Josh Johnson

[davell]

New article up on MLBTRADERUMORS says he can be had. He'll still be relatively cheap, he's young, and he's pretty damn good. I'm sure Florida would need to be overwhelmed for him, but I'd definitely be on the horn to see what they may be wanting anyway. I hope Hendry is looking into this, at any rate.

[Cubswin11]

With him being young, cheap, and having no influence on where he can be traded/not traded to, he is going to cost a ton. I would assume it would take one of Vitters or Castro + JJ, Cashner, and another top 10 prospect and a guy who can play at the ML level this year (Marshall/Stevens/Gaub/Caridad/Wells). Might be too costly, but the guy is a stud.

[toonsterwu]

For all the talk about Halladay, I would much rather make a run at Josh because he's younger, cost-controlled, and has excellent stuff. I would love to make a run at him. Keith Law has suggested 2 ready guys and 2 AA prospects. I can't imagine the deal would be significantly more than, say, what Haren netted the A's a couple years back, and I could see the deal being less due to cost-controlled years. That said, all trades have their own dynamics and environment, so I'm not directly comparing it. I mean, there are few deals where I'd suggest putting two of our top 3 arms in (J Jackson, Cashner, Carpenter), but I would definitely consider it in this case. After all, what we are hoping out of that three is for one of them to develop into, say, a 2/3 type starter (if not better), and with Johnson, you have a guy only a few years older who is established and has ace ability.

 

I mean, I wouldn't let the Marlins pick, say, any 4 guys they wanted, but I'd be willing to go hard and heavy. That said, I doubt we'll pursue this heavily, at least, not before the MB situation and CF is taken care of. Also, Frisaro and Olney (h/t mlbtr) have come out and questioned Perrotto's comment on Josh being available.

[Backtobanks]

For all the talk about Halladay, I would much rather make a run at Josh because he's younger, cost-controlled, and has excellent stuff. I would love to make a run at him. Keith Law has suggested 2 ready guys and 2 AA prospects. I can't imagine the deal would be significantly more than, say, what Haren netted the A's a couple years back, and I could see the deal being less due to cost-controlled years. That said, all trades have their own dynamics and environment, so I'm not directly comparing it. I mean, there are few deals where I'd suggest putting two of our top 3 arms in (J Jackson, Cashner, Carpenter), but I would definitely consider it in this case. After all, what we are hoping out of that three is for one of them to develop into, say, a 2/3 type starter (if not better), and with Johnson, you have a guy only a few years older who is established and has ace ability.

 

I mean, I wouldn't let the Marlins pick, say, any 4 guys they wanted, but I'd be willing to go hard and heavy. That said, I doubt we'll pursue this heavily, at least, not before the MB situation and CF is taken care of. Also, Frisaro and Olney (h/t mlbtr) have come out and questioned Perrotto's comment on Josh being available.

 

I've posted often about going after Cody Ross for CF. Johnson and Ross would cost quite a bit (in players), but it would fill 2 holes for quite a few years at a reasonable cost in dollars.