Post by Erbes on Jul 8, 2014 13:22:49 GMT -5
Movers and Shakers!
We're a month and a couple weeks into the season at this point - enough time to figure out who is truly competing and who is pretending. But what about those teams who need to make a move to win? I'll try to dive into some of the more obvious (at least to me) moves that should be happening soon for teams who are pretending to turn it around and start winning.
Rockies trade for Manny Suazo
We'll start with a homer trade. I'm not sure why Shale refuses to trade for more pitching at this point. He has a couple nice spects and picks that he could move for upgrades. Suazo has been pretty dang good since coming over from the Sox last season. Before coming to New York he was pitching to the tune of a 4.33 ERA, with a 3.28 after the trade (h/t to CATO and Steve!). While Yankee Stadium is no Coors Field it's still a hitter's park and for Suazo put up those numbers here I think it proves he could pitch in Denver. Plus, Suazo has that coveted brilliant homer rating that Shale lovesssss.
Price: I asked for Slade Heathcott and Curtis Fazio. I understand Suazo's contract isn't super friendly, but I'd be willing to take back some dead, expiring salary.
White Sox trade for Rich Harden
This will be the first of two Mariners trades I propose. Listen, on paper the Mariners are a force to be reckoned with, but they've gotten off to a slow start and are starting to show signs of old age. With a payroll of $137M Nanz has pretty much created a disaster with multiple eight figure, multi-year contracts on the books. Not to mention the fact that he's probably going to hand out two more this offseason with Papelbon and Votto needing extensions. You can't have a payroll over $160M and expect to A. win (no depth), and B. not go into financial probation. So it looks like he needs to make a decision between Papelbon and Harden. I chose Paps since he's a playoff stud. Not many teams have the room for Harden's $16M x 4 yr deal, but I think the White Sox do. Crazy Mike needs some serious pitching help and Harden would slide in nicely as the staff ace. Salary would be tight this year, but Mike has some contracts coming off the books this offseason that will help. Besides, the White Sox are actually in a position to make the playoffs this year. Why not go for it?
Price: This is tough. The league has shown that trading for pricey veterans is like trading on the cheap. But with Harden only being 27 I'd venture a price of something like Roark, a 1st, and smaller piece. Future 1st probably as insurance.
Reds trade for Carlos Lee
Stutter won the NL Central last year! And then promptly traded, arguably, his best offensive player. Lol I didn't get it. Not sure anyone got it. Now it's time to atone for those mistakes! At 32, Carlos Lee is still a stud. Definitely worth every penny of that $20M salary. On the flip side he's 32 and being paid $20M. If Seattle were to trade Lee and Harden that would get their payroll down to a more manageable $100M and would give them the space to resign Paps, Votto, and Foulke. Trading for Lee would be a huge gamble for the Reds, but it's a gamble that could see them return to the playoffs again this year. He would immediately step in and be the Reds' best offensive player. Re-signing him might not be cheap and Stutter would have to be proactive in trading for game cash, but it's these kind of risks that get teams to the playoffs and help them win championships.
Price: Lee is older, more expensive, and expiring, unlike Harden. Even with all those things working against him this still isn't a salary dump. Stutter would have to give up Tewksbury and a couple firsts in my opinion. Does Stutter have the balls to do this?
Reds promote Steve Cishek
What is Stutter doing with Cishek in the minors still? I'm sure he's pointing to the 3's in his homer rating, but if Stutter has been paying attention at all he would have picked up that brilliants develop quicker in the bigs than in the minors - especially when your guy is already a 7 in AR. Cishek doesn't need to close, but he would be such a massive upgrade over Bobby Jenks, who for whatever reason is Stutter's #1 reliever. Make the easy choice here!
Price: Not having Bobby Jenks pitch high intensity innings.
Angels trade for Johan Santana
Ohhhh mama! The big kahuna. Greg has been toiling in mediocrity and suckness for quite some time now. With a little help from Father Time he's now closer to a division title than he has in his entire tenure here at BBSBL. Time to go for the jugular. Johan is the best pitcher in the history of BBSBL - and he's only 30! 300 wins is a lock. Is 400 wins out of the question? Maybe, but it's not ridiculous. It seems like Play has never been more willing to deal his marquee ace. He's stated numerous times that he doesn't want just picks back, so what does Greg have to offer?
Price: Any conversation would have to start with Salinas or Detwiler. If Play is in a particularly dickish mood he'll probably ask for both. Toss in Roten for sure. Sooo final package probably looks like Salinas, Roten, and a couple of firsts. Seems light. Detwiler probably has to be included. That's the price for winning these days.
Texas trades Hiroki Kuroda, BJ Ryan, and Mike Gonzalez
Dan has been in financial probation purgatory for what seems like an eternity. It's time to cut bait with all of his high priced players and start from scratch. That means shipping out guys like Kuroda, Ryan, and Gonzalez. All three are actually producing pretty well this year, but they're not doing anything for Dan. It's tough to find spots for high priced dudes since it seems like everyone who is already winning has payrolls over $100M. Teams like Chicago (A), Anaheim, Los Angeles, and Cincinnati might all make sense for any of these three.
Price: Cheap. Late round picks. Not a lot of leverage, but they are performing well. I could see nice returns for Ryan and Gonzalez.
Giants trade for Carlos Quentin
Seems too good of a fit to actually happen. I'm sure Broph and Spence have already chatted about this possible exchange. Quentin is a stud. I have this theory that good player perform worse on bad teams and I think that's what is happening to Carlos right now. Needless to say Quentin would be a huge upgrade over the struggling/ decaying Kotsay. With Florida being the top dog in the NL (the entire league) Spencer might need to make a splash here to give him a run. Pretty sure Carlos Quentin would qualify as a splash.
Price: 26, brilliant (and developed) in homers, cheap - all adds up to being an expensive splash. With Posey clearly untouchable, Spencer can start at Bud Norris and Marcus Stroman. With that not being all that close to getting something done he'll have to supplement with picks. Maybe two firsts (more likely three)? Not sure Broph would see the value in that, but it should definitely get conversations started.
Pirates promote Josh Collmenter and Greg Holland
I already know the argument against this idea and I can already hear Steve2 typing it - why do I need to promote these guys when I'm already in first and pulling away? Well to retort I would point to last year when it looked like you were going to pull away late only for the Reds to catch you AND why wouldn't you want to field your best team? If you call up Collmenter now you can go to a 5 man rotation, getting more rest for your other starters (leads to more quality innings in my opinion) and if you need a starter later in the year or playoffs at least Collmenter will have some experience under his belt. Not calling up Holland to replace Michael Kaler just seems dumb at this point. Nobody says you have to use him as a closer now. Just plug him in as a low leverage reliever and let him develop at the big league level.
Price: Getting fewer, more tired innings out of your starters and not letting Kaler continue to blow wins for you.
Diamondbacks trade for offense
Darell has put together a very good, young squad for this season and has finally found himself in the midst of a playoff race. His pitching has been awesome, but his offense is 11th in the league. They do hit some dingers, but their OBP and BA are just awful. Looking around the league players like Austin Kearns (TOR), Endy Chavez (BAL), Benedict Fugate (OAK), Nate McLouth (ATL), and Raphael Caballero (STL) could all make sense. A lot of those guys are on very cheap or expiring contracts which could work in Darell's favor. McLouth would be the biggest upgrade and is probably the go to target. He'd be much better than an Eric Byrnes and Jeff Francouer tag team. Being able to plug in .288/.373/.364/.737 at the top of your order would be a huge, huge upgrade.
Price: Not sure what HF is asking for McLouth. He's been on the market for awhile now so I have a feeling he's either asking for a lot or people are low balling hard. Lol wouldn't be surprised if it's the latter. Let's say Darell wants to go for it. A deal around Richard Berkey and two firsts seems like a good start. Might take a bit more. Storen?
So there's 9-10 moves I could see happening soon. I'm sure I'm way off on prices since I'm a horrible GM - oh well. It's always fun to fantasize. Have fun tearing me a new one!
