Hudson On the Block?

   TH for Trot Nixon is interesting speculation at best at this point. Nixon made 4.5M last year so maybe he fits the budget for 2005. It just hurts a little to consider Hudson leaving vs Mulder or Zito(Any one of them leaving at this point is painful).
   Stick The Bullog in Boston's rotation and just watch The Boss flip over that one. Frankly I could care less about Boston's or NY's "problems" this off-season. I just hope that if BB pulls the trigger on a trade, that we'll all call him brilliant next October.

My main problem with trading Hudson now is the fact that the teams that are willing to ante up for Hudson are contenders.  This brings up two issues:  first, the real fact that watching Huddy blank us next year in the playoffs would be more than my heart could bear.  Second and more importantly, getting real value for Hudson means getting good, young (cheap!) players in return, something Boston and NY cannot offer.  I don't want to see Tim traded for someone who will be priced out of our reach in 1-2 seasons.  Best bet would be to hope and pray for an extension.

I agree with you Gerard. I just don't want to see Huddy back in the playoffs with the red sox, winning the MVP of the world series, all that stuff. The Sox are my new team of hate, i dont want to see one of our best and favorite players go to a team like the red sox. After this year, i dont want them to be able to re sign anybody. I know that would be a great deal, it's just, to me it feels like trading Huddy to the angels....

Huddy and Chavy are the highest valued players Billy has.

Based on Moneyball, the payroll and the team needs it comes as no surprize to see Huddy rumors flying around out there.

Their is 'hope' in all of this for the AN ...
  -as much as we love Huddy and don't want to see him leave ...
  -Steinbrenner is not going to sit still ...
    -Cashman is pretty much limited to the players he has and however many truckloads of
      cash The Boss will tell him to use ...

  If the Yankees really want Hudson then Billy basically has them over a barrel!

   -this could be fun!  ;-)

How about trading Huddy to the Mets for Jose Reyes and David Wright? You could then flip Wright to the Reds (they are looking for a thirdbaseman) for Kearns and perhaps a bullpen arm and make Reyes your starting secondbaseman/back-up shortstop. Both Ellis and Reyes are injury risks, but with each giving the other plenty of rest, it could work. And Reyes would give the A's speed and athleticism at the top of the order, allowing Kotsay to move down to more of an RBI slot. The Mets would be dumb to trade both prospects, but they did trade Scott Kazmir for basically nothing.

It will be a good indicator that Beane believes that the A's have little or no chance to make the playoffs next year. Hudson is the rock of the staff and a team leader.

I hate the idea of Hudson leaving, but if he does go it would have to be for a deal where we get at least one top tier, All-Star caliber player. Of the ones mentioned I think Posada is the most intriguing and the most likely. The Yankees are poor in starting pitching and rich in big bats. The A's are rich in starting pitching but need a veteran catcher and a big bat. That said, I think Beane would insist on getting more than one player for Hudson, no matter how good the player.

Hmm... how about Mariano Rivera? No, it will never happen but it would be a heck of a fun rumor.

Don't do it, Billy.

getting Posada is a bad move....he's getting older...i believe he's 33 or 34 and his defense is bad....hitting wise he has great power for a switch hitting catcher but defensivly i wouldn't take him.

what about getting a guy liek Paul Lo Duca from the dodgers??

wouldn't surprise me because no one knows what's going on with the jays anymore....sigh....and only 11 years ago they won a world series....might i add that i hate hockey because even though there is no hockey the toronto press still covers only hockey....god i hate that......the jays name john gibbons they're manager a week after the regular season....it got a paragraph article in the paper.

Judging from that story by the Sacto Bee, it doesn't look good for the A's to retain Huddy's services beyond next season without awarding him a fat contract that just about guarantees the loss of Mulder or Zito. . .

"Cohen said he last spoke with Beane in September. They will discuss Hudson's status again later this month after Beane returns from next week's general managers' meetings in Key Biscayne, Fla.

Cohen would not disclose the terms of the deal Hudson is seeking but indicated Hudson wants a long-term contract at top dollar. Cohen said he considered Hudson among baseball's best five pitchers."

Does anybody really see Huddy signing for less than Colon money? If we're lucky we'll get him for 4 years-50 mil or so, but I dont think that will be sufficient. BB cannot tie up 30-40% of the payroll in 2 players, can he? Even if he can, that means AT LEAST one of the Big 3 has to go, and soon. I'm sorry, Mark Mulder, but that means you. It's been nice knowin ya and watchin that lanky frame chuck balls for 2 hours and 9 innings, but you've been injury-prone forever. . . back injury weightlifting, mysterious hip injury (non-baseball related activities, of course), mysterious forearm strain, the list goes on and on. You'll never achieve a full season of that Cy Young form you flash for a couple months at a time. . . at least we've seen Zito keep his head in the game for a full season.

So I'm sorry Mark, but you'll be traded whenever the team needs a bat really badly. You might as well set something up for us with the ChiSox for Carlos Lee. . .

On another note. . . did anybody see the Chronicle story from last Saturday about Larry Ellison wanting to buy the Warriors or Forty-Whiners? Why would a businessman like him be interested in seriously under-performing and over-valued franchises like those, when the A's are uber-competitive and definitely under-valued. I think Schott and Hoff would take less than 300 mil for the team and Ellison could easily build a new park in the north parking lot. Or he could wake up and realize we don't need a new stadium, and just pump in an extra 20 mil a year . . . wouldnt that be nice?

what's sad about it is not the state of the jays, but how worthless green has become in LA. It's pretty hard to get overlooked in a market like LA

Yup

Money and baseball. A sure fire way to run the sport into the ground. How many lastplace awards can you give out to underprivilged fans? Hudson leaving is just another player in a long line.. evaportaing the talent pool in search of greater dollars. He deserves every penny. A great player with a great personality. I hope everbody enjoyed the Red Sox and Yankees. Because there is much more of it on the way.

I always viewed baseball as a reflection of our society. That is, possibly where my true love of the sport is found. Today, that seems more than true. Its the haves vs. the have nots. The difference between the Yankees of the world and the Athletics seems to be widening. Mediocrity is on the way to Oakland.  The margin for error by a small market is getting smaller by the day.  The secrets of Moneyball were great while it lasted. I'm just a little upset.

if we trade Hudson do we throw in "the Huddy machine" for free or do we leverage it for a little extra?  What could "the machine" bring in on the open market?  Matt Stairs?

   So now that we've lamented in various ways about life without HuddyBall, what's the next step? Thus far we've envisioned Huddy going anywhere from LA to NY etc. Last year, BB stated that he may be able to keep two but not all three of these guys? Is this the sort of sweet talk we heard when the "soul-less mercenary" Giambi was in his final year?
   We know that this is it for Huddy and 2 more years on the other two. So who's going to bring the most in return? I suppose if we could use the wisdom of Solomon, we'd take Huddy's arm, Zito's leg's, and Mulder's efficiency and throw the rest of the used parts to the rest of the league...I know, not realistic and maybe borderline psychotic.
   So what does the future hold for us? The answer may be in the past. Organizations such as the Dodgers, Cardinals, Orioles established strong teams for extended periods of time through a superior farm system, emphasizing pitching and defense. Billy's already there with this organization. The biggest difference b/w then and now is free agency. Well, baseball just signed a huge deal with satellite radio for MLB games. Maybe this raises budget by a few mill for each team. Probably not enough for most teams but we are, after all, moneyball central and if BB can't make more out of less, I don't know who can. Thank God, he's on our side.
   I suppose through the strength of our farm, it will be exciting and a little painful who the next Big Three will be. Now we are waiting for Harden to "cowboy up" and let's see who comes afterward.

   It's the phrase, what's his face Milar used to say last year on the Red Sox when his teammates would come through in the clutch. No other implications.
 Re: Harden, I hope he's our next Ace to make the rest of MLB drool in envy.

I hereby declare I will never use that phrase again.

keep the heart of the team? Harden's Harden, Mulder's Mulder, Zito's Zito, but there is no one I want to throw the big game for the A's then Hudson. If you can't sign him, then what's the point anymore? Give away a potential Hall of Famer? Talk as much as you want about Moneyball, but you know what - Moneyball isn't fun anymore.

When the day comes and we trade away our aces...Eventually I think we will sign Hudson to like a 2 or 3 year deal, if Zito struggles this year, we trade him off to the Mets(cliff floyd +prospects and $$$$) or White Sox(Carlos Lee, and $$$)...Mulder i think would still be signed through 2006 or so, that would give this team a 2 year window to win it all, and if we don't, huddy is gone and still young, and mulder would move on, leaving us a rotation of Harden,Blanton,and all the others that we will have firing and young.

It's making me really sick.  All the rumors about Huddy to NY or Bos are just that so far -- RUMORS.
Just the thought of Huddy not being on the A's is scary, saddening, and every other miserable feeling :(
Please A's, resign him!  

I lived in Novato for a year, big A's fan, but got transplanted in NJ, If Huddy went to NY, which I doubt, since they have no prospects I would absolutly throw up..But I am enjoying the Curse of the Giambino!! when he left it hurt like a girlfriend cheating on you with your worst enemy...please dont putt Huddy in that category

he boston deal getting Trot Nixon and Youkilis wouldnt be as bad though

1. I find it hard to believe the Sox would trade Nixon AND Youkilis for Hudson.  Youks is one of the most marketable players the Sox have -- he is major-league ready and has a long way to go before becoming a FA.  
2. There is no chance the Sox would trade for Hudson without first signing him beyond 2005.
3. I would be surprised if the A's were interested in a guy with Nixon's injury history.  I'd think they would have had their fill of injury-prone right fielders at this point.  
4. I suspect this rumor is a pipe dream floated by a Boston writer trying to stir things up.  I don't buy it.  

I love Huddy as much as the next person but the A's have to stay competitive and, if possible, reach the next step.  They cannot buy a championship like NY or Boston.  If trading anyone on the team makes the team better within their budget, than Beane will do it.  We have lost some good players the last few years yet still were at the top of the division.  Huddy has a hip problem that has bothered him the last two years.  It has hurt the team in the playoffs two years ago ant this last year.  Mulder has health problems year before last and a weakness problem this year.  You cannot have too many good arms.  The trend with other teams has been to have an average starting staff and a good relief corps.  The A's have had an excellent starting staff and an average relief corps.  When the starters broke down, we paid the price.

If we put our emotions aside, could the A's improve themselves if one of their big three is traded?  The A's will not trade for prospects two to three years away or for over priced veterans.

Could the Duke be a better than average starter?  Could Blanton fill Duke's roll?  These kind of questions have to answered before a trade is made.

BaseballAmerica lists Hammond as a Type A free agent and Dye and Mercir as Type C.  Have these players been free agents in the past.  BA says that there is no compensation if players have been free agents before.  Or is this rule just for Type C free agents?

mlb is a fucking joke.  if huddy goes i may have seen my last game for a long time.  and before everyone starts jumping on me for a defeatist attitude and not understanding the idea of working within a small budget, buying low and selling high and all that, i just want to say that this sucks.  maybe player movement has always been a part of the game, but trades made purely because of the money issues indicate how royally fucked the system is in baseball.  yes, it is possible to compete on a small budget for an extended period-- the a's are not an anomoly.  BUT, while some people may have no problem rooting only for the uniform, i am sick and tired of the players i admire and support coming and going.  

think about this: chavez was the ONLY position player to play on both the 2000 a's and the 2004 a's.  just because we continued to compete doesn't make that okay with me.  this is NOT fantasy baseball.  

mlb needs to do something about this.  the owners are greedy, the players are greedy, and the agents are worse than both.  the way the nfl shares tv revenue works.  mlb has no clue.  i love the a's more than almost anything in my life, but mlb is terrible.  i love the game, and, if i have to, i'll start going to college games or something because this is an absolute joke that we are even discussing this.

Were you shocked last year when Hernandez was traded?  The A's may trade someone this year.  Darazo might go if Johnson is ready.  The A's need a starting outfielder, catcher, and some relief pitching.  If Blanton and Street are ready, Huddy may go.  We may not have these answers until spring.  

 that's why the only answer is a salary cap.
Implement it over a 3/5 year period to let the teams adjust to the current contracts.

   A team can only have 25 players on the roster and if the yanks,bosox et al, sign other teams players to 100 mill.contracts over 6/7 years
(Giambi,Sheffield etc) they would be stuck with the players and couldn't steal others because there
would be no room on the team and no money under the cap.   This cap could be set fairly high.

   That's my opinion anyway.