Hmmm....
What to do, what not to do? What's reasonable, what's logical, what's possible.
In order to come to these conclusions we must 1st decipher what Narron and Krivsky feel is important. I think it's now obvious based on statements made by Krivsky that this defense and offense need some work. And pitching is difficult to obtain via trade so let's assume that any significant upgrade in pitching will come via FA.
1st thing to consider is that even though Ken Griffey Jr.'s salary is no longer that prohibitive for a team to take on, his injuries and obvious decline in most all areas are going to turn most suitors away. I think if he was to get dealt at all, it won't be until late in the off-season when a team like the Tigers for example lose out on all the big LH bats available and decide to take a flyer on him but we either won't get much relief salary-wise or we won't get much in return or perhaps both. My offer to Detroit would be Griffey and 3 Mill for Craig Monroe. Very similiar statistics but Jr is a LH hitter who helps tie all those RH batters together and Detroit does not have to give up one of those sterling arms which would be a huge key to the deal for them. He could split time between CF and DH (mostly DH). Monroe on the other hand is younger, RH and is a solid COF. I think if you can pull that deal off you are doing some good. This of course is assuming that Monroe isn't a FA, I don't believe he is. Heck I might even toss in something else who knows. The key to this deal is clearly Griffey accepting the trade. He may very well do it, it's a contender, it's not very much further than Cincy from home and if Casey were to go back to Detroit this offseason he won't feel all alone.
2nd thing to consider is that Adam Dunn is probably going nowhere based on this single solitary issue. His talent says he should be far better than his production and no one is likely to give up what we all feel he can be worth. However if you are going to deal a young LH monster slugger then you wanna do a couple of things. Get completely blown away by an offer from a NL team (preferably not in the division) or get a little lesser deal (lesser than blown away), save a few dollars and fill some needs accross the board or get a young #1 or #2 pitcher (A #1 is not even going to happen, unless someone is very desperate). But if he is going to get dealt then Detroit is a strong possiblity (although it hurts our chances with trading them Griffey).
My offer would be to Texas: Adam Dunn, Gary Majewski, Elizardo Ramirez, Brendan Harris and Joey Votto for Mark Texiera, Ian Kinsler and Thomas Diamond or John Danks or one of those stellar young arms that's not quite ML ready yet. Texas gets a couple of solid arms (1 in the pen and 1 for the rotation) they don't lose alot offensively and they have their future 1st baseman and a possible 2nd bagger. Dunn splits time between LF and DH. I don't know how pheasible it is, we may have to substitute Coffey for Majik, I know they liked him pretty well at one point. But I try to keep Coffey unless it's a dealbreaker.
I truly believe if you offer up 2 mill, Jason LaRue and Brandon Claussen to K.C. for David DeJesus (CF, LH) and a low level pitching prospect, You will likely get it done. Not a true burner but had nearly as many BB's (43) as he had K's (70).
Now your team is better defensively, hits for a higher average and doesn't lose any power. Check it out, plus you do all this while getting rid of alot of salary (although you shelled out a few bucks as well).
Ok here is what it looks like.
Lineup: VS. LHP
1.) Freel RF
2.) DeJesus CF
3.) Texiera 1B
4.) Encarnacion 3B
5.) Monroe LF
6.) Ross C
7.) Phillips SS
8.) Kinsler 2B
Lineup: VS. RHP
1.) DeJesus CF
2.) Kinsler 2B
3.) Texiera LF
4.) Encarnacion 3B
5.) Hatteberg 1B
6.) Monroe RF
7.) Ross/Valentin C
8.) Phillips SS
Sidenotes: You can also platoon Freel w/ Monroe, DeJesus and Kinsler so you can get maximum effectiveness. Also Texiera goes back to full time 1st base in '08 when Hatteberg leaves and then we bring up Jay Bruce to platoon with Deno & Monroe in '08 and then full time COF in '09.
Then you go out and find solid replacements for the arms you got rid of. I like Vicente Padilla as our 3rd starter, and Joe Borowski as our closer. The pitching then looks like this.
Rotation:
Harang RHP
Arroyo RHP
Padilla RHP
Milton LHP
Lohse RHP
Pen:
LR Matt Belisle RH
MR Standridge RH
MR Cormier LH
LH Spec. Shackelford LH (No one on this staff gets LH out better)
Set Up Bray LH
Set Up Coffey
CL Borowski
Bench:
Def Spec. Juan Castro IF
5th OF Chris Denorfia or Norris Hopper
LH Bat Todd Hollandsworth
Obviously this would be to start the season, later on due to injuries and ineffectiveness you could bring up a host of guys. I might even consider leaving Standridge off of the opening day roster and in Triple-A so we could add another bat off the bench. Perhaps Jerry Gil could make it or whomever doesn't make it between Hopper and Deno initially. Gil may be the w/c here if he can actually play both SS and a little OF and he has some power from the right side watch out Deno and Hopper.
Of course it's a whole lot more likely we will have both Griffey and Dunn, which I am not necc. opposed to as long as Narron uses them both more efficiently. Put Dunn in the 3rd hole, EE in the 4th and Jr. in the 5th on most occasions (vs. RH) and move Jr. out of CF to RF. Of course I would rather have Jr. in LF but Dunn is already there with nowhere else to go. But if you still have them how do you fill the other holes.
That's a question best answered in 2 weeks when we know who is all available, no reason to get ahead of ourselves huh!
Originally Posted by paulrichjr
