beck72

Two teams that have completely packed it in are SEA. and KC. Sea. just got swept by Texas, and were waiting to see how they did vs AL West teams. 0-3, with some 14 games under .500 is a big enough hint to pack it in. Also, there are teams who are close to first who are struggling and may feel pressure to make a deal [like Houston, LA, Ana, Phil, Bos]. Teams may be willing to overpay, like Oak. did to get Dotel. With the Beltran trade over, there should be less pressure on marginal teams to make deals this early. If teams wait too long the could get less prospects as there will be less teams to trade with and drive up the price.

RE: Maggs 'haven't heard from Maggs's people that talks have ended' 'May be a situation where a player wants to find out his worth on the market' 'wouldn't rule out a trade [involving Maggs or anyone] that helped improve the club this year' ['not likely but can't rule anything out that improves the team'] 'Not interested in a deal involving prospects for Maggs just to get something or him'

'trade talks have heated up over the last 48 hours'. 'trying to fly underneath the radar, like the Colon deal'. 'Trying to get somehting done without other teams being able to trump him.'

I disagree. I think Kenny is showing midlevel payroll teams the way to get better via the midseason trade. Trading away prospects is minimized if the team can get compensation picks or other minor leaguers in trades. All this depends on a good scouting system. All teams have questions even coming out of spring training. The yanks and red sox didn't. But now they have needs, just like other teams do. Yet those teams traded away most of their farms systems in previous years, without ever replenishing w/ picks. Now they are in a poor position to fill the holes they have. The Sox filled holes in the offseason, with young players and guys with 1 year contracts [politte, Takatsu, SS]. Balt, KC, Sea and Ana. did as well, by signing veterans to big deals. Now they are stuck with long term contracts on aging players they can't give away. All in all, I like the Sox approach better. They have the flexibility to fix holes without hurting the long term health of the club.

The writer probably is in the pocket of the Rangers owners, who may not want to spend cash. The Sox didn't mortgage the future with last years trades. The Sox only traded fringe players they could do without. One thing missing is the fact the Sox have young position players in key, hard to fill positions [Crede, Uribe, Olivo, Harris]. They have less holes to fill and could "gamble" by trading some better prospects in order to win now.

The Braves should be at least 10 games under .500 by the break. By the deadline, they might be 20 games under. With their injuries and lack of offense, they should throw in the towel early.

I think the Mets will be buyers not sellers. Though ATL may have some bullpen and SP guys who could work. [smoltz anyone?] They'll be out of it come the deadline and need to get new blood.

Instead of moving Maggs, a deal of Konerko to LA for maybe Dave Roberts + [i'd love Wilson Alvarez] could work. Someone who can consistently get on base in front of Maggs, Frank and Lee. With the salary move, the Sox could take on even more salary to shoe up pitching

I agree. I love Willie and Uribe, yet they are bound to drop off in the stretch run [Definitely at least one if not both]. If the Sox get a top of the order hitter who can steal bases to get into scoring position and get on base for the power guys, watch out. Ozzieball seems intent on keeping the opposing team [and the manager] on their toes, putting pressure on the defense and pitching. The sox have done it at times. But more needs to be done. Harris is the only base stealing threat, and hasn't run as much as Ozzie wants him to.

I love Willie and Uribe. They'll be around for years. But I too sense they'll fall back down to earth a little this year. The Sox can't afford to have a fall off late in the year if they want to get to the playoffs. That's why a CF who can hit #1 or #2 is needed to take the pressure off them. This will strengthen the bench as well, putting Uribe in the super utility role, splitting time at 2B, SS and 3B. Rowand then is the 4th OFer. Timo doesn't impress me. Sandy is decent enough. Gload is versatile and does the little things.

TB may trade Crawford because they can't sign Huff, Baldelli and him to big contracts, or pay big raises in arbitration. With SS BJ Upton and OF Joey Gathwright nearing the bigs, they could use some young players to come up with them. With Crawford and Baldelli essentially the same players [short on power, with speed, low OBP, high SO's] one of the two could go. A consistent bat who can get on base or has power, along with pitching could put TB in decent shape in the coming years. Milw.'s Sexton trade is the blueprint for low payroll teams to get better in a hurry. A crawford trade would be similar for TB. The question is, is Crawford worth that type of investment in players? For some teams, no. For the Sox, probably.

With Garcia leaving, I can't see why they'd give up Pinero when he's signed through 2006 for $14.5 mill and is only 25 years old.

"Retarded" thread or not, the paper reported Crawford as being possibly available, for talent that the Sox could match in Byrd and Padilla. Not me on some whimsical trade thread that popped into my head. Reed plus a few prospects could get it done. I compared this to the Sexton trade where Milw. got mulitiple players in return. IMO, there are always people who think it's their duty to swat flies hovering around a s*** pile. Instead of swatting flies, these people should just stay away from the s*** pile.

Take the time to actually read something before you post. The Philly paper was the one that reported Crawford was available. The link was in the first post. If Philly believes they could get Crawford for Marlon Byrd and Vincente Padilla, Reed + could get something done. Crawford has speed and defense, sure. But with only a .400 SLG % in the minors, and not a great OBP, [100 BB's / 300K's, in 1700+ AB] they may be looking for more pop and consistency. A sure thing [such as it may be] in Reed, may be more to their liking, esp if they keep Baldelli and Huff long term.

For those who think Crawford is untradeable, look at his minor league numbers. TB may think his value is at his highest. [And it may be]. He's a career .295 hitter in the minors, in 1714 AB's, with a .400 SLG, with 101 BB's and 308 K's. His OBP in 2003 was .309. This year it's .340+. He does strike out a lot. TB may want more power from their OF. If they keep Baldelli, then they may want power from the other spots. Joe B. may be a better fit for them than Reed. The Sox could teach him to be patient. He's only 22. But they can't teach him speed like he has.

The key with Joe is when he's on, he can hit RHP and LHP equally well. A few games back he hit a nasty pitcher's pitch breaking ball on the outside corner and served it into RF for a single. When he's cold though, Joe's 3 pitches and out. I'm glad he's heating up. The Sox need him driving in runs at the bottom of the order.

Crawford's played in less than 10 games in CF for TB this year. I'm not sure about previous years or in the minors. Yet he has the speed to be better than what the Sox have there now. The key would be revamping the top of the lineup with a Harris / Crawford 1-2 that would make Ozzie forget all about Pierre / Castillo. Doesn't anyone else remember Guillen gushing about Crawford after Carl ran wild against the Sox earlier in the year?! Tell me Ozzie wouldn't mind Kenny overpaying for a guy like Crawford, not just to win now but for the future.

Maybe why he's reportedly saying in "back channels" Crawford is available. If TB can get multiple players, such as position players and pitchers for a speed guy like Crawford [both Baldelli and Crawford are in the same mold, they could use a corner OF with power [maybe Borchard would be a better fit with TB than Reed]-keep one, trade the other when their value is highest. A lot of low payroll teams will be looking at the Brewers Sexson trade as the kind of trade that could rebuild their club. TB may look at trading Crawford [Or Huff or Baldelli] as a way to keep their club competitive while maintaining a low team payroll.

Perusing another site, I found a thread talking about Carl Crawford possibly being available. It was based on an article mentioning the Phillies maybe getting him. In the article, it made mention that Lou Pinella would make Carl Crawford available. Here's the link. http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/sports/8952791.htm At first glance, I didn't think the D-Rays would give up Crawford. But with Baldelli, Crawford and Huff coming up on arbitration, the D-Rays may not have the cash to get keep all three. A trade involving Jeremy Reed would make sense. Then the D-Rays could get Reed for 3 years on the cheap, and still maintain Baldelli and Huff. Reed could play OF or 1B for them. The Sox throw some pitching in [Rauch, Diaz] and a deal would be possible. Crawford in CF would make a lot of sense for the Sox. With him leading off, Uribe or Harris could drop in the lineup. They are bound to tire or fall off production wise as the season progresses, and Crawford has proven himself. With his speed and defense for the next few years, trading away a guy like Reed makes sense. Much more so than for a 1 year rental. Then Joe B could still be around for his power in RF in case Maggs leaves, with Anderson and Sweeney a few years away. Call me crazy but this sounds doable. With the games Crawford had vs. the Sox this year, anything is possible if Ozzie has any input.

How old is Majewski? I know he's been a Rule 5 guy for a few years now. That said, Baj has to have more upside and a better future [and present] then Gary. I agree on Munoz. If he pitches well [throws strikes, gets K's] he could hang around in the pen when a 5th starter comes in. If Cotts doesn't get his act together he could find himself in AAA, if Munoz can do what Cotts had been doing well. Still, RH set up is lacking, with Pollitte not finding the strike zone, Jackson looking tired, and Koch gone. At least one vet should come in via trade. But why not try a rookie who's dominating like Baj before the deadline to see what arms the sox have available. Santiago would be a decent Jackson replacement, a GB type pitcher rather than a K guy. [i wish MLB was like the NBA and used the DL frequently to try out new guys]

Reed has many tools that the Sox need, just like you said. He could provide good D, has speed on the bases, hits for high avg, makes contact vs tough RHP, and can hit a breaking ball [not many on the Sox do that well]. Joe B has always had the words "if only" applied to him since he started. Reed has gotten it done at a young age and hasn't levelled off [though he is below his normal production now] I'd rather not part with either guy. But if someone had to go, it would have to be Joe B. Reed has talents that would make the Sox a better team than Joe B does, IMO. The Sox don't need a guy who can hit 25 HR's but K 200 times. They could use a guy who can hit 15 HR's and have a .375-.400 OBP to set the table for the other big bats.

I disagree. Any CF the Sox get needs to be able to hit #2, in front of Maggs, Frank and Carlos. A contact guy, OBP guy rather than a HR hitter. I don't think both Uribe and Harris will be able to continue their hot hitting. If one gets cold, the sox offense will stall. Also, Uribe and Harris have struggled during many of the Sox losses. I don't have the exact stats but I heard mentioned that Uribe was hitting something like .350 in Sox wins and less than .200 in losses. But both Finley and Beltran could hit #2. Valentin can hit lower in the order at 6. Valentin and Olivo 'K' too much to hit #2 for a playoff team.

Another thing to think about--if Munoz does pitch well as a SP, he could make Cotts expendable. Munoz could take over Cotts' role, that lately Cotts hasn't done well in. No way would a veteran be moved out of his role, either in the pen or the rotation. Only a rookie like Cotts.

This is just the start of the dealing. With acquiring Wilson Valdez, 25, a career .282 hitter in the minors who can make solid contact, [like 60 K's over his BB's] he provides a reliable backup to Uribe [the future Sox SS]. This makes a power guy like Mike Morse at AA [over a .500 SLG %, with .280 avg, was over .300 much of the year] expendable. Morse has never hit this well, but is hitting for power this year and is a big guy in the A-Rod mold. Makes him a likely candidate to include in a trade, as Uribe is the Sox long term answer at SS. So a team that may want a power hitting SS might want to trade with the Sox.