Near completion…
TORONTO — All that is holding up the Scott Rolen-for-Troy Glaus trade is those pesky physicals, which are set for Monday. So, barring any lingering red flags in Rolen’s left shoulder or Glaus’ left foot, an official announcement should come on Monday or Tuesday.
It also appears as though this is a straight-up one-for-one swap with no additional money besides the contracts being exchanged. If that’s indeed the case, the Commissioner’s Office doesn’t need to put the ol’ stamp of approval on the deal to get it done.
So, Toronto and St. Louis exchanged risks. I don’t see this being a move that’s overwhelmingly good or bad for either club, but more of a win-win situation for the players. Glaus, while happy in Toronto, gets to move to a grass playing field in St. Louis. Rolen gets away from his escalating feud with Cards skipper Tony La Russa.
The money is about the same tied to each player, though Rolen has three years left to Glaus’ two. Word is that the Cards would only do the deal when Glaus agreed to kick in his 2009 player option. St. Louis gets a potentially powerful bat to slide behind Albert Pujols in the lineup and Toronto gets a slick glove and versatile bat to add to its lineup.
When healthy (man, I’m tired of writing that with this team), Rolen might be the best fielding third baseman in the game. He and second baseman Aaron Hill should help mask anything Toronto might’ve lost on defense by making the switch to David Eckstein from John McDonald.
Offensively, Rolen hasn’t launched as many homers as Glaus annually, but he’s performed better in virtually every other category:
Rolen, 32 — .283 AVG, .372 OBP, .507 SLG, 28 HR and 109 RBI per 162 games
Glaus, 31 — .254 AVG, .358 OBP, .500 SLG, 36 HR and 101 RBI per 162 games
I may have said it in my last post, but I, for one, am a fan of this trade. I wasn’t looking forward to seeing Frank Thomas and Troy Glaus hit back-to-back in the lineup, solely because when both are on base it really limits what the Jays can do on the basepaths. Too many times last year, Toronto’s lack of speed made them a station-to-station offense.
As much as injuries took a toll on the lineup, this was a part of the problem, too. Rolen brings a little more speed to the group. I’m thinking a lineup consisting of Alex Rios, Vernon Wells, Thomas, Lyle Overbay, Rolen and Hill in the Nos. 2-7 spots (maybe not necessarily in that order) should bode better for run production. Time will tell.
There’s always the outside chance that those medicals could derail this whole thing. Or, maybe the physicals will be fine, but the injuries might still be an issue during the year. Who knows? You saw how trying to hit with a bum left shoulder affected Wells last season.
Major League Bastian 
Jordan,
That last sentence is my biggest concern. Yes both are high injury risks but a bad shoulder to me seems worse then a bad knee. I agree with you in that I like the trade from a jays perspective however, considering they are mostly banking on health why trade for another high injury risk?
One thing I forgot to mention previously is that if the jays now have the lead late in the game it’ll be that much harder to get some runs off of them. Assuming Ryan can return to form the jays should feel safe with late game leads with the defensive upgrade they get with Rolen and of course Mcdonald filling in for Eckstein.
So what does everybody think the line-up should be?
My take:
Eckstien
Rios
Wells or Rolen
Thomas
Stairs or Lind
Rolen or Wells
Overbay
Hill
Zaun
If Rolen is healthy I consider putting him in the 3 spot becasue if Wells isn’t attempting to steal 30 bases a year (not actually getting 30 but running 30 times – he may only be safe on 20 of 30) than Rolen is actually a better baserunner than Wells.
Also while Stairs and Lind are faster than Thomas he wouldn’t be slowing them down as much as he’d be slowing down Overbay or Rolen.
well here’s my take
VS RHP
Eckstein
Overbay
Rolen
Rios
Wells
Thomas
Stairs
Hill
Zaun
Vs LHP
Johnson
Hill
Rios
Thomas
Rolen
Wells
Overbay
Zaun
Mcdonald
Of course these will probably change a few times before we get to opening day.
how many days till the blue jays opening day 2008???
Paul
All the health concerns aside, one thing I like about this deal is that the Jays now have their third base covered for the next three years – especially when the 2009 free agent market for third basemen doesn’t look too promising. Hopefully, Ahrens will develop into the next “Chipper Jones,” and take over at the position in time.
If Rolen is 100% Toronto definatly comes out on top in this one. The Jays had the #1 defense in baseball last year, and this move only makes them better in that area. At 32 he still has a few good years left in him.
I definately do not think the Jays came out on top in this one only on the fact that there is no cash involved. Both are a injury liability but Glaus appears to be more durable that Rolen. Looks like Scutaro and John MacDonald will be getting their fair share of playing time this year.
Projected Opening Day line-up:
1. Eckstein SS
2. Rios RF
3. Wells CF
4. Thomas DH
5. Rolen 3B
6. Overbay 1b
7. Hill 2B
8. Zaun C
9. Johnson LF
Does anyone know what the whole feud is with Rolen? The last thing we need is him bringing it with him to the Jays and giving us another Hillenbrand situation.
I definately like this trade. You are no farther ahead no behind when it comes to injury histories but Rolen is a much better all round player. He’s not going to knock out 40 bombs. However, his career OBP is almost 20 points higher, he hits more total extra base hits and he’s driven in 300 more runs than Glaus over his career. Combine that with Hall of Fame type defense and you have to say Toronto got a better deal. A healthy Rolen is probably the best all round third baseman in the majors, behind A-Rod.
freedom
Rolen has had disagreements with his last two managers, Bowa and LaRusso.
The Bowa incident started off with a negotiation of a contract extention, which was ultimately declined by Rolen. Rolen then called a news conference, called himself an idiot and went on for 45 minutes to describe in detail everything he felt was wrong in the Philly organization. Bowa then acousted him right in front of TV reporters.
Here’s a description of the start of his feud with Tony LaRusso taken from a CBS sports article.
Rolen first hurt his shoulder in a collision with the Dodgers’ Hee-Seop Choi in May 2005, undergoing two surgeries and missing most of that season. He hit .296 with 22 home runs and 95 RBI in 2006, but by September his shoulder was worn out. He was barely half the offensive player he had been, hitting .225 with three home runs and 14 RBI that month, and then struggled in the NL Division Series against the Padres. Rolen never said a word to anyone, though. The code, remember. He played hurt and he kept his mouth shut.
And got called a liar.
Rolen finally went to Cardinals manager Tony La Russa after Game 3 of the NLDS and told him the shoulder felt “sort of fatigued.”
From there, their relationship disintegrated.
Placido Polanco returned to be ALCS MVP for Detroit. La Russa rested him for Game 4 of the NLDS. Rolen, who was 1-for-11 in the first three games, took it as a benching. After Rolen was hitless in the first game of the NLCS at New York, La Russa sat him down for Game 2. Rolen took it as another benching and went public with his complaints, saying he was “surprised and disappointed.” La Russa lashed back, saying Rolen had broken the manager’s trust by playing hurt in September without telling anyone. And if Rolen couldn’t be trusted to tell his manager when he was hurt, well, his manager didn’t owe him an explanation upon making out the lineup card.
The Rolen-La Russa feud became one of the biggest stories of the NLCS.
Announcers for Fox beat Rolen’s shoulder like a bongo, going on and on every time he didn’t turn a fastball into a hit. The Cardinals’ daily lineup card became a story. Was Scott playing?
vs RHP
Eckstein
Rios
Wells
Thomas
Overbay
Rolen
Hill
Stairs/Johnson
Zaun
vs LHP
Eckstein
Johnson
Rios
Wells
Thomas
Overbay
Rolen
Hill
Zaun
Scutaro can spell Rolen once a week and JM can play when Doc and maybe Marcum pitch as well as late inning defensive sub.
I see a team that has excellent defence and the POTENTIAL to be very solid offensively from top to bottom. They say pitching and defence win championships……
If healthy, a better, all-around Rolen will of course make Jays the winner in this one. But this doesn’t seem to be scenario for the next “three” year. Rolen was very consistent offensively and defensively for a long time, but we all know how unpredictable he was at the plate over the past three season (whereas Glaus showed no sign of a will-be huge slide), and that is the main reason why I don’t trust him for such a long stretch of time. Even he is “cleared” of the NRI. His swing might had changed infinitely over the past year so that he is not the “Rolen” anymore.
I won’t be surprise if he turn out to be an offensive bust with only a gold glove remained and getting a salary more than 8 times of what JMac ‘s gonna get. Hey, if we just want to upgrade our defense, there are plenty of internal options.
Even if it is worthy (that is if Rolen is “healthy” for at least 2 years by my standard), I will be very disappointed if JP doesn’t manage to get some money or prospect for Cardinals. Is there anybody in baseball that doesn’t know they are trying their best to dump Rolen??? Come on, we don’t necessarily have to do this kind of super-high-risk trade. BUT they do need to GET RID OF Rolen and his HUGE contract somehow. And this is all we’ll get???
Jeff Blair’s take:
http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080113.blair14/GSStory/GlobeSportsBaseball/home
I think this is basically trading a player who most likely can’t stay healthy playing here (on turf) for a player who may or may not stay healthy playing anywhere.
As per the money, if Blair’s right and we get 3 mil that means we’re on the hook for $11 mil per which is obviously not good if he can’t play but if he plays is a very good price.
An interesting note is the comentary I’ve read (I think it was the espn peice gsumner posted earlier) that mentioned the Cardinals wouldn’t have done the deal unless Glaus picked up his option because the 3B free agent crop is looking so bad.
Given that reality, after ’08 we’d have been left with nothing because based on supply and demand, and the turf killing his foot, Glaus probobly would have left after next year anyway
With no 3B prospect near the majors, and the FA classes getting worse and worse by the year as more and more teams locked up their players, JP must have decided he needed a 3B who’s locked up for more than 1 year.
I can’t think of any other 3rd basemen who are on the market.
Melvin Mora doesn’t count because Peter Angelos is a ***** who ties his GM’s hands by ordering him not to trade any players to any divisional rival irrelevent of the offer.
That’s also the reason we’ll have to wait for FA to have a chance at bringing Bedard home.
Wow, the word m0r0n get’s censored?
Hi Robert,
You are basically right. But the main point is whether you want to have a “mystery” for three year and feel safe that you won’t go into the FA market or if you really want to build a good team. If we are not build to win for the next three years, then fine, I absolutely have no problem with the trade. But what if Rolen turn out to be no better than a replacement-level player? Are we gonna stick to him for long or are we going to find other solutions. This is truly a great gamble, isn’t it?
And was there ANY team seriously asked about Rolen this winter? NO, to the point that the Cardinal GM was very frustrated and said that Rolen is gonna stay. So why is it that we are the only one that SEE the value of Rolen? I am also a long time Giants fan. Giants need to upgrade 3B offensively too, and they don’t even bother asking.
Hey, i hear Rich Harden is healthy, and hey he’s got great stuff …. when he’s healthy, why not get him ? …. cause he’s healthy now, right ?
Now that i got that out of my system, does it seem like this could be a prelude to signing Eckstein long term ? Make it more agreeable here for him so he might consider an extension if he hits well in Toronto ? This is just something that worries me since next years SS class has some gems, and with Burnett (prob) off the books, Toronto could really solve their SS problem, Rafeal Furcal would sure be nice.
There are people with medical backgrounds, along with people like Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus, who believe that Rolen’s shoulder will be a problem for the remainder of his playing career. Basically, if Riccardi’s risk doesn’t pay off, Toronto will be hampered by it for the next three years.
Jeff Blair from the Globe is saying that the Jays are getting cash of a net amount of $3 million….so its not all a financial wash.
http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080113.blair14/GSStory/GlobeSportsBaseball/home
This makes me a little happier about the deal.
I was also wondering about whether or not the Jays would pursue Rich Harden. J.P. has the inside knowledge of the organization, has a great relationship with Bill Beane and a few minor league trading chips in Lind and Purcey. I wouldn’t part with Snider or Cecil tho.
IMO it doesn’t matter if we’re hampered for the next 3 years.
The risk either pays off and we’re competitive in the next few years or the risk doesn’t pay off and we’re not.
At which point JP is gone and whoever the new GM is get’s to build around the 07 draft class and a Doc who will be on the downside of his career but with McGowan, Marcum, Accardo, Hill, Rios, Wells will be in their prime plus hopefully Eric Bedard anchoring the staff, and hopefully Snider, Ahrens, Arencibia, Jackson.
Bottom line, the risk pays off we’re competitive, if it doesn’t JP is fired and we’re rebuilding towards a team comprised of the guys I mentioned.
I am not that optimistic about Jays after 2010. It’s taken a lot of effort to go to this point and we’ve locked the core to 2010. Beyond that, who knows? Doc is a FA, so is BJ, so is Rios. And Hill will be a FA one year later. The recent success in contract extension doesn’t guarantee that any of these players are going (or willing) to stay with Jays longer, as everybody knows how the FA market has become. We should definitely cherish the opportunities in the next three years when there is relatively less uncertainty within the roster.
As for the youngsters, besides Lind and Snider, there aren’t any sure things yet. Not to mention the farm corp that sox and yankees have are better at this point.
Is not a try-it-and-see-if-it -work situation right now
Robert
I don’t know if you noticed, and I might be wrong, but I thought the first post Jordan made announcing the potential deal stated final approval had to wait because of the commissioner’s office, meaning cash in excess of $1 million changed hands.
In his recent post, no money is expected to change hands.
Now Jeff Blair states there’s $4 million coming our way and we send a million back. I’m starting to wonder which one is right.
My concern is Rolen’s 3rd year, in which we are committed to $11.25 mill. It just seems like a lot of risk for a 35 year old with injury problems. There is, also this nagging concern of how Rolen is in the clubhouse.
Frankly, I’m surprised more guys haven’t taken a shot at LaRusso as big of a egomaniac he is, but I’m not impressed with how Rolens dealt with Larry Bowa. That sounded a lot like Hillebrand all over to me.
That being said, if Rolen’s healthy, I think he could be our Mike Lowell and put us into contention. The guy burns to win, takes our defense to probably the best in baseball and provides us with a proven “cltuch hitter” which we have sorely missed.
If he is healthy and helps us win this year or next, no one will care how much he’s paid in 2010 or whether he’s even able to play.
In my view, we weren’t going to contend before this trade, now, if Rolens performs, I think we might. He could be that much of a difference.
Jordan,
i’m curious any idea of who initiated these talks ? was it the jays or cardinals?
Thorton
Personally, I’m more optimistic about The Jays in 2011 than I am now.
Our outfielders will be Snider, Wells, Rios,Lind and Cavez. Our catchers will be Diaz and Arencibia. For the infield we have Adhrens, Jackson, Hill, Tolisano and hopefully Fuenmeyer.
For starters we have Marcum, McGowan, Cecil, Purcey, Romero, Janssen, Litsch and potentially Wolfe and we are knee deep in pitching prospects that played in Auburn and GC Jays last year, 6 of which had era’s under 2 and weren’t mentioned in the BA report.
If we keep drafting the way we did last year, our minor league system will be humming in 2009 at all levels. The Sox and Yanks have better prospects in the higher minors than we do, but we hold our own in the lower levels and that crop is starting to move up. Auburn won the championship in 2007.
We now have a strong core of young talented players-mostly home grown. That only improves in the next few years and whatever pieces are missing can be added in free agent or trades.
Re:Rolen in the clubhouse
I know nothing of Larry Bowa so i’ll defer to Blair:
” . . . It’s possible that Rolen chafed under all that, just as he chafed under manager Larry Bowa in Philadelphia. That in itself is no big deal, because he’s joining a list that includes everybody who ever played for Bowa.”
Re:the money:
No disrespect to Jordan but I’d bet Blair has better sources, aside from being around much longer than Jordan, Jordan is more of a reporter where Blair is more of a columnist.
I agree that before this we weren’t gong to contend because I think we were too slow, with weak defence on the left side of the field (including LF when Johnson’s not the one out there) and I didn’t think Glaus would be able to stay healthy on turf (on grass he stands a chance).
I don’t think I’d bet on as many of the prospects becoming solid players as you would but I agree in principle that there’s a lot of talent there that if developed well with some luck (even with all the scouting and stat metrics – the draft is still a lot about luck) would form the core of a contending team.
Of course Thorton is right about getting these guys locked up.
Sumner…dont count your chickens before they hatch
Your throwing alot of names around that are in LOW A ball…
If you think an infeild full of 23 year old rookies will get it done, im a little worried about that. If you dont beleive me you can ask the Tampa Bay fans… I doubt half those players even make an apperance in the big leagues by then.
If the Jays dont do anything by 2010 you can bet they will go into a little rebuild centered around Snider. But dont expect players to jump in and instantly be stars.
Back on topic…I dont know why we should be worried about having a 3rd baseman under contract for 3 more years. I see that as a positive, if Rolen went on the market there is no way we would be able to sign him for 11M/year. There are no prospects even close to being ready so this secures the position for a few more years. Sure there is a risk of getting injured, but there is a risk with anyone. Glaus could just as easily hurt his foot again. The plus with this situation in we now have a veteren backup in Scutaro who can fill in.
toth
We are talking about 2011, which is what my post was based on. You are right in that the infielders I mentioned-other than Hill are just low A to high A prospects. However thats not the case in the outfield or pitching.
My point in the post was not that these guys would be superstars by then, but that there was no need for despair either. 2011 is a long time away. Some of these kids will make it, some won’t, we might still have Overbay at first-we might not. Who knows.
I do think if Rolen was on the market as a 35 year old, we’d be able sign him for $10-12 mill a year. But why don’t we all wait to confirm exactly how much money we get if we get any, which might or might not take some of the risk of that 3rd year away.
I also think if we don’t seriously contend or win this year, assuming good health, this team gets exploded. No one is going to have the patience of waiting until 2010 to explode it. And if you do explode it, that 3rd year is a big time problem unless we get funds from St. Louis as part of the deal to offset some of that risk.
So,
It looks like the Jays will not only be taking on the salary of Rolen in full, but we are going to pay the Cardinals 1.8 million to have the priveledge of doing so.
I didn’t realize that Rolen was THAT much better then Glaus. I guess this means that we should all pre-order our world series tickets now, since the huge liability of Glaus is gone, and we have a superior replacement for him.
first off, i like this trade. i’ve never like Glaus’ style of play, hes too slow and is not a good hitter. power hitters are rarely good hitters, but Rolen is proven to be both with a much higher batting average and is also better at driving in runs. We lose some power, but we already have Thomas to cover the big-slow power hitter part, 2 people in this role was not functional.
secondly, gsumner was getting way ahead of himself in his prospect analysis of 2010-11. Lind will be traded by then, as Snider will be ready and Wells and Rios(hopefully) aren’t goin anywhere. that being said, i hope we can make a deal with the rebuilding A’s for Joe Blanton or Rich Harden, though i don’t believe they will trade Harden. I see us including Lind and a couple good prospects such as Brett Cecil and Fuenmeyer.
thirdly, alot of our “future pitching prospects” that gsumner alluded to are already major busts, Romero and Purcey have been some of the most unsuccessful first round picks to come out of those drafts. while i hope that they can get back on track, i’m not keeping my fingers crossed, especially on Romero, as Purcey had a fine showing in AFL
justin
Whether Lind is traded or not, doesn’t really change the point I made on outfielders. The point is one way or the other we’re going to be fine and even have a surplus of prospects with Lind and Cavez.
I don’t see how your issue with Purcey and Romero relates to your statement of “alot of our future pitching prospects are already major busts” makes any sense when they are two of 13 pitchers I identified.
I beg to differ with you on Purcey. The Jays identified he had a mechanical problem with his delivery-it was known before we drafted him. The question you should ask about Purcey is why did it take so long for our coaching staff to straighten it away?
Purcey performed really well at the start of 2007 before he got injured and in the AFL. I expect him to continue that level of performance in AAA this spring. Soon his record will stand for itself.
I remember a year ago, I was saying the same thing about McGowan and was one of the very few on here that defended him. I expect everyone, including yourself, will jump on Purcey’s bandwagon around the middle of June.
You might or might not be right about Romero; I’m hoping he bounces back from his injury last year and becomes the pitcher he’s cabable of-but I might be too optimistic on him-time will tell.
sumner:
i hope your right on Purcey, i think i was premature on calling him a bust, also Romero is still early on in his career, but his numbers are not up to par. Again with your assesment on McGowan last year, the question was never whether McGowan had the stuff, and with Romero, i really think it is. His ERA has been around 5 or worse every year and it isn’t showing signs of improving, the last thing we need is another Chacin, who i also think doesn’t have major league stuff/knowledge(Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux) to allow him to get by.
What I don’t understand is how a lot of people on this blog were all over JP for dealing for Ecks because “we’re going to lose all that defence…” and now he is going to make a deal that will greatly improve our defence and everyone is talking about “we’re losing our offence..” I think a lot of the people here are JP haters, and regardless of the moves he makes, they are going to cry. This is a good move. If you don’t make the deal, you still need to hope your 3rd baseman can get back to form. If you make the trade and that happens, then we are in a better spot, because Rolen is better at the top of his game then Glaus is. Don’t get me wrong, I like Glaus, but since we need a lot of good fortune this year anyways, we might as well get the better player
justin
Well, as you know we drafted Romero in 2005 and he started with us in Dunedin (high A) in 2006. He got off to a good start in Dunedin and was moved to AA where he struggled. He ended up the year with an era of 3.87 ( 2.47 in Dunedin and 5.08 in New Hampshire). For whatever reason when he got moved to New Hamsphire, his walk ratio went through the roof (26 in 67 innings) and his strikeout ratio dropped.
This same problem continued throughout 2007 in which he walked 52 in 93 innings. That could be why his era in 2007 jumped to 4.84.
I don’t know what the problem is or whether it’s fixed. What I do know is the Jays thought enough of his ability to start him in Dunedin where he effectively jumped two minor league levels-and moved him to AA in his first professional year.
He also had an excellent reputation in college, so I assume he’ll be back. I guess the Jays feel the same because it looks like they’re starting him and Purcey in AAA.
So let’s hope they both make it.
cullumc
Are you sure you’re on the right blog? I just reviewed all posts in this string and haven’t seen one yet against the deal. Of course everyone has questions and concerns.
Please answer this question.
When the deal was origionally announced by Jordan, I believe he stated money would be transferred. Then in his second post there was no money transfered.
Then I believe the Sun stated there would be a $1.8 million dollar trasnfer to the Jays. Then Jeff Blair stated there would be a $3+million transfer to Toronto.
Now, The Star says we will pay St. Louis $1.8 million.
Like what is going on-why is there so much different information on the same deal in the press.
gsummer,
I don’t know why the media is giving everyone different information. (They are the media)
It may be the fact that the Leafs stink and the star has nothing else to write about in this city. I will not believe anything from the star until I see it first. However, I will say that the Jays might be making moves to draw attention to themselves in a Toronto market dominated by other sports. With the Leafs ready to fire their GM and the Raps off to a slow start the Jays might be looking into their window of oppertunity, and I think it is about time.
First, I dont really see how baseball competes with basketball and hockey at all. The seasons overlap for a total of about a month all year. I think the Jays are making moves to make themselves better.
I agree with a post earlier, I forget who it was, that talked about Scutaro and JM being able to spell Rolen once a week or so. This should keep him as healthy as possible for as long possible. I hope that this turn of events was planned, and didnt just fall into JPs lap.
I also agree with gsumner about exploding this team if this season doesnt go well while we stay healthy. If this means trading Rios or Wells, then so be it.
Finally, this trade is great. Supposedly the operation Rolen had is supposed to bring him back to full health. Thats WAY more than can be said for Glaus. If Glaus stayed here, he would only go from bad to worse. And what really matters offensively is production, NOT home runs. More RBIs means more games won. This deal is great. Even if we dont get any money from them (which given the history of Rolen and Larussa, we should be able to do, but oh well) we should still pat JP on the back for this trade.
Thats my two cents.
Cheers.
For anybody interested here is a glimpse of what the beat writer for st. louis had to say about Glaus for Rolen:
http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080114&content_id=2345322&vkey=news_stl&fext=.jsp&c_id=stl
Well from what it looks like, the Jays fans like Glaus better, and the Cardinal fans like Rolen better. So why don’t we all keep our players and be happy? I know that we have a problem with having Thomas and Glaus on base and not being able to run. Why don’t we spread them out a hitter or two then. With all of the different combos that we have in the lineup, I am sure we could figure out something.
Just for the record, i hated the eckstein deal and the Rolen deal ! I have been consistent in my hating ! =)
I was worried the Eckstein deal could lead to a longer contract, and with signing Rolen for three years, i still see it as a possibility that the jays dump serious money into eckstein.
But, with most deals like this, the “i told you so’s”, can only be doled out at the end of the season. So all we can really do is wait.
And yes, when i mentioned we should get Harden, i was being sarcastic, as the man is probably qualified to play in the special olympics with the amount of injuries he has; giving up a bird in the hand is always worse then going for the two in the bush.
Forget what I said just before. The trade is completed. So like Dave6998 said all we can do is wait….
Jordan
Could you seek clarification of what this sentence means?
“As part of the trade, St. Louis is reportedly sending $4 million to cover a bonus Rolen has coming in 2010, and Toronto is including $1.8 million.”
Matthew Leach did not include this in his posting on the Card’s site and no bonus of this amount is listed on Rolen’s contract as reported:
*$5M signing bonus
*03:$7M, 04:$8M, 05:$11M, 06:$11M, 07:$12M, 08:$12M, 09:$12M, 10:$12M
*$10M deferred ($2M/year from 2003 to 2007)
*full no-trade clause (waived to allow trade from St. Louis 1/14/08)
*performance bonuses: $50,000 each for Gold Glove & All Star selection
.
Is this total of $5.8 million to pay part of his deferred salary from 2003 to 2007? Are we still responsible for 3 years at $12 mill per year?
Just got back, and wow! I like Jordan’s take. Rollen still has good wheels, and he and Hill should cover Eckstein defensively, bad shoulder or no. Rollen and Eckstein won’t make us worse offensively, compared to Glaus and MacDonald, even if Rollen is not hitting well. If Rollen hits well, we definitely have an upgrade.
The Cards still have to pay Scott whatever deferred money they owe him (probably a bonus). The Jays have to send the Cardinals 1.8 Mil. Also, I think Troy Glaus gets the better end of this deal because the Cardinals will be much more likely to make the playoffs than the Blue Jays (even if the Cards are re-building). Scott Rolen is not gonna back a big enough difference for the Blue Jays to pass the Yankees & Red Sox in the standings