Whole Lotta Talk…
NASHVILLE — …and not a lot of action going on, as far as the Jays are concerned. Before I head out to find some dinner, here’s some stuff floating around and trying to stick.
Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi acknowledged that he had talked to the Giants, but it was nothing major. Toronto has interest in Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum, but SanFran is reluctant to deal them and Giants GM Brian Sabean is close to making the pair off limits.
Ricciardi said he had a couple meetings planned for Tuesday night, and the Jays have reportedly met with the agent for catcher Paul Lo Duca. It’s limited interest, though. As I’ve written plenty, Toronto doesn’t want to get wrapped up in a multiyear deal with a catcher with Robinzon Diaz and Curtis Thigpen rising fast.
Notice I put Diaz first there? Thigpen could be dangled as a trading chip, considering the Jays also have Brian Jeroloman and J.P. Arencibia as talented catching prospects climbing up the system. Ricciardi keeps singing the praises of Diaz and has said this offseason that the Jays are still trying to figure out how Thigpen fits best.
Ricciardi said he had "a couple hits" on Josh Towers, but he reiterated that he thinks Towers can help provide depth. I also don’t buy into the whole Jays being in on the Erik Bedard sweepstakes, either. They’d have to give up too much and the O’s will hesitate to deal him within the East.
As for losing out on Troy Percival, Ricciardi said it dealt more with adding depth to help with Casey Janssen’s potential move to the rotation than with any questions about B.J. Ryan’s pending return. Ricciardi said there’s no plans to go after any other relievers via free agency as of right now, but the Jays might add some bullpen help with a Rule 5 pick on Thursday.
Plenty of rumors about Alex Rios — some true, some not. That Cleveland rumor was completely false. The Giants probably brought him up, but Toronto is more interested in signing him to an extension than dealing him. Plenty of teams are going to ask about Rios — they should. That doesn’t mean the Jays are shopping him.
Ricciardi said teams have also inquired about Adam Lind. He also noted that, should Rios be moved (very unlikely), Lind would play in left and Reed Johnson and Matt Stairs would platoon in right field. Toronto can afford to offer its outfielders with the depth it has — like catching — and also because Travis Snider is rising fast, too.
That’s all for right now. There might be a few small tidbits I’m neglecting to mention, but I’m tired and I’m hungry. There will be more info on bluejays.com later tonight. How about that Tigers-Marlins trade? I didn’t see that coming.
Major League Bastian 
Well, that’s it for the Cabrera sweepstakes as Detroit swaps a team for Cabrerra and Willis. The looser in the deal is LA, who now would be a great target to deal Glaus for Figgins. This deal turns Detroit into a serious contender in the AL Central and wild card race.
I’m pleased JP is recognizing the potential and value of Robinson Diaz-I think the kid’s gonna rock, the moment he arrives. I also think the same of David Purcey.
It’s actually nice to see other teams start to recognize the value of our young pitchers,prospects such as Lind and Snider and budding superstar-Alex Rios.
Hey if they weren’t any good, we wouldn’t be getting the calls.
I’ve been thinking, if the jays can’t get anything done on the Bedard front the A’s maybe a possible trade partner. I mean the jays could consider a trade for Joe Blanton and it’s possible you could do it offering Litsch, and Jannsen, or Marcum and Litsch or someone else. I also think we could get figgins for Glaus angels are looking to upgrade at third. Hopefully they hold on to Rios.
I would like to look back on 2007 as be able to say that the most significant move the Jays made was to hire Gary Denbo. The team has struggled with situational hitting the last few years, partly due to youth and injuries, but I think coaching can help. Plate discipline is fine, but I think they watch too many first pitch fastballs go by without taking a hack.
As fo the future, I would love to see them hire more speed. As a mid-market team, we can’t afford to hire a lot of big boppers, but speed shows up every day, and wins ball games. Besides, watching a guy beat out a bunt to first, then steal 2nd is better than watching the ball sail over the fence any day. Maybe they will run more with Whitt at first.
Maybe they will run more with Whitt at first.
Whitt has nothing to do with when and how often we won. Just like Pavey had nothing to do with it last year.
It honestly wouldn’t hurt my feelings in the least if the Jays did nothing this off season. If a trade doesn’t involve a stud pitcher then it wouldn’t be worth it in my opinion. I do like the Glaus for Figgins deal but on paper we lose that deal, throw in Willet and I say sold. Our pitching staff in able as apparent of last years effort and hopefully our lineup will be healthy and better prepard with a fresh hitting coach.
Expendable players:
Lind, Thigpen, and anyone not named Snider or most pitchers in the minors. Not a lot of chips to play with.
bmburkey
I don’t think we should ever consider trading for Blanton, especially not for two young guys with mlb experience. I’m pretty sure Blanton has a career losing record and I think Marcum is going nowhere but up. He has impressed me over each of the last two seasons. By the way I have been a moderate suporter of Towers over the last few seasons, convinced he had a chance to turn things around and at least be a contributing 4th or 5th starter. However now is the time to cut him loose and if the padres want to give us something for him I say do it. Their ballpark and division at least give him a chance at success. I would accept anything for him at this point and we just really don’t need a 3 million dollar bench warmer!
Yeah, we cut Hinske loose because he was making 4 mil on the bench, so when you consider that we have better long relievers than Towers, why pay 3 mil for 8-10 appearances that likely won’t do the team any good?
I’m with christianl on this one. Joe Blanton doesn’t seem worth giving up Jannsen or Marcum. Blanton doesn’t have a losing record (42-34) and he does seem to be able to chew up innings, but I think Jannsen and Marcum have the potential to be as good or (hopefully) better than him.
Interesting that much of the Glaus trade talk seems to have fallen off the radar. Maybe his injuries and price tag have scared everyone off? I really didn’t anticipate Rios being potential trade bait. As much as I think he’s an incredible player, I’m thinking it might not be a bad idea to swing him for young pitching if the right deal comes along. With Burnett possibly leaving after 2008 and Marcum and McGowan possibly having a sophomore slump, more pitching definitely couldn’t hurt….
But with that said, wasn’t the big problem last year the offense? Without Rios in the lineup, the Jays would sure look slower and less dangerous….
Thanks for giving me my props Mr. Bastian!
Why would anyone ever consider trading Marcum for Joe Blanton? Joe Blanton isn’t in Marcum’s class at all. I’d consider trading Litsch for Blanton-but not include anyone else and not offer anything more, because that’s all he’s worth.
Blanton has a career era of 4.32. Marcum’s era for the year was 4.13 and that included a bad September-when he ran out of gas, and some relieve appearances at the start of the year where he got lit up. His real era as a starter was in the 3.5 range. His win/loss record was 12-6 and if he had received proper run support it would have been 18-6. Remember, in 6 games he threw shutout baseball for 6+ innings each time and never got a single win.
Forget about the sophomore jinx with our young pitchers. The only ones that are going to have a sophomore season are Litsch & wolfe-the others have been here before and entering their 3rd season.
I actually look for very special years from both Marcum and McGowan-proving they get good ddefense behind them and normal run support. These guys are ready.
mlbwife-or should I say Mrs. Bastian
You know, a way back when my mom used to always tell me, “make sure you find a wife that gives you strong support or you won’t be successful.”
Tell Jordan, he’s a real lucky man to have that support.
Good luck to both of you.
rmatty
I think i’d go a bit farther than just Snider for the players in the upper minors we don’t want to trade.
I’d go Purcey, Romero, Cecil, Snider and Lind.
This list will change dramatically mid year as a number of the draftees from last year start climbing the ladder. Overall, we have a number of kids that started in either the Gulf Coast Jays or Auburn that look real good and will be moved up, this spring to either Lansing and or Dunedin.
“Forget about the sophomore jinx with our young pitchers.”
I’ll give you one thing, gsumner, you’ve definitely got tons of faith in the Jays!
Hey why are there so many rumors about Rios to Sanfran for Matt Cain ???
Do you think this could be an effect of the Tigers trade ? If its true of course.
I really like Rios; but im wondering about the logic behind the idea.
If the intent to trade Rios is true, not if it is true that the Tigers made their huge trade yesterday.
The Rios for Cain (or maybe Lincecum) rumours seem like the real deal. A number of sources are saying the deal is on the table and now it’s in the hands of the Giants.
Pretty crazy. I thought Rios was untouchable and a lock for an extension.
hem
no, that’s not the case. I have a great concern about lack of speed, stolen bases, hitting with runners on, htting with runners in scoring position and overall poor offense.
I do have a better feel for the pitchers-because I was one of those guys-thats all. My major problem with the pitching staff is Abner’s inability to properly manage them. As a staff, I think we have one of the best in the AL-unfortunatly, we have an idiot managing them.
gsumner:
I’ll give it to you that the pitching looks better right now, but things can change quickly once the season starts. After all, last year everyone was saying the Jays’ pitching was a huge question mark and that their offense would be off the charts.
And, haha, we all know how that turned out!
the Jays just acquired 0F-IF Buck Coats from the Reds in exchange for a player to be named or cash considerations. I wonder if this is a significant move or not, because I know very little about him. He’s 25 years old, spent most of his career in the minors. According to his minor league stats, he can hit for average and steal bases.
Coats is just one of those useful guys to have around. He’s got some speed, can hit the ball, play a bunch of positions, and he’s a left-handed batter. He might make the bench this year or he’s another bit of insurance waiting in the minors in case of injury.
Or, like that outfielder the Jays picked up a couple of weeks ago, he might just get waived in a couple of days….
I just hope this is a prelude to something bigger…a splash! tho i doubt it..
gsummer
I noted that I wouldn’t be willing to trade the majority of our minor league pitching in most deals. Unless of course we get something substantial in return, someone of the potential and age of a Lincecum or Cain for example. I would be willing to deal most of our minor league position players though excluding Snider. Lind and Thigpen in my opinion are two guys that should be used in any potential deal if possible.
I wouldn’t deal Rios unless he is not willing to sign with us. We could always deal him next year as he would still be controllable and with probably higher value.
gsumner:
I always enjoy reading your opinions in this blog, because they are well researched and thought out. I would like to know more about why you think
Gibbons manages the pitching staff poorly. I think when you have a staff as young as ours, that ends up as good as they are, someone is doing something right. On the positive side, JG almost always puts the young guys in a situation where they can succeed, and he does as well as anybody to conserve his arms. If you are going to knock him over Burnett’s injury, all I can say is that everyone knows AJ is going to wake up one day and find his arm halfway to home plate. it’s the price we have to pay to watch him when he’s unhittable.
BTW, when we are talking about minor leagues, nobody is paying much attention to Ryan Houston, who is one of the better closers in the minors. I hope we get a look at him soon.
If they trade Rios then I am screwed like alot of guys who only have there wives come for that stud muffin. Besides we have lots of pitching options right now and no one who can replace the offence of Rios, especially with the question mark in left field, that being Johnson. Not to knock Wells but Rios has become the face of this team because of his ability to come through for us through thick and thin last year. I think these rumors are just that rumors.
The untouchables for me are, Rios, Halladay, Ryan, Hill and Snider and everyone else is fair game.
I think the less the players are untouchables the more creative you can get and the more you might get in return.
I’m pretty young compared to many of you (i think) so i would have to say thats where the enthusiasm comes from.
About wilts and johnson, i would say that wilts would probably be bette, i mean i had seen him play against TO last year and that was awesome.
i don’t think that riccardi is seriously gonna trade rios. I think it’s good for the jays that Detriot got Cabrera. I explained earlier.
Go for figgins or WILTS NOW for Glaus.
If we are gonna trade with OAKland trade for Dan Haren only.
GSumner could you give us stats on Coats.
Maybe Blanton was not the best example of a trade. All things consider the starting rotation is fine, shown in part what they did in the second part of last year. I think it was a staff era of 3.13, why mess with a good thing. Lets hope that Burnett arm doesn’t fall off. He did have some really good outings last year. I remember one particular one against the Bosoxs, if only he can harness that ability going forward and stay off the DL for once. I still hold out hope that maybe we could swing a deal for figgins for Glaus. Maybe if they throw a prospect like Banks or lower, or pay a portion of Glaus salary, we got a few choices to fill the back end. One more thing please keep Rios, we need his bat, All that talk with the Giants is, Giants don’t seem to keane on trading their blue chip prospects. I’ll stop talking and see what unfolds.
I don’t like the idea of sending Rios to the Giants for Cain at all. I wouldn’t mind sending Lind to the Giants with another lower end prospect. But Rios is definetely out of the question.
Harry
Compliments of Mike Wilner’s blog
The Jays picked up Buck Coats, a 25 year-old utility man, from the Reds for a player to be named or cash.
Coats is a left-handed hitter who hit .308/.366/.439 last year in a season split between AAA Iowa in the Cubs’ organization and AAA Louisville (Reds), setting career highs in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and home runs (11). He stole 20 bases in 22 tries. Despite all those career highs, the Cubs still waived him late in the season and he was picked up by Cincy.
He has had two cups of coffee in the bigs, with the Cubs in ‘06 and the Reds last year, and has hit .192/.232/.346 without having attempting a stolen base in 38 games played.
Coats has a chance to play a lot in Spring Training, and help the club out as a utility guy/25th man on the roster at some point in the season.
**The problem is, this now fills up our 40 man roster-so unless they make some more changes on the roster they cannot participate in the rule 5 draft tommorrow. It will be interesting to watch who they move off the roster this time. Maybe this is the guy they wanted to grab of the rule 5 draft anyway and just did the deal early. If thats the case-it’s the right move.
Does anyone think that the giants would be stupid enough to go for a Vernon Wells for Cain deal?
Buck Coats’ career stats:
http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/C/buck-coats.shtml
You guys realize they are only going after Lincecum so they can trade Burnett? It makes some sense to me. Also if they keep burnett and lincecum they have an amazing rotation (better than everyone until boston gets johan).
Burt:
I highly doubt the Giants would be interested in Wells. His contract is HUGE and back-ended and he’s coming off a sub-par/injury-plagued season. At the moment, his trade value is pretty low.
Also, I really think Wells is going to bounce back after his mediocre/poor 2007. His numbers have been too good for him to fall apart in what should be his prime years. And from a PR point of view, how bad would it be to trade away the face of your franchise, especially considering all those recent photos of him in the uniforms….
khoenig08:
I think the Jays are looking into young pitching not because they want to trade Burnett, but because there’s a good chance he’ll jump ship after this season. If anything, a guy like Lincecum/Cain acts as insurance in case there’s suddenly a glaring hole in their rotation. With Burnett’s injury history, too, it can’t hurt to have another potential ace in the rotation….
And for everyone who’s heard the horror stories about Linecum’s delivery (i.e. Tommy John waiting to happen), Jeff Blair talks a bit about that here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071205.WBbaseball20071205152049/WBStory/WBbaseball/
There’s also a bit there about how much catcher Paul LoDuca really wants to be a Jay.
gnorman
I think Gibbons consistently leaves guys in, beyond the stage they run out of gas. It’s much easier for a starter to get injured when he’s tired-than any other time.
After he abused Burnett and caused the injury-he was better for a while, but then fell back into the same MO.
Abner does this, because he feels it’s important for the pitcher to get the win. What he should be thinking about is the team winning and the pitcher being fresh for the next start.
In my opinion, if we do get close to contending, we will loose it in September-early October because Abner will have already ran all his starters out of gas.
He also handles relievers badly. Frasor had a couple of bad outings-because he was put in the closers role-which he wasn’t comfortable with. Abner didnt use him for a month and frankly hardly used him the rest of the year. Abner destroyed Frasor’s confidence-I just hope the kid comes back cause he’s a dandy.
We will not win with Abner-he’s too **** stubborn and set in his ways and will not change. His handling of pitchers is disasterous. We’re just **** lucky Arnsburg is as good as it gets.
gnorman
We drafted Ryan Houston in 1998 so he’s been with us for a while. The term career minor leaguer comes to mind. He’ll turn 28 before next spring and this last season in AAA-his first there, was not that great. His career long problem has been the fact he walks a guy every 2 innings-he’s never been able to change that.
That said he did well towards the end of 2007 and has had a very good VWL season. If he makes it here at all, it’ll be as a low position reliever and as loaded as we are in the pen, I just don’t see him making it unless we have a lot of injuries. He could be used as a trade chip.
This just in from Mike Wilner on the fan: The Jays are waiting on the Giants to call them back about Rios for Matt lincecum or Cain. Riccardi also confirmed that he would be willing to trade an everyday player for a good young arm such as one of the above.
Note that Mike never said it would happen, just that the deal is out there. Personally i’d love to see it. As much as I like Rios I am aware that you have to give up something to get something. Matt or Cain would be outstanding in the rotation. Which in my opionion should go as Halladay, Burnett, McGowan, Matt or cain, Marcum. As Matt or cain mature they’d naturally move up a spot or 2. We also have Lind, Reed, Matt, and Wells so the outfield is covered. This trade, if it happens will also allow them to deal Burnett, Casey, or Marcum if they feel they need a hole to fill.
ALso to jordanjonathon u and i are on a similar boat lol. I’ll have a harder time getting my girlfriend to go to a game with me if Rios isn’t a jay.
qsumner
Have you ever thought of being the Jays GM when or if Riccardi goes? Just about all of your ideas make sense and you really know what you’re talking about when it comes to baseball.
The Jays would be crazy to give up Rios. I think we have enough pitching deph for now. Unless we sign a free agent then atleast we don’t lose anybody important to this team. Besides, who would you rather have, a young cheap hitter who is very well able to hit over 30 homers a year and put up over 100 rbis. If it wasn’t for that staff infection or that homerun derby I would bet that he would have put up those numbers. Or would you rather have a pitcher who spent one year in the majors going 7-5? For all we know, we could still be using Litch as our 5th starter.
gsumner
I don’t think you can hang Burnett’s injury on Gibbons, as much as on Burnett himself. For one thing, the starter’s job is to eat up innings and keep his team in the game, and there was no reason to keep Burnett on a pitch count at that time. It’s not as if he was pitching on 4 days rest or coming off an injury or something. He tends to overthrow the ball when he gets cranked up, and that’s what caused the injury, not pitch count. You may have noticed that by the end of the season, his fastball was normally in the 94-95mph range with a bit more movement, better placement, and more command. Arnsberg’s influence, no doubt, and I agree with you there–he’s as good as they come. We will see what happens next year. BTW, the wife sez that the amount of money we pay these guys, we should be allowed to abuse them!
oops, i got the names mixed on my second last post. I’m sure you guys know what i mean though. Freedom, what’s harder to find in your opinion, a guy who by all acounts has the potential to be an ace or an all-star outfielder ? Don’t let the record fool you, the giants have/had very little offense. It’s like saying Burnett isn’t that good either when he’s had some pretty good numbers too but a mediocre win loss ratio.
I know that the jays offense wasn’t anything special (last year) either, but i’m willing to take a chance that Wells, Glaus and Overbay will have better years for ’08.
freedom-please, I’m just an interested fan who used to play-we need a pro running this gig.
Personally, I wouldn’t trade Rios to SF for either of these two pitchers-I think Rios could be an MVP-we have not seen his topside yet by a long shot. It would not surprise me at all to see Rios go .330-350, hit 40 hr’s and drive in 150 runs in a season-thats what I think his upside potential is.
I also think we’re closing the door for Purcey, Litsch, Janssen, Romero and Brett for quite some time if we trade for either Lincecum or Cain. As I have posted numerous times, I think David Purcey is going to be a real good one, as good or better than Beddard-but we need to bring him up this year.
I do think both Cain and Lincecum are good young pitchers-BUT-we need a lefty starter not another righty.
I’d trade Rios for Beddard, because Beddard is a strong left hander. With Beddard we have the best starting rotation in the AL-maybe all of baseball, even if Boston sign Santana-I like Beddard more.
gnorman
It’s simple-abuse them and loose them-end of story.
You **** right Abner caused Aj’s injury. He left him out there in 3 back to back outings (two of which we were already out of the game) and in total AJ threw 475 pitches.
This is following a series of starts when he went 110 to 120 pitches per outing.
You don’t do that to a pitcher that had TJ surgury-you do and you loose him-and Abner knows that.
He screwed up-period.
Look at how he managed Halliday in Halliday’s last starts of the season. Do you really think Halliday would have anything left for playoffs after going either 8 or 9 innings in 7 starts of 10 in August and September and an average of 110-115 pitches per outing?
Please-Abner is an idiot in how he manages pitchers-end of story.
Rios hitting .350, 40hrs, 150RBI’s…you honestly think he will be the next batting triple crown winner?? cause thats what those numbers are callin for. Seriously…
Rios is a great contact hitter, and maybe I could see him hittin .330-.340 in a good year. But his power will never reach those levels. He is 27…maybe he hits 35..and i think thats a stretch, 25-30 would be a good year for him. 150 RBI’s? are you serious?? hahahaha
Don’t get me wrong, I absolutly love Rios, and all he brings to this team..not just his bat, his defence, his speed (wich this team already lacks) I seriously hope they dont trade him because I think it would be a big mistake…especially when your dealing for arms, you never know when they will go pop! But just be realistic…
It appears The Mets might have delayed the Boston-Minni deal for Santana, and Boston can be had with their pants down.
One of the players coveted by Minni in the deal, and for good reason, is Jed Lowrie-Boston’s AAA short stop. This kid is the real deal and has been rated by a number of Boston’s own scouts to have more upside than Pedroia.
I guess, thinking the deal would be done by now, Boston have left Lowrie off their 40 man roster-meaning he can be picked up in the rule 5 draft tommorrow for a total cost of $25,000.00-the deal of a lifetime.
Please JP, give us all an early Chirstmas gift-this kid is special.
toth
Yes, I do think he’s got that potential-he’s now 26 and just starting to enter his prime-I guess maybe-just maybe that’s why JP is getting so many calls on the guy.
You’re right-he’s a 5 tool player and about to become a consistent all-star and will become an MVP candidate in the not too distant future.
gsumner:
Those are some lofty expectations for Rios! You’re talking A-Rod numbers there. Although I’m very skeptical that he can be that good, I’d really like to see it!
gsumner:
Just out of curiousity, when did you play ball?
If anyone’s interested, Wilner clears up Lowrie’s status here:
http://blog.rogersradiointernet.com/mikewilner/2007/12/05/blue-jays-trade-with-the-reds/#comments
hem-thanks for the link.
I didn’t realize Lowrie was drafted in 2005-my mistake.
Rios was off to that kind of BA average and hr number in 2006 before he went down. RBI’s as ou know are somewhat dependent on BA position-but then again I think Rios should always be in the 3rd hole.
Stray Rod is capable of putting up those numbers every year which makes him the best. I think Rios is capable of one very magic year as stated and have an opportunity of winning MVP. I’d also trade him that winter.
I don’t think he can do it consistently, but he can hit 25 to 35 hr’s per year, bat over .300 and knock in a lot of runs.
gsumner:
Don’t sweat it! We all make mistakes….
So I’m guessing you wouldn’t pull the trigger on the deal that’s on the table with San Fran — Rios for Lincecum or Cain?
I know how everyone would love to get a star canadian pitcher in toronto, but i would like to say this oncve and for all, WE CANNOT AFFORD TO TRADE FOR ERIC BEDARD! he is too costly player wise, and since when did we need more pitching anyway, i thought we needed bats. I would trade Rios for Lincecum however because it only costs us one player (who can be replaced by another star OF prospect in Lind) and he is out of the american league. Plus Lincecum could set up our rotation for years and not cost us too much until 2014 or so.
I would rather they get Lincecum over Cain however they are both future studs. I like the deal only if there is another deal behind this one, for another outfielder. A corner outfield of Lind and Johnson/Stairs scares me a little. Lind is ok at best in left and Stairs would be a very weak right fielder compared to Rios. Johnson is a gamble coming off a back injury. No help in the minors either so a trade or signing would be required. I haven’t looked too much at free agent outfielders as I didn’t think they would be needing one.
Guess you could always pick up my man Barry for one year. Ha
Looks like the Cubs are wanting Figgins to play center. Ramirez would be at the top of the Angels depends I would assume.
I would really want Cain instead of Linceum. That guy doesn’t give up any runs ! He loses most of his game by a run or two with 7ip. He’s a tank. Though, i agree with GSumner, he would really block our young guys like Purcey.
Whats the chances we could get Lowrie from the BSox ??? They don’t need him, and he would be great for us in a year or two.
Or their’s Rafael Furcal next year, but I like Lowrie !
Doesn’t the BSox need a good young backup catcher ? to take over old man varitek ? Even though they are going to offer him an extension.
Im thinking Thigpen for Lowrie !!!
Dave:
Although I’m a fan of Thigpen, a one-for-one deal involving him and Lowrie is a long shot. Simply put, Lowrie’s upside is much greater than Thigpen’s.
I’m thinking if there’s any chance of the Jays getting Lowrie, they’d have to offer at least an above average Major Leaguer to get Lowrie and maybe a low end prospect.
Also, I’m not sure the Red Sox are really willing to trade away a top prospect at short. Julio Lugo has been far from spectacular for them, so I’d think they’d want to hold onto Lowrie and see if they can somehow dump Lugo this year or the next.
And I’m thinking the only reason they’re shopping Lowrie is because they really, really want Santana. A tough price to pay, but potentially worth it to have a one/two punch of Beckett and Santana!
hem
You’re right-I don’t see Boston shopping Lowrie either except to get Santana; so I think our chances of getting him now have gone.
I wonder though, if we had offered a Deal a couple of weeks ago, whether we’d have him now. At that time, we could have packaged Lind, Gronk and Ty and I think Boston would have done the deal.He sure would have solved our short stop problem for a long time.
gsumner:
We’re going to have to agree to disagree on that one!
I’ve already mentioned on this board what I think of Gronk and Ty — great minor league players, but it’s doubtful they’ll do much at the big league level. Also, why would Boston want two guys who Jays management didn’t even consider important enough to keep on their 40 man roster?
So basically, it’s just a straight up Lind for Lowrie deal. And with an outfield that’s already cluttered with J.D. Drew, Coco Crisp, Manny Ramirez, and the up and coming Ellsbury, I’m not sure where Lind would even fit in. As good as Lind might be, too, I think based on position alone (i.e. short stops are harder to come by than corner outfielders), Lowrie is still much more valuable.
Just my two cents — hope I didn’t offend you!
What’s interesting, too, is that after picking up Gronk from the Jays, Boston hasn’t put him on their 40 man roster either….
hem
agreeing to disagree is no problem-that’s what this forum is about to share ideas,comments and talk baseball.
You might be right about the deal-although Boston did sign Gronk, so they must like him. I just like Lowrie,think he would be a valuable pice to our team and wish we’d tried to deal for him.
I still holding out that the Jays will consider a trade for figgins. Glaus would be a good chip to trade, considering his relationship with the angels. It looks like today that Glaus will not face suspension after all. The angels we’re reported as being proactive in looking for another power hitter. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to inquire about Willits too. Any who!