on pace for 160IP. Ortiz is on pace for another 200IP. Tell me again why I should have preferred to spend 3.4M more on a guy who is sure to pitch worse than El Duque for the first 160IP, & probably avg at best for the additional 40IP & offers next to nothing for post season action in the AL. Not to mention the El Duque effect on Contreras. Many people have said it before & now I have to agree. No other player has had a more beneficial impact on this team than El Duque. He's turned Contreras into a top 15 pitcher, is 5-1 in 8 starts, & allowed BMac to start the year in AAA. All for a cost of 4M because he's not likely to hit his IP incentive. Someone want to inform me of a team that has gotten more out of a FA than the WSox have with El Duque?

I will always agree with that general conclusion. We should have gotten more from the Brewers than Viz, Pods, & PTBNL. From the Brewer's perspective they were gaining a +2.3RPG in the trade. Viz is worth less than that. Contrary to what KW might have thought about him he was ranked only 39th in the NL for relievers last yr. A 3.34NPERA for a relief pitcher is not good. Hermanson on the other hand was 30IP shy of start class & had a 3.67NPERA. Amongst starters that ranks 24th in the NL. There is big difference between 24th & 39th. If I were GM I would have twisted their arm to give up Adams (25th in the NL for relievers last yr). That trade makes much more sense & I think the press would have been more favorable to it. They keep the PTBNL then. Viz did represent something of a salary dump for the Brewers so the WSox probably would have had to throw in 1M to get Adams. What's a million? His His 2.70 ERA right now would look pretty good in our pen.

Garland is not an ace. El Duque is. What makes an ace? Winning % over time plus K's. It's really that simple. El Duque career: 733K's, 7.15K/9, 66W, 41L, 1.26WHIP, .239BAA, 3.96ERA : +25W Mark B's career: 627K's, 5.30K/9, 76W, 46L, 1.23WHIP, .259BAA, 3.70ERA : +30W Garcia's career: 959K's, 6.85K/9, 89W, 57L, 1.29WHIP, .248BAA, 3.92ERA : +32W Garland's career: 467K's, 4.92K/9, 54W, 52L, 1.41WHIP, .265BAA, 4.52ERA : +2W I challenge you to come up with one other ace on another team who doesn't have a K/9 > 5. If you don't reach that mark you can't be an ace. Zito has a career avg of 7K/9, Mulder 5.97, & Hudson is higher than both of them. Even Maddux a finesse pitcher has a 6.27K/9 avg.

The other pcs as well. It's pretty easy to debunk the rest. Lee 04 : 17th best hitter in AL (6.70 RPG) Davis 04 : 12th best starter in NL (3.19NPERA) Diaz 04 : 98th C level arm (5.90NPERA) Pods 04 : 77th best hitter in NL (4.34RPG) Pods + what he meant in SB to the WSox probably increased his value to top 50 for the WSox. That means they figured they were giving up about 1 RPG in the trade. So far they missed that mark by .5 RPG. Now do you really think the Brewers thought so little of the LH Davis that they would essentially trade him for +1 RPG & Diaz? That's insane. There is no way you are getting Davis from the Brewers for anything less than Garland. Garland is currently ranked 4th in the AL, & Davis ranked 38th in NL. I'm glad KW didn't do that trade. The last part was Jose Guillen over Jermaine Dye. Jose Guillen 04 27HR: vs LH .299A .346O .493S .839OPS vs RH .292A .353O .499S .852OPS The numbers all point to Guillen but what about the cost? Salary wise he's going to make 7.5M to Dye's 10.5M so you save 3M. Talent wise he's going to cost a proven OF (Juan Rivera .307, 12H, 49RBI) plus a prospect (Maicer Izturis .338, 65R, 19DB, 3H, 36RBI). That's the price WAS paid. For the WSox it's probably Perez + Anderson. So you're looking at giving up Perez, Anderson, 7.5M to secure Guillen for 2yrs. What's the likelihood of you trading him after 1 yr? He blew up w the LAA when he was replaced by a PR late in the season. The Oz loves to use his bench & won't hesitate to use a PR for someone. What makes you think he wouldn't blow up here under Chicago pressure? I think it's too high of a price to pay for the added offense he was expected to produce over Dye.

Hindsight is 20/20. That trade sounds great now but did make any sense at the time? Roberts 04 vs LH .215A .301O .315S .616OPS vs RH .299A .363O .404S .767OPS Looks a lot like Harris. His 3-yr avg's are pretty much the same. He definitely looks like an upgrade over Harris but not a major one. As for Gibbons 04: vs LH .257A .289O .385S .674OPS vs RH .241A .309O .376S .685OPS Why am I trading for him when Gload put up much better numbers? Why am I giving this up as well? Konerko 04: vs LH .288A .372O .577S .949OPS vs RH .273A .354O .518S .872OPS Koney had a career yr last yr. The big difference being his success against LH. This yr he's struggling vs LH. vs LH .139A .295O .333S .628OPS. vs RH he's right around .850OPS. You've got to make a convincing argument based on potential & past performance as to why the WSox would make that trade in the first place. I didn't see one. I saw one based on the miraculous seasons both players are having for BAL now.

I don't know about that. It's a short-lived contract for a player that has always been considered a high prospective talent that seems to finally be realizing that talent. When the NYY's signed him he was considered better than the top pitching prospect in their organization. It's not like he's a fluke. This is what he was expected to do.

No way. Trade him before moving him to the pen. He's ranked 11th in the AL as a starter right now. His value has never been higher. He's got 14M left on his contract. There are contenders that will pay high to get him in their rotation. There are near contenders that might just take him on for 2006. He has far greater value in trade right now then he would in the pen. Someone will probably bring this up so let's look at his relief potential: 05 Pitches 1-15 26AB .308A .387O .462S .849OPS 04 Pitches 1-15 91AB .253A .327O .440S .766OPS 03 Pitches 1-15 49AB .306A .382O .408S .790OPS He has no pen value. Trade him. On the subject of BMac I thought about this again & I don't see how the WSox can avoid burning a year of service on him. He's good for at least 3 more starts with El Duque on the DL but this is just El Duque's first stint on the DL. The odds are there will be at least one maybe two more. We knew going in to that deal that we'd be lucky to see 20 starts out of him. As long as he's healthy going into Oct it be worth it. So burning a yr of service for BMac is not an issue. It's a question of whether to keep him on the team for relief duties or send him to Charlotte for starts. Options don't play a role either because the WSox add him to the 25 man roster on each call-up. So there's really no addition cost in shuffling him between Charlotte & Chicago for starts. I think that's the better way to go. Charlotte needs him as much as we do. The more AAA starts he gets the better he'll do up here.

The Blaylock vs Chavez debate is interesting. On the one hand you have the contending Ranger & on the other you have the floundering A's. By all accounts from what we've seen & heard of BMac he is likely to rank in the top 20 in his first year in the AL. That's better than anything Garland or Contreras has ever done. Good enough to qualify as a solid #2. So trading BMac at this stage is like trading a #2/#3 starter in the AL. Texas is going to pay a higher price to get him than the A's because they need him this year. Ozzie just flat out blew it when pulling BMac for Vizc. Vizc had the numbers against Ramirez but he totally blows at Wrigley (16.20ERA in 04, 7.71ERA in 03). You don't pitch Vizc at Wrigley. That decision cost BMac the win & a solid era. Is Blalock worth a #2/#3 starter? No. You are trading what is likely a top 20 pitcher for a 30th ranked hitter. A consistent 30 rank but still only 30th. So if I'm trading for Blalock using Crede I'm using someone other than BMac. Is Chavez worth a #2/#3 starter? No. His 2004 year looks like a fluke. He was ranked 10th, prior to that his RPG rankings resemble that of Koney. Somewhere between a 25-30 ranking. Better than Blaylock but not by much. Currently he ranks 91st (worse than Crede). He's sure to come out of it but that's likely going to have him finish between 25-30. So what we have here is a player who has ranked 25-30 for 4 of the last 5 yrs & top 10 1 yr. That yr looks like a fluke. Trading Crede for either of these guys is a good idea but it should come at a cheaper price than BMac. I liken this to the Cubs trading Zamby for these guys after his first start. That would be crazy as well. BMac represents insurance against injury for El Duque. El Duque has already gone on the DL once. The odds are he'll be there again. It's unlikely the CHW will avoid running up a yr of service on BMac. I would not use BMac in this trade. If anybody it should be Contreras. 14M/2yr. The Sox can fork over the cash they got from NYY if need be. That's not a bad price for either the A's or the Rangers for the 11th ranked Contreras. His value has never been higher. Trading Contreras high for Chavez low should net a high prospect as well. Crede has ranked 66th, & 71st in the past two yrs. So either guy would be a substantial upgrade. Win share wise: Blaylock/Chavez + BMac > Crede+Contreras That's why you use Contreras instead. BMac gives you more flexibility payroll for the future as well.