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Cubs GM Jim Hendry already has said he doesn’t plan to go long-term with an outfielder and block the path of Felix Pie, but a trade could be his best bet. Tampa Bay’s Rocco Baldelli, being pursued by the White Sox, Atlanta and Baltimore, is one of Lou Piniella’s favorite players. Piniella gave Baldelli his chance when he managed the Devil Rays, and though Baldelli has battled knee and elbow surgeries the last two seasons, he hit .302 with 16 home runs in 92 games after returning in 2006. He is owed only $750,000 in ’07 and is signed through ’09, with two option years after that. Atlanta already has been turned down by Tampa Bay despite offering three top prospects, including shortstop Yunel Escobar and catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and the Cubs would be hard-pressed to come up with a better package. Other center fielders who could become available are Milwaukee’s Brady Clark and Philadelphia’s Aaron Rowand.
I guess if that offer wasnt good enough, its time to move on and forget about it!
Yeesh, the Devil Rays’ management really is looking pie in the sky.
I keep hearing for us to trade Tim Hudson, especially on that other blog (talking chop) and I don’t see who in the hell we could get to replace him. If Hudson comes back strong, then were ok, but with Smoltz (40 yrs. old) Hampton (elbow) and James we’d be severly limited in the rotation.
How about trading Renteria and letting TP Jr. or Yunel take over at shortstop…….Renteria & Vulture to Houston for Everett and Wheeler….or Everett and prospect…..moving Renteria would allow us to go harder after Andruw (if we desire) after next season when Renteria’s (6 mill) and Giles (6 mill, if kept by dealing Edgar) come off the books………..
Also, I know his stats pretty much suck this year (in a year when Jason Marquis gets a 3 yr. deal with a 6.02 ERA, suck is sorta out there) but Tony Armas Jr. has always intrigued the Braves. He had pretty good starts against Atlanta and had a strong first half but failed/got bombed in the second half of the season.
Intrest so far has been tepid to say the least and he has health issues, but if we were to trade Cormier/Vulture or just one of them could we use Armas as a 5th guy? He seems like the only free agent pitcher (not named Clemens) that could pitch league avg. innings or close to it. Do I want him? No, but in case we make another trade we need more depth and he could/would supply that (if Davies is traded).
Wow, the D-Rays are something else. They make Peter Angelos look intelligent. I guess they are saving Baldelli for that World Series team they are building. I agree–JS should go no further in trying to get Baldelli. Let the D-Rays keep finishing last.
I like Armas and he could be a good addition, but we have no money to think about signing someone else right now. We cant even afford to resign Thomson or Reitsma for less. Reits would make an interesting 5th starter…
I’ve seen the trading Hudson idea and while it would clear room to keep Giles, it would create a huge hole in the rotation. We currently have 5 guys and need to add to the rotation. Maybe we could trade Hudson and get pitching back, but what team is going to trade for him and give us a lights out young arm in return? A rotation of Smoltz, Hampton, James, Davies, and Cormier smells like fire sale at trade deadline. We’d be better off letting Giles walk than to trade Hudson in order to keep Giles another year.
Agreed JoshQ, Giles is less valuable to the Braves this season than Hudson is right now.
Reits in the rotation is something that could work. I believe Mac has made mention that Reits has the pitches to go out and be a competitive starter and might actually excel in this role. I’d say he would be a safer bet to start (or worth the risk) than Armas Jr. even.
I think we should try and move Giles. Then try to resign Thomson and Reitsma. We could probably get them both for under $6 mil or close to it. We could start out with Thomson as our 5th starter, if it doesnt work we’ll have Cormier, Davies, Reitsma, and Villareal to have as a possible fill in there
Isn’t there a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) rule that a player can’t sign back with a team (free agent) for less than 80% of his last contract with them? I really thought so. That would knock Thomson and Reitsma out of consideration.
Actually if 80% is the real number, then it’ll be exactly $6 mil for both.
Thomson 4.75 last year – 3.8 this year
Reitsma 2.75 last year – 2.2 this year
that’s if thell come back for that money also
There is something like that in the CBA. I don’t pretend to know the details, but I think a club is prohibited from offering to renew a contract at a salary less than 80% of the prior year salary or less than 70% the salary two years prior.
That, by the way, is why the Giants would end up resigning Bonds at $16M, if they resigned him at all.
I think you can nontender then bring them back as a free agent, though.
I’m starting to think we should hold onto Hudson. With the ridiculous contracts crap pitchers like Gil Meche and Ted Lilly are getting, Huddy’s contract is almost a bargain. As inconsistent as he was last year, he was better than the emergency starters we tried who would be in line to take his spot in the rotation. Unless they are planning on making a run at Zito, trading Hudson will just make the team worse right now. There are too many questions about Davies and Hampton to trade Hudson and have somebody like Cormier or Villareal in the rotation.
Agreed Ron….
For ’07, I’m hoping Chuck James is gonna be the pitcher we thought Hudson would be. If Hudson is a “No. 3,” here’s hoping he picks it up.
Given ATL’s financial constraints and relative lack of trade leverage (by that, I mean giving up something we can genuinely afford to lose), I don’t see how we deal Hudson & insert anybody better. I think we grin & bear it with Huddy.
I think this is the rotation we’ve got and it’s not going to get any better. There’s no pitching out there that we can afford that’s better than what is already here. Just have to hope that Hudson and Hampton can come back and contribute. We might end up missing Horam’s innings in the end.
Horam would have only given us about 15-18 starts next year, I dont think we’ll miss him at all. We still have to get someone to be our 5th starter and if we can get Reitsma, Thomson, or Armas then that is an upgrade to Davies at this point. Villareal may need to earn his victories as a starter, he’s probably our #5 right now
HoRam’s innings = Hampton’s work this year
I’d go with Hampton’s work this year 99 out of 100 times….
HoRam will NOT BE MISSED.
Not going to worry about HoRam one way or the other—he was never going to be Steve Carlton for us. This is a trade that addresses a glaring need. If HoRam wins a ton of games for Seattle, good for him & the M’s. I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.
Hudson stays because he is the best starting pitcher we can get on the market. We are not going to get Peavy (as much as I would love it) or any young stud because of the cost to pry one away from another team. I don’t believe that Hudson is a dud. He stunk up the joint last year, but I fully expect him to be a solid contributor next year at worst and a #2 at best. We are not going to replace his value with John Thomson or Armas Junior. On their best day they can’t touch Hudson. Although one of them is a viable 5th starter. Also, Hudson’s value is at an all time low and the only place it can go is up. So, if we ever move Hudson it will be later not sooner.
I’m really wondering if we will make any other moves. Once the Giles situation is taken care of, I wouldn’t be surprised if we are done. I hope we keep LaRoche. We don’t need a protypical lead off guy to have a fantastic offense. I’m interested in the fact that the organization seems to have soured on Aybar. He was considered the table setter of the future when we traded for him. What happened to him?
JoshQ, I think they realized they made a crappy trade w/ Betemit and they didnt want to come out and say it. I still have hopes for Aybar, but Betemit had more value for us right now. I also think the only way we can get some better arms is to try and move Druw, but I dont think he or Boras will allow that to happen….Hudson stays, LaRoche stays, Giles goes, and we sign a 5th starter….
No, there is not. The 80% figure applies to arbitration-eligible players with less than six years service time. There are no such restrictions whatsoever for free agents.
Completely agree csg. Considering the current circumstances, I think that is the best we are going to do without trading prospects. I would like to see us sign Thomson to compete with Davies as the 5th guy and the loser can go in the bullpen or Davies could go to AAA. A rotation of Smoltz, Hudson, Hampton, James, Thomson is good enough to win. Especially with a much improved bullpen.
For any wanna be GM’s…this is fun. It’s called the Trade Machine, you make the trades and see if they will work based on the NBA’s trade rules.
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/trademachine
Josh,
Sure we could do okay with that rotation, but what if someone goes down?
OK, so you think Gary Matthews, Jr., is stealing money? Try converting it to NBA currency…
Portland’s Raef LaFrentz. Entering his 9th NBA season (two of which he missed more than 50 games), his career numbers stand at 11.1 ppg & 6.6 rpg.
His ’06-’07 salary: $11,532,037.
That’s what Lance Cormier and Jason Shiell’s wife’s husband are for, Smitty. And large quantities of alcohol.
In that situation we would have Davies, Cormier, and Villareal as spot starters. You can’t ask for a lot more than that in a spot starter. Most teams in the majors don’t have a ton to fall back on if a big injury happens.
Jason Shiell’s wife’s husband? But that would mean… oh, God, a rotation with Jason Shiell!
Josh,
i’m not sure that the club has soured on Aybar as much as they see him is the only viable insurance for chipper. Not to mention the glutton of mediocre talent at 2nd.
As far as the rotation is concerned, you have to almost count on one of the guys going down for half of the season. i willing to roll the dice with what we’ve got.
from MLB rumors….
Pirates To Sign Kuwata; LaRoche Deal Not Dead
John Perrotto of the Beaver County Allegheny Times reports that the Pirates are close to signing Japanese pitcher Masumi Kuwata. Kuwata could join the starting rotation. It was previously thought that the Red Sox would snag him on a minor league deal.
He also reports that potential for a multi-player deal between the Bucs and Braves still exists, with Mike Gonzalez, Humberto Cota, Jose Castillo, Nate McLouth, Kyle Davies, and Adam LaRoche involved.
The Nats are getting demanding for Ryan Church, causing the Pirates to back off.
I don’t understand why we want a twelfth mediocre second baseman.
From my barber:
A Rickey Henderson clone that is 28 years old to the Braves for Jason Sheill
From Rickey Henderson:
Rickey will start for the Atlanta Braves in 2007 at all nine positions. He will also break Barry Bonds’ career home run record in 2020.
Hey if we want a base stealer at the lead off spot, then we could call ricky…HMM!!!
Nate Mcwho…Now that is exactly what we need to get over the hump!
Today’s baseball equation:
(Nate McLouth) = (Ryan Langerhans) – (BB) – (HR) + (SB) + (Ankle Injury)
Pass.
@33
Yeah, I read that earlier. I don’t doubt that the deal may not be dead, but I do doubt the pieces because we don’t need another catcher (cota) or another outfielder (McLouth). If that deal happens, It will line up differently, unless ofcourse JS was going to send some of those guys somewhere else in a different deal.
I hope Schuerholz has told the Devil Rays to take a long walk off a short pier. I wouldn’t give James straight up for Baldelli, much less James and Saltalamacchia and Escobar. That sounds like a Carl Crawford package, not a Baldelli package.
The fact the Devil Rays turned us down shows you why they are pretty much always at the bottom of the entire AL.
Bonus equation:
(Humberto Cota) = (Henry Blanco) – (5 years)
Apparently, the Pirates want to rescue the deal by adding their trash.
Even if that Pirates deal happened, we would still be losing a pitcher. I know Davies sucked last year, but He still has a wealth of potential at a very young age. I would be hard pressed to trade him unless I knew I could get another REAL starter someway. (That would exclude Vulture or Cormier)
That would potentially be the worst trade JS ever made, which is why it won’t happen. Not for that price.
Castillo, meanwhile, is merely pointless. I guess if you’re the Pirates, he starts to look pretty good, but we’re talking a 25-year-old infielder with no speed, no power, no plate discipline, an average glove, and a career .258 batting average. Why would we want another second baseman? Aybar is twice the player.
The Rangers signed Kenny Lofton to a 1-year deal…
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061211&content_id=1759358&vkey=hotstove2006&fext=.jsp
Mac, time for your Bama coaching odds…
10:1 Joe Kines
1:10 Someone else
I have no fracking idea.
You and everyone else….You think Moore learned something by letting this last one get out in the media. We wont know until there is a press conference….
Mac, thanks for the algebra. I never knew learning could be such fun.
Note to all…be very, very wary of anything on mlb rumors site. That trade comes across as an NBA type trade where the Pirates GM has to even out the salaries so he throws in the contract of some 40 year old dude at the end of the bench with planter warts. Lets move on from the Pirates and the Devil Rays. I don’t see the point of beating that dead horse. LaRoche does not need to be traded for any relief help at this point. We’ve already taken the Pirates GM to the prom and left with her best friend.
I never get in on all the SEC hoopla ion this site, but what the heck.
Alabama shot themselves in the foot when they said they wanted a coach with a championship pedigree. What they are going to have to do is find the next Steve Spurrier, not the current one. In the current landscape, the Alabama job just is not what it used to be. The Louisville and West Virginia coaches pretty much said that they can stay right where they are, compete for BCS and National Titles, not have to deal with the scrutiny of living up to a legend, and get paid handsomely.
Hey, Henry Blanco is worth $5M over two years, so Humberto Cota is surely worth Chuck James.
What are the odds for Larry Coker in Alabama?
Would you trade LaRoche and Davies for Capps, Maholm or Snell, and Duffy…
Pedro = 0% for Coker
csg: No, but that is moving in the right direction, at least.
man i can’t wait to see Brian Jordan starting at 1st!
Don’t count out the Appy State coach at Bama
Braves face Tuesday deadline
David O’Brien
While the rumor-an-hour mill continues grinding, the Braves face a very real decision Tuesday that’s probably already been made and may well offend a significant segment of their fan base.
Marcus Giles fans, of which there are plenty, have a difficult time understanding why the Braves might actually non-tender the plucky second baseman. Tuesday is the deadline for teams to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players or make them free agents eligible to sign with any team.
If they non-tender Giles, a 2003 All-Star whose production has since slipped steadily, the Braves will get nothing in the way of compensation from any team that signs him. And folks, barring a late trade, it does appear the Braves are going to non-tender him.
http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/braves/entries/2006/12/11/braves_face_tue.html
I refuse to believe that non-tendering Giles is a better option than calling up the Red Sox, whose middle infield is set to be manned by Dustin Pedroia and Alex Cora, and saying, “We’ll give you Giles now, give us Abe Alvarez or Barry Hertzler and you’ve got a deal.”
Giles will be more expensive as a free agent than he will be in arbitration, and even then, there is no guarantee for any team hopeful of signing him that they will be able to outbid other interested teams. Don’t non-tender!
thought this was interesting….
First, he told me the Devil Rays would do the Rocco Baldelli-to-Braves deal in a heartbeat for shortstop Yunel Escobar and a certain starting pitcher. But that pitcher ain’t Kyle Davies. It’s Chuck James. They’re drooling over him.
“But I don’t see the Braves giving up James, and don’t think they should, for what it’s worth (again, Braves haven’t asked my opinion on this matter, but I’m ready by the phone should they call).
The D-Rays love James’ major league track record – it’s less than one season, but impressive – and believe Davies’ health is too much a question mark. But they do like Escobar a lot and would like him to be their future shortstop.”
Well, I wouldnt do that either. If Salty/Escobar or Davies/Escobar isnt good enough then move on. Anyone think we can nontender Giles and sign him for less or is he off to the Padres free of charge?
Chuck James for Baldelli??? Are they crazy?
If they want James they would have to give Crawford and a player-to-be-named-later.
Don’t trade Salty!!!!!!