Kenny Hates Prospects

QUOTE (BearSox @ Nov 25, 2008 -> 09:09 PM) I'll take Javy as my 4 or 5 any day of the week. He'll give us 200+ innings, .500 record, 4~ ERA, and for some stretches he'll be our best pitcher. Of course he can't be relied on for the biggest games of the year down the stretch, but he certainly can be a factor that makes those games possible. People have gotta stop overreacting about how "bad" Javy actually is. Exactly.

QUOTE (scenario @ Nov 25, 2008 -> 10:02 PM) Everybody seems to have their own definition of what a 'big game' is when it comes to Javy. I think his win against Cleveland on September 3rd was a very big game. The Sox were reeling... having just lost 5 of their last 6 games... on the verge of getting swept by a very hot Cleveland team on the road... the Sox were tied in the standings with Minnesota... Danks got knocked out in 4 innings the day before... Buehrle got slapped around in 4 innings just before that... And Javy stepped up, shut down the Tribe and put the Sox back in 1st place. Anybody who suggests this was not a big game is kidding themselves. Good post. Javy is what he is. He's a streaky pitcher who does enough over the course of a season to put you in the playoff hunt. There has not been one year since Javy has been here where he has single-handedly cost us the playoffs. In '06 it was our bullpen, in '07 it was practically everything, and last year he ended the season on a horrid stretch, but was only made the #1 starter in the ALDS because 1) the Sox couldn't close the deal over Minny and set their playoff rotation, and 2) Jose went down, making the decision either the veteran in a horrid stretch or the inconsistent rookie who among other things was killed by the Royals earlier in the year. Javy is simply a solid #3 starter who, when at his best, can put up a season like a #2. He has his faults, but all pitchers do. If we had CC Sabathia blowing playoff games for us there would be a large contingent saying the same things, that he's not a big game pitcher. Personally I want Javy gone because I believe we need to continue getting younger and that the market will bare the type of haul that will make it worthwhile. For scraps, it's not worth it. Javy is on a below-market deal and his asking price will reflect that.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 25, 2008 -> 12:03 PM) Rosenthal's full column, including the Dye bits, and a mention about the Mets' jesitation over Havy. This part makes me wonder: In what world is Andy Sonnanstine a more desirable target than Javy Vazquez? Am I the only one who can't understand why teams like this guy? He throws strikes with his junk and changes speeds on it. I'd rather not give up any talent and sign Paul Byrd, who BTW looks like a cross between Kelsey Grammer and a turkey.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Nov 25, 2008 -> 03:12 PM) Well, I guess Burnett may have had better seasons than Javy, but I'll take Javy's healthy arm over Burnett's injury-ridden self any day of the week....I actually do think Javy would command between $13-15 million per. Burnett never has been, nor will he ever be, better than Javy overall. Burnett = 2 seasons of 30+ starts Burnett = 3 seasons over 200IP Javy = 10 seasons over 30+ starts Javy = 8 seasons over 200IP Both are the same age Career lines: Javy: 127-129; 4.32 ERA; 353 GS; 2270.2 IP; H/9 9.00; HR 1.19; 2.39 BB/9; 7.99 K/9; WHIP 1.27 Burnett: 87-76; 3.81 ERA; 211 GS; 1376.1 IP; H/9 7.84; HR/9 0.80; BB/9 3.71; K/9 8.36; WHIP 1.28 The peripherals say they're pretty close. Javy gives up an extra hit per 9 but Burnett walks an extra man per 9. WHIP's are almost identical and K/9 and HR/9 favor Burnett slightly. The main difference is that 353 starts compared to 211 starts, and the fact that Javy has about 900 more innings in the Majors. Javy is not a health risk while Burnett is. Both are seemingly all-or-nothing pitchers. Javy >>> Burnett. 2 years of Javy at $11.5M per >>>>>>>> 4-5 years of Burnett at $15-16M per.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 25, 2008 -> 02:59 PM) There are indications that Sheets, if offered arbitration, would accept it. Dempster is coming off a huge year. Lowe may want that money, but he won't get it. Burnett will get it but he's better than Javy and still is overpaid. The draft picks don't mean as much as you think, especially with teams picking near the bottom. That's a couple million saved instead of giving to a guy who probably is a longshot anyway, and nowhere near as good as the guy they signed. There is no way Javy gets $15-16 million in today's market. Bill James has been coming out with these books for years. Some guys he gets exactly right, some guys he gets wrong. He works as a consultant or something along those lines for the Red Sox. They seem to admire his work. If he thinks Javy will have a 3.80 ERA next year, maybe the Red Sox will pay up to get the loser. Sheets I guess could accept arbitration but I'd bet against that. Teams always give out stupid deals. Coming off a big year or not, Dempster still got a lot of money to be essentially a back-end guy in the future. I don't see any reason to believe he'll be a #3 starter or better for the remainder of his contract. It's not as bad as the Marquis signing was, but it's still a waste IMO. I'd have rather given that money to Garland because even though he regressed again last year he is younger and has proven his durability in the American League, most of it in a hitters park. Dempster was a guy who was an average at best closer in the NL and then had a career year. Disagree on Lowe as well. He may not get 4+ years, but I think he walks away with $16M per. The big market teams will do the serious bidding. Javy could interest the Red Sox and you are right, Bill James may be a reason, but they always offer us crap so I don't think that one gets done. Also disagree on the draft picks. It probably doesn't matter a whole lot to the Yankees or Red Sox since they spend so much internationally and have no problems going over slot in the later rounds, but for the teams that think they will be feeling some strain, I think the draft picks become a huge issue.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 25, 2008 -> 11:44 AM) And Kenny Williams himself said it would be possible to rebuild the farm system, without much trouble... And he has gone a long way towards doing so. We are probably back in the middle tier of systems. With another good draft and/or some trades to bring in guys for the system, we are looking at a top 10 system. And some of these guys who got some notice this season, like the two Carters, Shirek, Hudson, Kuhn, etc. could really make some strides next year. These guys aren't even ranked in the top-10 I don't think so there's room for them to climb. Plus we get Jose Martinez back and if he keeps progressing like he was before going down he'll be fighting for a top-10 spot. The most important part for me was pushing the crap like Broadway and McCulloch out of the top-10. There was no reason to have a system so barren that those guys ranked in the top-10.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 25, 2008 -> 01:56 PM) Its strategically leaked by members of the Sox org. Possibly, but I believe the Sox have talked with the Rays and may be still talking with the Rays. The Sox have their lists of what guys they want from other organizations and they've probably talked to 20 other teams about different players and different scenarios by now. Most of them stay under wraps and, at least to me, it seems like only the blatantly obvious talks make it out. Everyone knows TB is looking to deal Jackson and everyone knows they need an OF, just like everyone knows the Sox have items the Mets want. It makes sense for "word" to slip out regarding talks with those teams but the "word" that comes out of it may not be at all accurate.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 25, 2008 -> 01:51 PM) The problem with flipping Vazquez is it appears other MLB teams don't find his $11.5 million salary as big of bargain as the Soxtalk consensus. Although maybe Boston would be interested. In Bill James (I believe the Red Sox still employ him) new book for 2009 he has Vazquez with a 3.80 ERA which is lower than he has for any other White Sox starter. 4/52 for Dempster Lowe wants at least 4/60 Sheets will end up paid heavily despite the fact that he's never healthy for a full season, and is more of a 2/3 than an ace like he's talked up as even when he is healthy Burnett is going to pick up a bad contract, at least 4/60 or probably more And all of those guys who haven't signed will cost a first round draft pick to any top-15 team that signs them should those players move on to new organizations. Javy would get 15 or 16M per in this market, so he's definitely a bargain salary-wise (and in years if you don't like the idea of Sheets or Lowe or Burnett at 4 or 5 years) and I highly doubt teams think otherwise. Perhaps they are balking at Kenny's asking price but I doubt Kenny is asking a "bargain" price. Kenny will let the market shake itself out and then deal with the desperate teams once a few guys sign, and he'll only make a deal right now if his high asking price is met. BTW, WTF does Bill James have to do with anything? His projections mean jack s***, no more than the average fan who says "I think Javy will do awesome next year," or "I think Javy will suck next year." In fact your average scout or fan's prediction would probably be a much better bet since they actually watch the player instead of using their calculators to make a dumbass statement.

Please no. 3 lefties is fine as long as none of them suck, but in this case, I think one of them ends up sucking.

QUOTE (Fantl916 @ Nov 24, 2008 -> 03:05 PM) i think you're going to see the Mets venture into free agency a bit before they take a deal like this. They are probably talking to the Rockies (Street), Astros (Valverde), and Mariners (Putz) about deals as well. I imagine that once we see a few of these closers find their new homes that the dominos will fall rather quickly. If the Mets don't like the price tags of the free agent closers and want to spend their money elsewhere (Manny?) they might find is a better solution to trade for Jenks and Vazquez. Then again, what do i know. I think the Winter Meetings will be the stage to monitor. A lot of the offseasons initial movements are made then and I can foresee a scenario where a few of the SP's and CL's go off the market during the meetings, with the Mets missing on them, and Minaya coming to KW and revisiting the discussions they had regarding Jenks/Dye/Vazquez/whomever.... The Mets are under a lot of pressure to produce this coming season, being that they've narrowly missed the last 2 years, and Minaya will take the blame if they fail again, thus you can assume that if the chips start falling and he's not getting his piece that he'll make some moves against convention, which i believe this deal with the White Sox to be, and which is why i believe that it's not all that unlikely that Pelfrey, Murphy/Heilman, F Martinez will be White Sox come next year... i tihnk patience is the key here... You could very well be right, although I doubt they'll deal Pelfrey. A lot of what the Sox may do could also be dependent upon where Peavy goes. The best deal for the Sox is probably the Angels, because 1) that could take the Angels out of the Texiera sweepstakes and open the door for a Dye or Paulie deal, 2) it keeps the Cubs from getting him and taking some thunder away from Kenny's offseason, and 3) it now makes Houston and Atlanta suitors for Javy (although I don't know if Houston would have or be willing to deal what we'd want).

QUOTE (Hatchetman @ Nov 24, 2008 -> 02:12 PM) OK. Well this is what we need. Cesar Izturis? If he isn't going to make more than like $1.5M I'd take him. He may still be looking for a starting role though. I think the Triple A ranks/non-roster invitees type are more reasonable targets for cheap players who can play D. Ideally IMO you want a cheap bench that can play defense, and somewhere in that bunch is a guy with speed to pinch run, a guy who can hit lefites, and a guy who can hit righties. Lots of teams like to have a power guy on their bench, but because of the park we play in and because of the type of power we always have on our team, I think that's probably unnecessary.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Nov 24, 2008 -> 02:00 PM) Certainly KW can't be so dumb as to take on Jose Guillen. I can imagine Dayton Moore asking teams about Guillen. I am sure fellow GMs laugh over the phone uncontrollably. I stand by my statement it would be the worst trade in Sox history to have Dye in a trade for that bum. Dye is total class; Guillen a total ass. You should write a poem about how much Jose Guillen sucks.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 24, 2008 -> 12:30 PM) For what you are going to get from you backup SS, which something like 20 starts, plus some more games off of the bench, why is that worth $5,000,000, plus the players we would have to give up to get him? Add to that the holes we already have at places like the leadoff spot and no back up catcher, and I don't think it is money really well spent. You wouldn't spend $5 million to back up Carlos Quentin would you? While an extreme example, it is the same line of thinking. I agree with this. If Oakland ate some of his contract and basically sent him over for very little - like a RP prospect such as Russell who has ability but needs work, will have to battle several others for a bullpen spot, and isn't a giant loss to the team if we lose him - then that deal makes sense for the Sox. But, why would Oakland do that? They're looking for a SS anyway and could use the extra depth until they find one, plus if they do find one, why wouldn't they just use Crosby as a back-up? I'm always of the mentality that, if you can, spend little on the Major League bench and get defense-first players who won't hurt you in the field should somebody go down. Then take the extra money you budgeted for the bench and sink it into the farm, especially through international free agency. Almost none of the guys signed out of Latin America require Major League contracts, only very few of them do and we've got a couple, and if you can spend an extra $5-6 million on another 8-10 players to add to your farm, why not do that? It gives you added depth and better leverage as far as making a trade for a Major League player. If you end up with a logjam at the lower levels because of it, great, that's awesome.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Nov 23, 2008 -> 10:32 PM) With all due respect, that would be the worst trade in Sox history and assure us flip flopping KC in the standings. Dye is one class act! Guillen is one of the most selfish pricks in baseball history. The troubles he had this past year in KC were mind boggling and legendary. He is somebody you do not want on your team, period. He also had slumps as bad as Paulie. Guillen is a disaster. No Sox fan in their right mind would root for that bum. Richard seems to be a good prospect. Dye remains productive. While DeJesus is pretty good, he is no Beltran. He can't steal a base or won't and can't learn at this part of his career. I like him personally and he's the opposite of Guillen personality wise. He'd be OK to have I guess. I predict Ozzie will beat up Jose Guillen before the season is over if we get him. He'll physically kick his ass which is what Hillman shoulda done. Ozzie, Kenny, and even Big Jim Thome would beat his ass. Trey Hillman should have b****slapped him. If he didn't want to play in KC he never should've signed the contract, and if he wanted to have more teams interested in him, he never should've taken steriods. The guy is a schlongburger, and that is a new name I just made up specifically for Jose Guillen.

QUOTE (CWSOX45 @ Nov 24, 2008 -> 09:19 AM) If KW brought in Jose Guillen, I would be furious at the organization. Jose Guillen is a grade A piece of s***. I've heard from multiple scouts that he is just a horrible teammate, he's a clubhouse cancer, and is probably one of the most disliked players of all time. There's a reason he's jumped around to so many teams. He's a cancer, he has a reputation of a cancer, and if he is brought to the Southside of Chicago, he will remain a cancer. I hated that guy ever since I was at a Brewers game in '05. The guy got picked off 1B for being a lazy assclown, so then he got up, looked around, stood there and moped, then sauntered off the field, walking almost right over the mound, right down the middle of the field, like he's just enjoying the f***ing scenery, and he held up the game a good two minutes as a result. Real baseball players do not assclown themselves at 1B, and if they do get lazy briefly and end up getting caught as a result, they are usually too embarrassed to stand around and mope about it. They run their asses back into the dugout and metally prepare for a conversation with the manager. If you're Jose Guillen though, and you don't respect your opponents, or your teammates, or your manager, or your coaching staff, or your entire organization, or the fans, or eve the game itself, then you act like he did. The guy is a tool, and up until that point I'd actually ignored all the problems with Scoscia and figured maybe he got a bad wrap. That night I immediately knew that if he's going to behave like that in front of Frank Robinson he'll do it in front of anyone. Caulfied, just because you knew the guy as a minorleaguer X amount of years ago doesn't mean he's not an asshole today.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Nov 24, 2008 -> 09:57 AM) I think Fernando Perez could be a target. He would be a switch hitting version of Carlos Gomez in Minny. Rates as the Rays best baserunner and top defensive outfielder. Not sure that he would make enough contact initially to be a table setter but could be in a year or two. He put up a .781 OPS in 60 ML at bats this season and a .754 OPS at AAA. Like Gomez, K's way too much but could be a nice addition to this lineup, especially since our pitchers are proned to relying on their defense to make plays. Jackson has too little control and has had a tendency to leave his pitches up and get them crushed, he would give up a lot more HR's in the Cell. I think someone like Hellickson would make more sense given the direction the team seems to be headed, less power pitchers and more guys that can get outs through putting the ball in play. I think Perez, Hellickson, and Iwamura for Dye and Anderson would be the ideal deal. Iwamura is a FA after 09 so he gives Beckham a year to adjust to professional baseball, Hellickson could start in AAA and would not need a spot on the 40 man roster, and Perez could provide the speed and defense that Ozzie loves. The team also clears about $9MM off the books over the next two seasons that can be combined with other savings to add a veteran SP or corner outfielder to replace Dye. I'm not even a Carlos Gomez fan (how could any Sox fan be?) but he was three times the prospect that Perez is. Gomez as a 22-year-old in the Majors with more PA's struck out less than Perez did as a 25-year-old in Triple A - and Gomez struck out a LOT. You can pretty much be quiet about OPS when you're talking about either of these guys since neither are power or OBP players - it's like if you had a stat that measured speed, SB success, defense in CF, and grinderness and then you used that stat to compare Konerko to Thome. OPS does not work for these guys. Look at K rate, walk rate, how much contact, HBP (do they have a habit of getting hit? if so, good), speed, etc. because those are the tools that will translate against MLB pitching. There is no way you can expect Fernando Perez's .375 career minor league OBP or his .348 Triple A OBP to hold up against MLB pitching with a K-rate that ugly. It's like, would you want a speedy Josh Fields with no power in the OF? Willy Taveras, who is seemingly always s*** on on this board, is a much better baseball player than Fernando Perez. God, I don't know why anyone likes that guy. He sucks. And you know Ozzie would play him every single day in spite of that.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 24, 2008 -> 12:30 PM) Why block your best prospect and two good younger guys with a player you dont need? And then we just "spin" him off? Thats not a very good management strategy. Secondly, you feel good with Marquez/Richard/Poreda but you arent sold on Edwin Jackson? That makes zero sense. Jackson has improve his ERA, WHIP and BAA each season he has pitched in the majors. He is only 25 years old. I would put money on him to outperform all of those guys you just listed next season. Great post. Agree with everything here 100%. A deal of Dye for Jackson + prospect is the most realistic deal with Tampa, it just depends on who that prospect would be if a deal went down. Obviously Sox fans would want Davis, McGee, Jennings, etc. but a Niemann, Perez, Aybar type deal might be more likely. Who knows if this is even being discussed though?

Here are some others who will be eligible for the Rule-5 draft if they have not been added: From the Cubs: James Adduci, OF Alberto Alburquerque, RHP Mitch Atkins, RHP Matt Avery, RHP Justin Berg, RHP Todd Blackford, RHP Edward Campusano, LHP Russ Canzler, 1B Yusuf Carter, OF Corey Coles, OF Jeff Culpepper, OF Rafael Dolis, RHP Darin Downs, LHP Jesse Estrada, RHP Ryan Harvey, OF Jim Henderson, RHP Mark Holliman, RHP Grant Johnson, RHP Marcos Mateo, RHP J. R. Mathes, LHP Casey McGehee, 3B-C Mario Mercedes, C Jonathan Mota, INF Jake Muyco, RHP Mike Phelps, RHP Jose Pina, RHP Mark Reed, C Kyle Reynolds, 3B Tony Richie, C Chris Robinson, C Jayson Ruhlman, LHP Chris Shaver, LHP Joe Simokaitis, SS Alvaro Sosa, C Nate Spears, 2B Donald Veal, LHP From the Red Sox: Bubba Bell, Robert Coello, Jeff Corsaletti, Sean Danielson, Andrew Dobies, Felix Doubront, Zak Farkes, Roberto Feliz, Kyle Fernandes, Javier Garcia, Matt Goodson, Joseph Guerra, Tommy Hottovy, Mike James, Jay Johnson, Chris Jones, Hunter Jones, TJ Large, Will Latimer, Blake Maxwell, Craig Molldrem, Jeff Natale, John Otness, Bryan Pritz, Jose Vaquedano, Mark Wagner, Yahmed Yema, and Armando Zerpa From the Rays: Eduardo Morlan, Ryan Royster, Chris Nowak, Matt Spring, Wood Fines, Wade Townsend, Chris Mason, Mike Wlodarczyk From the Indians: PITCHERS: Arias, Carlos Dixon, Kevin Edell, Ryan Finocchi, Michael Harris, Jeff Herrmann, Frank Jimenez, Jose Lofgren, Chuck Martinez, Anillins Mendez, Sandy Montero, Joanniel Ness, Joe Newsom, Randy Nottingham, Shawn Roehl, Scott Smith, Carlton Wagner, Neil CATCHERS: Camacaro, Armando Castillo, Alex Espino, Damaso Martinez, Richard INFIELDERS: Arnal, Cristo Brown, Jordan Cannizaro, Andy Head, Jerad Head, Stephen Pinckney, Brandon Velasquez, Isaias OUTFIELDERS: Constanza, Jose Cumberbatch, Cirilo Denham, Jason Goleski, Ryan Montero, Lucas Valdes, Juan Here are a couple more links that provide a little bit of info: Baseball America: Explaining the Rule-5 Draft and a little info on some guys who may be available, from a Pirates blog. I think clubs still own the rights to the players they don't protect prior to the Rule-5 so they can be traded, although I'm not sure of that. Besides, there are always deals to made within the draft itself since players often slip through easily because in order to keep a player you have to leave him on the 25-man roster all season. So, only the guys that are ready get picked up by contenders and the garbage teams generally take the guys who still need to develop quite a bit. BTW, this was all off a quick google search so the lists are obviously not complete and there were only a few teams that popped up. I searched for the Angels but didn't find anything on them. They would be a team to watch, same with the Rangers, Dodgers, D'Backs, etc., although the Rangers were able to add a few players since they've got a bunch of garbage on their Major League roster.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Nov 23, 2008 -> 01:40 PM) Keep in mind that the Rangers traded a CF prospect for another Cf prospect. They’re in the exact same situation that they were in before only with a different player involved. That being said, if they want to clear up their OF logjam I’m sure KW’d be more than willing to explore the possibility. Mayberry was more of a corner OF prospect. Golson is a true CF prospect, so really they added there. There was no room for Mayberry anyway with Hamilton in the fold and Nelson Cruz getting an everyday shot.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Nov 23, 2008 -> 02:17 PM) Yikes, from Wikipedia to Baseball America this guy dropped 10 MPH on his fastball The Wikipedia section was old, from when he was with the Twins. Besides, he wasn't regulary working in the 100mph range, it's just that he could hit it. With the Twins he was up there at 96-98. With the Rays it sounds like he lost a couple ticks but still was in the low-to-mid 90's. Edit: keep in mind that gun accuracies vary and that the guys who write this stuff don't watch these players all the time, so it's possible the 100mph readings could have been wrong or abnormal just as the 89mph ratings could have been wrong or abnormal. Still, he sounds like a guy with a hard fastball and some pretty good breaking stuff.

QUOTE (knightni @ Nov 23, 2008 -> 01:30 PM) We need a leadoff hitter. Who would you suggest? Iwamura isn't a prototypical lead-off hitter anyway. As far as who I would suggest, I'd suggest making Chris Getz a lead-off hitter before I'd trade 30+ home runs in Dye for a guy that is going to just block Beckham. If we don't end up with a prototypical lead-off guy this year then oh well. We don't necessarily need one, although it would be great to have one. More than anything we need better contact and smarter hitters. We need guys who will actually look to hit to the opposite field every once in a while. But somehow while doing that, we've got to continue to develop a new core. So, I guess I'd recommend a stop-gap option like Mark Kotsay or Willy Taveras in CF, since that is one area we cannot fill with Major League ready prospects.

The Rays didn't add him to the roster, therefore they are exposing him to the Rule-5 draft. He should be gone very quickly, so we should trade for him if possible before it gets to that point. He is a highly-rated closing prospect acquired from the Twins in the Garza-Young deal and played in the Future's Game last year. Best of all, he was born in Havana, Cuba. Yes, another Cuban for the roster. His stats From Wikipedia: From Baseball America at the Future's Game: When righthander Eduardo Morlan was with the Twins, he topped out at 97 mph, and was able to sit at 92-93 mph comfortably. Today, Morlan was throwing his fastball at 88-90, topping out at 91 mph. Morlan, who came over to the Rays in the deal that also sent Matt Garza to Tampa Bay and brought Delmon Young to Minnesota, got Athletics second baseman Cliff Pennington to pop out to shortstop Elvis Andrus just in foul territory on the third base line before Brewers third baseman Mat Gamel drew his second walk of the game. Another site said he's been working comfortably in the 91-93 range. Given his drastic improvement in BB rate, is it possible he has been learning to become a pitcher more than a thrower? Either way, there's room for this guy on our roster with Lance Broadway and Jerry Owens on there.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 23, 2008 -> 09:49 AM) This is all fine and good, but it's very rare that starting position players are traded within the division...it happens, but I can't imagine that KC would give up the player that the fans identify with the most of all the Royals and send him to Chicago. DeJesus is a nice player but he's still no longterm answer for anyone IMO. If he were you wouldn't always hear about KC making him available. He's a good, smart hitter but he's not a CF and doesn't put up the power numbers to play a corner spot, nor does he have the arm, and he doesn't have great speed either. He'd help us in 2009, but for his cost I'd be against it. What we NEED to do, and I keep saying this, is go after Julio Borbon of Texas. They are the team we should be dealing with. They just picked up yet another CF prospect in Greg Golson so now they've got two CF ready to battle for a spot in the Majors now, even if Golson needs a lot of work, and they've got assloads of CF talent down on the farm. We have so much that Texas could be interested in that it's not even funny. David Murphy sucks and they don't have a DH, yet we have Dye who would kill the ball there. They need a closer, we've got Jenks. They want veteran SP workhorses who strike people out, we've got Javy. They have the ability to move one of Davis/Blalock to DH, we've got Fields. Even Brian Anderson, if he's not in our plans, could be a great fit in Texas. If David Murphy can hit there then so can Anderson, all the while playing spectacular defense. They've got oodles and oodles and noodles of pitching too. But more than anything else, I want Julio Borbon. I'd rather have him than Fernando Martinez or any other prospect the Mets can offer. Normally a team wouldn't deal a guy like him, but he's not even their best prospect, at least by rankings anyway, and they've got a serious glut of CF. The kid might even be ready to start in the Majors in 2009. He's got everything we want, defense, speed, contact, very low K totals, and is young (23 next year). Pick this kid up already. Send Jenks and Javy and whatever else, but get him and some pitching prospects.

QUOTE (knightni @ Nov 23, 2008 -> 09:53 AM) Iwamura and Niemann, then. So we trade our second-best hitter to block our best prospect and pick up a project who would most likely end up battling for the last spot in the bullpen? If we trade Dye we need to get back pitching that can help us right now. Jackson + Niemann for Dye would work for me. Iwamura is a waste.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Nov 22, 2008 -> 02:29 PM) It makes sense for Tampa to trade for a guy like JD. He is on the cheaper end of the power hitters available and they need more power in their lineup. We need more speed and another SP. Who could they possibly give up? - Jackson or Sonnestine: These are the 2 names TB will be willing to deal at the right price this offseason. To me Jackson has more upside and has nastier stuff. -Carl Crawford- With the emergence of speedy guys like Iwamura and Upton- Crawford may be available. I think it would take more than Dye however. That is why I mentioned a possible Jenks-Dye for Crawford-Jackson possibility... Its far fetched but makes sense for both teams. Sonnenstine put up better numbers but I don't think I could stomach watching that guy pitch. Watching him reminded me so much of Ryan Bukvich in 2007 with the way he kept hanging breaking balls up in the zone and somehow getting away with it. Jackson OTOH, if he continues to improve ever so slightly like he has been, is still a #4 or #5 in the big leagues. If he figures it out and adds to his repertoire he's a potential ace.