Looking further into Fowler I've changed my mind. I didn't realize that Fowler has never ops'd over 800. Upton has nearly ops'd 900 twice and come close to opsing 800 in his only other two major league seasons.
I also thought he was more of a stolen base threat than he really is.
No cause for concern, this has been going on for years:
http://sonsofsamhorn.net/topic/61649...-tweeterverse/
"Reality tells us there are no guarantees. Except that some day Jon Lester will be on that list of 100-game winners." - Peter Gammons
To me, what their asking for Cabrera is beyond ridiculous. There is some talk that the Cards are in on him and I would be highly opposed to getting him if they have to give up the talent to get him. There's a lot of warning signs showing Cabrera is regressing. I can't imagine what kind of haul Upton will get.
The Reds have been reported to be willing to trade Cozart and put Didi as their starting SS in 2013. I think that speaks volumes about Didi's trade value.
I agree Didi isn't in the same league as rhe other SS's mentioned in Gammon's quote, however, I also think that you might be undervaluing Leake's trade value. He's not a throw in. He's a former 1st round pick with three years of rotation experience who has been around league average, and can give your team 150+ innings.
Hoping to change my username to 75769024
I think what a lot of teams are looking for now are power arms and I don't know if you would describe Leake as a power arm, at least not compared to the other talent in the majors. There are a ton of young, up and coming power arms in the majors and I feel that if teams offer the chips they have, the Diamonbacks will look more favorably on those chips than Leake. For example (to keep it locally from my standpoint), if the Cardinals offered Shelby Miller and Trevor Rosenthal as part of a package for Upton, I'm willing to bet that the Diamondbacks take that package over a package the Reds offer with Leake. I can give you other teams prospects in the same type of scenario and the result would probably be the same.
According to Cleveland radio the Indians reportedly just pulled out of a trade of Cabrera that was close because the trade partner wouldn't add a 3rd prospect. This would have led you to believe the third prospect would have got it done. Now we don't know what prospects were involved, but maybe the trade market isn't as stiff as some of us think.
Games are won on run differential -- scoring more than your opponent. Runs are runs, scored or prevented they all count the same. Worry about scoring more and allowing fewer, not which positions contribute to which side of the equation or how "consistent" you are at your current level of performance.
If the Cardinals offered Miller and Rosenthal to the Reds for Leake I pray that they are quick enough to take it before the Cardinals chafe their mind. Lol
But that just means that two good pitchers getting paid league minimum and under control for five+ seasons are more valuable than one good pitcher whose about to get expensive and under control for only three more seasons.
However, I think Leake is worth more than either Miller or Rosenthal by themselves. I doubt teams care how hard a guy throws, if he gets results. Leake is proven decent starting pitcher. There are only around 50-75 of those guys around the league, which makes him more valuable than a young arm who hasn't nearly every time.
Hoping to change my username to 75769024
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