"Baseball players are smarter than football players. How often do you see a baseball team penalized for too many men on the field?" ~ Jim Bouton
The Cubs will have a good inexpensive roster to go with their revenues, to supplement any needs. Scary stuff indeed.
Hugs, smiling, and interactive Twitter accounts, don't mean winning baseball. Until this community understands that we are cursed to relive the madness.
Here are some of the guys I'd be targeting if I were Walt with 2 weeks to go. Some are a bit outside the box, some are not:
Alex Rios, OF, White Sox - Much has already been mentioned on this thread. IMO he is the perfect fit for the next 18 months.
Alejandro de Aza, OF, White Sox - Could be a nice, cheaper (and younger) consolation to Rios who can also play CF if/when Ludwick comes back and/or Hamilton isn't ready to start Opening Day next year.
Alfonso Soriano, OF, Cubs - They're looking for minor league pitching and could likely pick up a large part of the $25M due to him over the next 18 months. Soriano crushes LHP and could be a great platoon partner for Paul, although I'm not sure what happens when Ludwick comes back. I'd love to get local kid James Russell in a deal as well, although I see this kind of deal as very unlikely. If the Cubs picked up Soriano's entire tab, I'd be willing to throw them any two pitchers in the system other than Stephenson and Travieso.
Delino DeShields, Jr., 2B, Astros (minor leagues) - This one is clearly outside the box, and won't help the Reds in 2013, or probably 2014-2015. However, there is no clear heir to Brandon Phillips above Rookie Ball, and the jury is still obviously out on Zack Cozart's long term future. The Astros just re-signed 2B Jose Altuve to a longterm deal, and they're not looking for big league help now. I wonder if this could be an opportunity for the Reds to deal from a position of strength (like OF or possibly SP) in order to bring DeShields Jr. into DeShields Sr.'s organization. Maybe something like Travieso straight up? Or, because the Astros regime seems to be partial to quantity bounties, something like Rogers + one of Cisco/Romano + one of Y.Rodriguez/Lutz?
MLBTR:Again, certainly not a 2013 or 2014 issue, but might be interesting to move Phillips to 3B in 2015 for his final year or two if DeShields is ready to takeover 2B.In light of Altuve's extension, Brian T. Smith and Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle note that a position change is a possibility for top prospect Delino DeShields Jr., whose path to the Majors as a second baseman is now blocked. The No. 8 overall pick in the 2010 draft, DeShields is hitting .290/.388/.399 with 30 steals in 71 games this season at high Class A. Last season, he swiped 101 bases in 135 games. General manager Jeff Luhnow said for the time being, DeShields would finish the season as a second baseman.
Go BLUE!!!
Hope the Pirates don't get Rios.
Pirates Targeting Rios; May Have Interest In Ramirez
By Steve Adams [July 18, 2013 at 11:30pm CST]
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/0...n-ramirez.html
I also noticed this little tidbit on mlbtraderumors:
They don't think as highly of Winker as we seem to.Reds: Outfielder Jesse Winker doesn't wow with his tools but he gets the most out of his abilities and is one of the safer bets in Cincinnati's system to have a big league career. The 19-year-old prospect has modest power and doesn't steal bases so he's going to have to hit for average to provide value as a hitter -- along with his willingness to take a free pass.
Rios would be a dream acquisition, but the White Sox would need to pick-up money both in 2013 and in 2104 to get him. Maybe a package built around Travieso and Hoover could get him with lesser guys like Rogers and maybe Corcino involved to make it happen.
All those guys plus Robinson for Rios and Lindstrom but the Sox would need to kick in $3 Million or so for this year and $8 or $9 Million for next year for it to be a realistic option.
I think De Aza, for a package built around Hoover and some of those lesser arms is more likely and I'd be all for it. IMO, Hoover is the team's most tradeable guy that they can afford to deal, but even he will need to be replaced by some decent vet who can be had for spare parts.
All my posts are my opinion - just like yours are. If I forget to state it and you're too dense to see the obvious, look here!
I think Winker's power will be fine by the time he grows-up. He's just 19 and already has extra base power.
All my posts are my opinion - just like yours are. If I forget to state it and you're too dense to see the obvious, look here!
Ted Berg @OGTedBerg 2h
classic!Hearing every player in baseball is available in the right deal but almost none are available in the wrong deal. #tigers #mets #cubs #braves
I was all for Soriano last year, but on a team that is a hacking group outside of Votto/Choo, I'm not sure I want a guy with a .288(!!!) OBP in the lineup. Plus he's a bad defender and expensive (although I'm sure the Cubs would eat some money).
Don't see him as a fit this year.
De Aza is an interesting canidate. He's cheap and as said he could buy Hamilton some more time next year. Even if Ludwick comes back completely healthy (doubtful) he would be a nice guy to have off the bench.
mth123 (07-19-2013)
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