Transmogrified Tiger

Here are the entries of the 4 who submitted entries. jtownie Arizona trades Sergio Santos, Brad Halsey, Koyie Hill, and Chad Tracy to Houston for Brad Lidge. Houston does as they have a decent 1st baseman that can eventually take over for Bagwell while also receiving a good SS prospect, pitching prospect and catching prospect. All are still cheap and Qualls can then take over closing duties. Arizona does this as Lidge isn't a FA for a few years. They have Green that can move to 1st and then opening a spot for Jackson or Quentin. They seem to have found a good catcher in Chris Snyder. Lidge would allow the Dbacks to have insurance in case Lyon is not as effective once he comes back from injury. It would also allow them to put him into the setup role creating a very effective end of the bullpen if he does come back and is effective. Cpattfan27 Diamondbacks get: Shields, and Dejesus Royals get: Cruz Jr, and Tracy Angels get: Sweeney, Hairston, E. Gonzalez, and cash (from Royals) Dbacks do this because they get a quality arm in the pen in shields, and a young CF who can field and hit in Dejesus. Royals do this because they unload some of Sweeny's contract, as well as getting Cruz Jr, who in the past has show great power, and Tracy, a 1b/3b stud, who could do very well for them in the future. Angels do this because they get a pretty good hitting 1B in sweeney, and potentialy good 2B/OF in Hairston, and a very good pitching prospect in E. Gonzalez. Dbacks get: Batista Blue Jays get: Cintro, and Santos Dbacks do this because Batista has been great as a closer this year, and the bluejays do this because they are severely lacking in the SS department, and could use an ML starter in cintron, as well as a decent prospect in santos 2B Counsell CF Dejesus LF Gonzalez 3B Glaus 1B Clark RF Green SS Cintron C Snyder Pitcher SP Vazqyez SP Webb SP Estes SP Halsey SP Vargas RP Medders RP Koplove RP Valverde RP Shields CL Batista Roast Trade #1: Mariners trade Raul Ibanez to the Chicago Cubs for Sergio Mitre and Ricky Nolasco. The Mariners pick up half of Raul’s salary for 05 (3.75M), the Cubs agree to pay the other half, plus his entire 06 (4.25M) salary. The cubs also pay Mitre’s almost non-existent contract (305K). Why Seattle does it: They need pitching, they need youth, and they also need to clear up some contract room. They are going nowhere in a hurry this year, so I doubt they would mind picking up half of Raul’s contract. That gives them one very good ML-ready arm, this year. And next year that leaves them with 4.25 million dollars in breathing room plus Mitre and another solid pitcher (probably in AAA, maybe even the ML Bullpen by then). Why The Cubs do it: They have a little bit of flexibility, money wise, this year seeing as how Nomar will probably not be paid the full 11 million dollars. That of course, is because he will almost certainly not meet some of the standards needed for the bonuses in his contract. Also, next year they will be rid of Sosa’s contract for good, and will have plenty of room for Ibanez’ salary. Furthermore, they need a better option in the outfield besides Hollandsworth/Dubois if they want to make a playoff run this year. Trade #2 This one is a three way deal. The Mariners send Jose Lopez and Jamal Strong to the Cincinnati Reds. Cincinnati will send Adam Dunn to the New York Yankees. The Yankee’s will send Chien-Ming Wang to the Reds. The Yankee’s will also send Robinson Cano to the Mariners. Ok, that was a lot of words. Here it is broken down. What everyone gets: Yankees: Adam Dunn Mariners: Robinson Cano Reds: Chien-Ming Wang, Jose Lopez, Jamal Strong. Why the Mariners do it: Cano is a great young talent. He is obviously a much better option than Boone, and much cheaper too. Jamal strong has been stuck on the ml/AAA line for a while now, and with Reed, Ichiro, and Winn in front of him, he probably would have been stuck there a while longer. Lopez is a promising Minor leaguer, but Cano has showed ML success on the big stage already. Why the Yankees do it: Well, they are the Yankees. They like big bombers that draw big crowds and hit big shots. Adam Dunn is that man, and even more. He has a High OBP, too. Also, King George is mighty pissed at their performance so far, a big gun like this would satisfy him. Yes, they are giving up Cano who is a very promising player, but I don’t see them having any problem replacing him with the way they spend cash. Same goes for Wang. He’s good. But they have money, and there will be at least one star pitcher on the market next year. Why the Reds do it: Like the Mariners, they are going nowhere real fast right now. And next year does not have a very bright outlook if they cannot get that pitching improved. Wang would give them a little bit of the pitching that they need. Lopez and Strong will give them more young talent. Griffey is not as young as he once was, and you never know how long he can stay healthy. Plus, while Kearns is promising, he was just sent down to AAA. An extra outfielder would give them a little more insurance. Lopez would be a great fit for them also. The Reds recently released D’Angelo Jiminez All in all, everybody gets what they need in this trade. As far as contracts go the Yankees will eat the rest of this year’s contract for Dunn. The rest of the players exchanged have no real salary to speak of, therefore the teams that inherit them will inherit the right to give them their paycheck, also. Trade #3 Trade three would be an immediate follow up to trade two. The Mariners trade Brett Boone to the Padres for cash considerations (roughly 1-1.5 Million dollars). Why the Mariners do it: Brett Boone has little value to this team. They now have a new 2B who is young and cheap. The two or three million would go to pay some of that killer contract of Boone’s (9 million this year). What it boils down to is a good old case of “addition by subtraction.” Why the Padres do it: Loretta is expected to be out at least another month. This would give them a more powerful version of Damian Jackson to hold down the fort at second until Loretta returns. Then they can release him to the hounds, or keep him to sure up their bench as the playoffs roll around. So after this is all said and done, they have cleared up a few million dollars in contract room; and they have gotten their hands on some young talented players. Vance The Orioles have a decent offense. They rank 4th in the AL in runs scored, 1st in SLG, and 2nd in OPS. The challenge for the Birds is that they trail both the Yankees and Red Sox in runs scored. That combined with being 9th in the AL in ERA will make it tough for them to hang on as it now stands. The Orioles biggest need is pitching. If they could add a bat that could serve as DH it could help as well. The Giants have fallen seven games under .500. They are ten games behind the division leader and 9.5 out of the wild card. As an aging team, they need to get younger fast. Without Bonds, the Giants are falling farther out of the race. They would be an ideal partner for the Orioles. (Note: I don't believe this trade takes place until right before the deadline. The Giants will consider themselves a contender until the last minute, but I'm predicting by the time the deadline rolls around the Bond-less Giants will be 12-13 out of the division and 10-12 out of the WC.) If the Giants are out of it, it is rumored they would unload Jason Schmidt. If healthy, Schmidt would give the Orioles the big game pitcher they lack. The Giants and Orioles have a history of trading with each other, and Angelos will want to keep up with the good press the Nats are getting. My proposal: Giants send Jason Schmidt to the Orioles for Hayden Penn, Jay Gibbons, and John Maine. The Orioles make this move to give them the big game pitcher they lack. The Giants make this move because Schmidt is a FA after the season. In return they get a young outfielder in Gibbons allowing them to trade Alou. They get two young high ceiling pitchers in Maine and Penn.

The Baseball Cube

Has A-Rod ever lived in the DR? Are his parents DR citizens?

Now that I live in MO, I'd have to go with the White Sox, although the Cards winning with the Sox throwing the series again wouldn't be too bad. :P

Colorado is finally off the hook for Hampton after this year. Florida is paying 11 million of Hampton's salary this year to keep them out of the playoffs for Atlanta.

I'm having a real hard time understanding this deal from Oakland's perspective. Bradford is a good reliever(if healthy). Even if they felt that his value was at it's peak, why would they take on another platoon corner OF?

About a year late, but Yahoo keeps splits from 1987 going forward, but individual years starting at 2001.

I am not a fan of the Cards getting Wagner. If the Cubs decide to lose some more, that opinion could change.

Talk to me when Drew gets off the DL. :wink:

He's an excellent defensive receiver. I think he loses a lot of his value if you play him somewhere else. I doubt he'd sign with a team that didn't intend on keeping him behind the plate either. I think that about sums it up. Yeah, I wasn't trying to imply that it would be a huge deal in actuality, but that the unknown of that in addition to being a foreign player, which is a bit of a gamble, will scare away a lot of lesser-minded GMs.

Welcome to the Forum!

Is he going to stay at catcher? The idea of a foreign catcher will scare away a lot of teams I think. Especially since the Cubs haven't been proactive with Japanese players, and have 2 catchers under contract for next season.

I wondered why there wasn't a lot of enthusiasm about a lot of the picks, and found that this is considered a very weak class. I'm no expert on the draft, but it might be worth taking into consideration.

FOR THE LAST TIME BUCK, NO ONE CARES WHAT YOUR OPINION IS! YOU ARE PAID TO DESCRIBE, NOT ANALYZE!

Wow, Gomes looks solid. I'd definitely look into him. And Harper to come with him of course. :D

Well in the past it seems that Cashman don't have a say if the Boss wants it to happen. While that's true, there doesn't seem to be anything here that screams that the Boss would intervene. There's no high profile guy coming or going to NY, if anything Steinbrenner would likely be upset he didn't get the big gun(Dunn) in the deal. JMO.

Is it just me, or is that harder than Ramirez has run out any ground ball in a long long time?

Remlinger's peripherals have been quite good so far this year. near 1 WHIP, near 9 K/9, add in the fact he's a lefty, and that Borowski is worse in all those categories with diminished stuff, and it's a pretty easy decision IMO.

I don't recall Barrett, Burnitz, or Walker "carrying a team" for any stretch this year. That's a ridiculous way to determine anything, completely based on each individual's recollection of events

yeah, this will move him to the bench as punto moves to 3rd. Wow, I didn't realize Cuddyer was struggling as much as he is. Punto is having a solid season, but he's a pretty mediocre offensive third baseman. That doesn't really improve them a whole lot, since Boone hasn't been much better(if at all) than Cuddyer.

I just got steady internet back just now, so I was waiting until then to continue. Since I only received 4 entries(I'll have to double check to be sure), all those who submitted an entry advance. Stay tuned for the posting of these entries and the final scenario, where first prize wins a signed Sean Gallagher baseball!

What?

I was one of his strongest backers, and yes, he's a bust at this point. I'm not sure if it's the back and other problems that have put him on the DL periodically that have sapped his speed & power or if his skills just didn't translate well to MLB. I guess that is just part of the risk/reward when it comes to acquiring players from Japan. There really haven't been a whole lot to date. With Hideki Matsui and Ichiro being the obvious success stories. Although, Iguchi is having a pretty solid ML debut as well. I'm really interested to see how this trend will develop over the next few years. While certainly not an extremely reliable source, ESPN.com's scouting report of Matsui said that he didn't adjust well to two-seam fastballs, a pitch not often thrown in Japanese leagues. Anyone else hear or see anything like that? I wonder why Kaz struggled so mightily if that is the case, while a slap hitter(Ichiro) and a power hitter(Godzilla) have both had success coming over.

Actually, I think the opposite. The Reds don't get enough pitching, they have Encarnacion coming up at 3B so they don't have a need for LaRoche. IMO the Dodgers get hosed. Patterson, Murton Welly, and Mitre for Dunn I'd do every day of the week.

Speed? Dunn is many things, fast isn't one of them.