davell

I'd hope the Angels would be bringing in a 3rd team, if they're going after Shark. Dodgers? I really want pitching as the main part of the deal and don't see Zack Lee as a lead piece. Love Urias, but damn.....He's TOO young to consider as a lead piece.

I really don't give a flying [expletive] if we lose 87 games instead of 97. And just because a team loses the lesser amount doesn't mean it's in better shape than the latter.

Almora 0-1, Soler 2-5, Bryant 1-3 with 2 BB.

My problem all along with this rebuild has been that it has been one-sided. If a very high percentage of the top guys don't work out, then the last couple years have been wasted not trying. I'll err on the FO's proven ability of being able to develop players on that one. But I understand anyone else's hesitancy.

According to Bernie Pleskoff, he played another inning. Didn't seem serious. Minor tweak or something. Of course, it still lends to him being brittle.....

I hope it IS postponed. I seriously thought our chances were damn near zero. Let the Dodgers and Yankees spend big on their rotations now, maybe next year we'd have a realistic shot at him.

I really think our FO is going to give each of the big 4 a legit major league shot before moving any of them to other teams. That alone may take until the end of 2015 to accomplish. We've gone this far with it, I'm disappointed it may take longer, but another year or two of [expletive] burgers won't kill me. But [expletive] Ricketts, we could have really exploited some loopholes in IFA, that if money was there, I'm sure we would have.

Oh, just read it. Not my favorite from him. Those "Tut-tut, I knew this was going to take forever and it is good that it is taking forever. You barbarians expecting more are far too uneducated to understand what I know" people are just the worst things on earth. I've certainly been as vocal and supportive of the rebuild as anyone, but I guess I didn't look at it in the correct lens honestly. I thought we could tank 2012 and 2013 and have enough prospect inventory to trade off and compete this year, with FA signings of some magnitude this offseason. Obviously, I was mistaken in my timeline and really don't know if I expect major moves NEXT offseason at this point even. At any rate, I didn't expect it to take this long, nor did I see Ricketts in quite as pitiful of a light as I do now.....But I don't think anyone saw THIS exact strategy have to be played out the way it is.

You need to cast a wider net if you want to keep up with my comings and goings. I've been going at it with Arguello most of the day in his comments. That's how I ran into DiCaro in the first place, she was bragging about holding court on Twitter. Ah, I've never been to Arguello's site, just read his Twitter stuff. If you've got him going on Twitter though, no idea why it's not showing up for me. Not on Twitter, in his site comments. He wrote a long, snarky column about how brilliant everything is because we're too awful to spend on free agents and only the special, smart fans can see how great this truly is. Oh, just read it. Not my favorite from him.

You need to cast a wider net if you want to keep up with my comings and goings. I've been going at it with Arguello most of the day in his comments. That's how I ran into DiCaro in the first place, she was bragging about holding court on Twitter. Ah, I've never been to Arguello's site, just read his Twitter stuff. If you've got him going on Twitter though, no idea why it's not showing up for me.

After goading Parks into a half day of discussion, Sharma into the same yesterday.....Kyle was shut down today with a very simple "agree to disagree" by Julie DiCaro. Can Kyle bounce back or will he develop the equivalent of Steve Sax disease with posting?

Yeah, but Parks is an upside guy. I can see it from that perspective.

There were rumblings that the owners originally wanted a "set" fee and that any team that was willing to pay it would then be able to negotiate with the player. One, it'd give the player himself a higher contract, but it'd also take away from the Japanese club and what they were getting. On top of that, it's not like every cent from the "set" fee plus the increased player contract would have went to the player, I'm sure owners would have saved a bit themselves. If this is what the owners were hoping for, to get this very minor change-I could definitely see them holding out, if they're just tired of sending that much money over to a team, which in Tanaka's case, is 2-3 years away from being a legit FA and could leave with the team getting nothing for him.

You have prospect lists; I only have #poortomricketts. Prospect lists are to be shared and treasured by all. Signed, #PoorTomRicketts

I like Castillo and think he's going to get better. Sure the BA may drop, but I see the power improving.

Again, I've seen no numbers even speculated on an extension since last offseason. Of which I remember 5/30. Nothing since though, from a credible person or otherwise.

I'm not remembering anything along those lines, that would mean they were offering something like 5/45. You have a link? Yeah, thats really low. But I don't remember seeing it either.

I have ZERO issue with not giving him a NTC. Apparently you do? A little, but I've been pretty unimpressed with the numbers floating out about the Cubs' side of things. I wonder how serious he would be about the NTC if the money was more realistic. I don't have a huge problem with trading him at this point. Whatever, we suck and we don't seem to want to not suck anytime soon. But being unrealistic about trade demands is probably going to make us feel really good about ourselves but not actually do anything positive. I'd rather trade him than not, so as not to repeat the Garza crap. I'm kind of gearing up for NOT trading him though. Especially with talk of meeting later in the offseason to discuss an extension. To me, NOW would be the perfect time to deal him. Strike first, before teams become so consumed with FA. As for extension numbers, what have you heard? I've heard literally nothing. Last year, I think I remember 5/30ish, but he was 3 years away from FA and only had 1 solid season behind him. The idea is to lock someone in to a team-friendly deal, right? I thought that one made sense. Now, he's added another solid season to his resume and lost one in his arb clock. He'll make 5 or so in arb for 2014 and if he has another solid season, 10 or so in 2015. To buy out 3 FA years on him, whats it going to cost? On the open market, assuming he'd sign a 3 year deal, 20 per maybe? Puts him at 5/75 on an extension, with the idea you get some semblance of a discount for giving it to him early. I'd be fine if we kept him at 5/60 or 5/65. Higher than that? I'll go year to year on him, because of risk.(injury or regression) At any rate, I've heard nothing on what he wants or what we're offering?

I have ZERO issue with not giving him a NTC. Apparently you do?

Arizona. Toonster, if that's the type of package Shark gets you back, I'm holding on to him. Worst package from Nats I'd consider is something like Cole/Jordan/Karns or Goodwin. Even then, I think someone beats it.

I think teams would almost have to weight a prospect trade towards hitters, like this article, right? http://www.royalsreview.com/2011/2/14/1992424/success-and-failure-rates-of-top-mlb-prospects

http://mweb.cbssports.com/mlb/writer/jon-heyman/24227543/marlins-and-cubs-could-discuss-a-swap-of-bigtime-prospects Extremely interesting idea, my guess is Heyman has names wrong though. I'd bet we're shopping Alcantara, Vogelbach, and Villanueva, not our big 4, for the young pitching the Marlins have.(outside of Fernandez obviously)

I like Parks much more than most here, but as a Rangers fan, I do wonder if some homerism shows up? No clue what his opinion on CJ was prior to the trade though. A worse case though, is Sickels with Sano vs Javy. Not worried about Sano's K rate or hit tool, yet is worried about Javy's K rate. Big on Sano's walk rate, doesn't acknowledge Javy's big improvement there. It's a plus that Sano can stick at 3rd to him, yet he docks Javy for not being likely to stick at SS, when 3B is worst case scenario for him.

He can't play every day, but Franklin Gutierrez. Yeah, that could work. Wish Hart's knees weren't shot, to where he'd be capable of a decent LF. Morosi is reporting D-Backs interest in Schierholtz, by the way.

We need a power, right handed stopgap type to start the year behind Rizzo in the order. Any ideas? I keep looking, in FA or in trades and can't see any sort of fit. Do we just go into the year with Schierholtz or Sweeney there with a platoon guy for lefties?