JeffH

Getting a top-notch relief pitcher might keep Marmol's arm from falling off.

I think Church would be a nice addition, but his BABIPs in 2005 and 2006 were .349 and .360. It's .294 so far this season. If he played in a park where he could hit a few more HR, he could settle in somewhere in the .800-.820 OPS range. Very useful, but nothing great.

That's like going fishing with a bare hook.

Dunn to the Nationals, Church and Rauch to the Cubs, Cubs prospects to the Reds?

Does anybody remember the day that Doug Mirabelli was traded back to the Red Sox on Wakefield's day to pitch? The Sox picked him up at the airport and he jumped out of a limo in full uniform and basically ran right onto the field minutes before the first pitch. Well this morning I was imagining the Cubs whisking Griffey from O'Hare to Wrigley in time for tonight's game. In my version though, the limo pulls up on Sheffield moments before the first pitch is thrown, and Griffey goes straight through the "knot hole" gate to take his position in RF. Are you sure he doesn't get hurt on the way in?

From the "Why?" files: Cardinals acquire Joel Pineiro from the Red Sox. http://www.hadleyonsports.com/newsletter.php?article_id=450

The ultimate strike-thrower!

Or vice versa.

While there have been many unattractive men to play major league baseball, this discussion begins and ends with Willie McGee.

The fact that Church is a common noun as well as a name should make this very easy. "Are we going to church this Sunday?"

Tell him to go outside and fire up a butt!

At least Payton is accustomed to being a part-time player and would have a role next year as a RHH OF.

Sweeney OK, Kline never in a million years.

I hope not. I was going to suggest Jacque to Florida again if we took back someone they didn't want next year, but they have absolutely no one guaranteed money next year. I think Jacque-for-Payton would be a good idea. Payton should help a little with the problems against LHP. Gets Jacque off the team for next year. Whatever little value Jacque may have goes right out the window as a part-time player. We definitely don't want him hanging around next season as an option to Pie and/or a distraction.

If they somehow managed to acquire Church, I wonder if they would revisit Jacque-for-Payton.

You can't find this kind of analysis just anywhere. :wink:

Not likely. If Cubs offered him a good contract, he'd probably stay. They'd probably be scared to offer him arb unless they wanted him to stay, or unless he finished pretty strong. If he finished the year at .235, with creaky knees and age climbing, I think teams wouldn't offer him what an arbitrator would. That being the case, Cubs would either sign him under their own negotiated terms, or let him walk without taking the arb-and-lose risk, or the risk that they acquire an expensive replacement only to have Dye accept arb and stick them $10 million overbudget with a guy they have no use for. And in any such case, the risk/reward factors whether he's an A or a B. Dye is hitting .235, so I doubt he'll make a Class A free agent after the season. An A gets you a top-40 pick plus another high pick, possibly even a top-30 pick. A B gets you a single pick in the 40-60 range. Not sure management would see that as valuable enough to justify offering arb. Unless they changed the rules in the new CBA but don't they classify Type A and B FAs by their last 2 seasons? Not sure if the rule still works this way, but wouldn't Dye have been a free agent that previously generated compensation and therefore would not generate compensation for becoming a free agent this time around? Tim, that applies only to Type C free agents.

Also of interest from that blog:

Not really. Murton's BABIP last season = .321 (sustainable) Laird's BABIP last season = .380 (not sustainable)

That would make sense.

We would get a shot at him first, no? Goes from worst to first in AL, then worst to first in NL. So, no. I thought they got rid of the league specific rule, and it goes strictly by record. I could be wrong. That's for the first-year player draft, no?

That is correct. Thank you, sir.

After the deadline, players must pass through "revocable" waivers prior to being traded. For this example, let us assume there is a formerly great player, Maynard Wingtip of the Texas Rangers, who now pretty much sucks except for hitting against LHP, which he still does quite well. Wingtip's contract calls for him to be paid $15 million in each of the next two seasons. The Red Sox have a need for a player who can mash LHP. They have some interest in Wingtip, but only if the Rangers pick up some of his remaining salary. The Rangers have indicated a willingness to do so, if they get some good prospects in return. So, on August 5th, the Rangers place Maynard Wingtip on revocable waivers. These are called revocable waivers because the Rangers can pull him back off of waivers at any time. The Yankees, not wanting the Red Sox to improve themselves, have the option of claiming Wingtip on waivers, effectively blocking the Red Sox from acquiring him. The Yankees have this opportunity because their record is worse than that of the Red Sox. Please see my earlier post about the order of waiver claim opportunity. If the Yankees put in a claim, the Rangers can do one of two things - they can pull Wingtip back off of waivers and keep him, or they can let the Yankees have him, contract and all. In this example, it is extremely unlikely that the Yankees would ever claim Wingtip, because they would most likely wind up stuck with him and his inflated contract. This is why players with small remaining financial obligations generally have trouble making it through waivers and players with large remaining financial obligations often pass through easily. Also, I believe this is true, but am not 100% certain: A team can attempt to get a player through waivers only once. If they try and wind up pulling him back, they cannot later try to get him through waivers again. Please feel free to correct anything I may have gotten wrong.

We would get a shot at him first, no? I believe the order goes worst team in the same league to best team in the same league, then worst team in the other league to best team in the other league.

I doubt he'd get past the Angels.