Outshined_One

Garland's a free agent after next season. If the Orioles trade Tejada, it's guaranteed they're going into rebuilding mode. Somehow I don't think they'd do this deal just to dump salary, especially considering Tejada's impressively reasonable contract. They'll want good prospects.

The fun part is that White Sox fans are currently speculating that they could trade Jon Garland + Juan Uribe for Miguel Tejada since this deal gives them six starting pitchers. Heh.

Chris Young and Felix Pie are comparable prospects, only Young managed to put together 466 ABs in the Southern League last season. .277/.377/.545 with 26 HRs and 32 SBs. He led the league in runs, doubles, and homers. He is a year older than Pie and has issues with Ks (129 last season, but 70 BBs) and oozes potential in CF. The White Sox get an immediate upgrade from El Duque, but they give up their best prospect in the process.

This has been something that has been bugging me for most of the offseason, especially since The Raj told the Astros to go fly a kite. The Astros have a lot of trading chips that they could put to use. Roy Oswalt has had his share of injuries, but is likely at the height of his trade value (especially after going into St. Louis and shutting down the Cardinals in the NLCS). Andy Pettitte had one heck of a season last year. Backe is solid, albeit unspectacular. Brad Lidge is still a valuable commodity as a closer and would automatically solidify any bullpen. They have some good young pitching (Hirsh, Nieve, Astacio, Buchholz). If you remember, their primary problem last season was a sheer lack of offense. They haven't exactly gone out and done much about it so far in the offseason. SS and RF are both areas that they could upgrade in the offseason. This is a team that could put together a very attractive package pitching-wise. While the Cubs could potentially do the same, I get the feeling that the Astros are more willing to part with certain guys than the Cubs are (mostly due to age, contracts, and injuries). I would not be surprised one bit whatsoever if the Astros end up landing a big bat during the offseason.

I didn't say anything about the worst teams in the AFC, mind you. :) Here are the remaining teams: Miami, Cleveland, Baltimore, NY Jets, Buffalo, Houston, Tennessee, and Oakland vs. Philadelphia, St. Louis, Green Bay, Detroit, San Francisco, and Arizona I'd say that Miami, Cleveland, Philly, and St. Louis are all mediocre teams on any given Sunday. But the rest? Yuck.

If we're speaking French, it should be Msr., not Mr. :D

And I've read numerous reports all saying that there is no way Angelos trades Tejada, period. Only time will tell. The two aren't mutually exclusive, mind you. ;)

Here's the thing... The AFC is still a good distance ahead of the NFC in terms of the quality of teams. They have the best team in the NFL (Indy), one very good team (Denver,), and a bunch of good teams (San Diego, New England, Pittsburgh, Cincy, Kansas City). You could toss Jacksonville into the good team pile if you want, but I think their current QB situation will end up knocking them out of the playoffs. Meanwhile, in the NFC, the best team is Seattle. After that, it's a huge crush of teams that could all qualify as second best. Chicago, NY Giants, Minnesota, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Dallas, Washington, and Atlanta all fall into that group. So...would you take one of those second best teams on the road against one of the good teams in the AFC? Or even on the road against each other? At home against one of those AFC teams wouldn't exactly be a guaranteed win, either. Heck, Indy could probably pound the crap out of any team in the NFC at this point at home, on the road, underwater, in space, on the moon, or in an alternate reality. After watching today's game, this game cleared that up for me by a ton. I think whoever gets home field in the NFC Championship game is going to go to the Super Bowl. There are too many questionable QBs, too many shaky coaches, suspect defenses, and maligned special teams in the NFC to give road teams much of a shot at pulling off upsets.

I agree, but who is to say Abrue wouldn't cost just as much? I'd honestly rather have Abreu at this point than Tejada. It'd be one thing if the Cubs had some one ready to take over in RF and a gaping hole at SS...but instead it's the other way around.

Minimal, given his likely demands, age, and injury history. Apparently he's leaning towards signing with the Giants.

Er...Buchholz isn't really a high-end prospect. A couple of years ago he was, but that ship has sailed. Hirsh, Nieve, and Astacio are the three top young ML-ready pitchers in that organization. They have some promising guys in the lower levels (Barthmaier, Patton), to boot.

how is he similar to Rich Hill? :? b/c he's a lefty? Lefty with a knockout curve, decent fastball, and a mediocre changeup. Couple that with mechanics that cause him to be wild (15 WPs and 86 BBs) and you have a similar pitcher. Only notable differences are age (Loewen is 21) and G/F (2.58 for Loewen, .92 for Hill).

Loewen's numbers in High A Ball: 142 IP, 28 G, 27 GS, 10-8, 4.12 ERA, 130 H, 8 HR, 146/86 K/BB, 1 CG BA says that he's had shoulder issues and needs to straighten out his mechanics. LHP that works 90-92, touches 95 and a good curveball. However, his changeup needs work. The Cubs don't need another Rich Hill, imo.

Why would Baltimore have much interest in Todd Walker? And yes, I would be really mad if the Cubs traded Prior or Zambrano and change for Tejada and a pitching prospect.

That pen somehow managed to land them in the World Series. Go figure. Also, I've been warning about this happening on other posts. They have name commodities in Lidge and Oswalt who could fetch them a big bat no problem. They also have some interesting young pitching. The fact that Raj seems to be either retiring or running off to another team has freed up enough money for them to pursue a big name. Moreover, their offense needs upgrades pretty much all around.

God help us all if he gets a place in Greenwich Village.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand the Orioles are falling apart before our eyes.

Quite possibly, although given the way various non-Cubs sites have slobbered over him (see: Baseball America), I don't think it's that much of an overrating.

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha Is that Paul Sullivan in disguise?

So are Ramirez and Wood, what's your point?

I didn't necessarily say All Star help, mind you. Soto could come in immediately as a backup catcher and be a much cheaper option than Lieberthal. He'd probably at the least match Lieberthal's production and is a very good defensive catcher. Moore, on the other hand, I think would be tempting for the Phillies. He'll be in AA next season and has already come around with his bat. He also has speed. The only knock on him has been his defense and apparently those flaws can be corrected with more reps and coaching. Yes, I do think they will both be productive players down the line. Both are young. Both have a future in baseball. Both are either ML-ready or close to it. I'd imagine the Phillies would have interest in both.

Why would the Cubs even want to save money this offseason?

I think that those teams would be looking for those ideally, but the question of how realistic those expectations are comes up. Long post ahoy! Regarding Tejada, the word is that he has a bad relationship with Ramon Hernandez and the Orioles knew about it. Yet, they still decided to bring him in. The Orioles also are looking like the 4th best team in the AL East. Their farm system has very few good players in it who are at most a year away from being ready. Their pitching staff is young, unproven, and/or sucks. They have good offensive players, but not enough to make up for the pitching problems. If anything, I think the Orioles are a few years away from competing for the AL East again. Tejada is angry at them and would likely be a distraction in the clubhouse if his relationship with Hernandez is as bad as I've heard it to be. Yet, Tejada is also signed to a good contract and has trade value. They could get some top prospects for him, especially pitching, which the Cubs have. However, given that the market for him is not that strong (I'd say it's Boston and Chicago with Atlanta as a dark horse), I don't think that they could reasonably demand a Zambrano or a Prior, if they are set on trading him. I don't think money is the issue with them, either. As for the Phillies, they're in a slightly different bind. It was mentioned earlier in the offseason that the Phillies would like to get out from under two of their three large contracts (Thome, Burrell, and Abreu). They already unloaded Thome, but in the process they got an extra outfielder, causing them to have a bit of a problem in terms of a logjam. Michaels, Rowand, Abreu, Burrell, and Victorino (with Bourne waiting in the wings) all will vie for playing time. Yet, with Burrell and Abreu's contracts, something tells me both will start no matter what, which could be problematic since they might not be able to start their best OFs. Now, in an ideal world, the Phillies would trade Pat Burrell, shift Rowand to left, and play Michaels in CF until Victorino or Bourne are ready next year. However, I reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally don't think there's much of a market for Burrell, especially given his horrifyingly bad contract and his recent inconsistency. They could pawn him off on some team, but they'd still have to consume at least a portion of his contract. Also keep in mind that this is a team that should make a run at the NL East next season if they solidify their bullpen and rotation. They could also use a third baseman and a catcher in the near future. Abreu is the kind of guy who could help plug those holes and the Phillies wouldn't have to pay a dime of his salary. He has two years left and is towards the end of his prime, so they should get good value for him. I think the Cubs could provide the pitching they need as well as some help at 3B (Scott Moore) and C (Geovanny Soto) that could help at a cheap price down the line. I think there's a more reasonable chance they could get a stud pitcher for Abreu than Tejada would, given the market for a RF. There's more of a chance that some team will overpay for Abreu. However, I personally do not feel like he is worth Prior or Zambrano. His age is enough of a factor to make me pause and wonder how much longer he could keep it up. Edit: You know...what's bugging me in this whole situation is the fact that the Astros have been unusually quiet this offseason. Clemens might not return, which should free up money in the budget. They also have some interesting young pitchers (Hirsh, Nieve, Astacio, Magical Wandy, Buchholz). I'm not saying it will happen...but what if the Astros offered Roy Oswalt for Abreu or Tejada? Feasible scenario?

I'd just add that that window of low salaries for those two is closing quickly. And I think it would be in Jim Hendry's interest to hire some City of Chicago dumptrucks, fill them with cash, and then drive them up to Prior's and Zambrano's houses when said window is near its closing.

Hoo boy, could you imagine the possibilities for jokes if the Cardinals shipped Edmonds to the Yankees? Cripes, they already have A-Rod and Jeter on that roster; it'd be a complete and total zoo if Edmonds was tossed into the mix.