Who should we target in a trade?
by FrankCohen on Jun 13, 2009 12:15 AM PDT
Email
PrintWarning: This is a "glass is half full" post, one in which we talk about trading FOR established major leaguers, and one in which no complaining about Bob Geren's managerial tactics shall be encouraged.
If by the trade deadline our Oakland Athletics have trimmed the deficit in the winnable AL West and Billy Beane decides his team can compete, who would you like to see him target? Some names that seem interesting:
Ryan Spilborghs OF/Col
Victor Martinez C, 1B/Cleveland
Aubrey Huff 1B, DH/Baltimore
Mark DeRosa Util/Cleveland
Lastings Milledge OF/Washington
Nick Johnson 1B/Washington
Victor Martinez is most likely out of the question given what Shapiro would demand for him. The others, however, seem like realistic targets. We have expendable pieces such as Gio, Gallagher, and Simmons to play around with, any of which should land us one of those targets besides V-Mart. Now that I'm in a creative mood, how about Gio, Gallagher, and Pennington for Brad Hawpe? Meh, just an idea. Anyway, who would you like to see the A's target?
48 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
I would love to see Derosa in green and gold.
Cubbies are my national league team and I hated to see him let go. Good team guy that plays every position except catcher and pitcher (though he probably would) AND he can rake. If the A’s got DeRo and brought back Swish…well….don’t let the door hit you, Matt Holliday.
Eh, I know this is supposed to be an optimistic post
But I really don’t want any of those guys. We need to trade for a 3b.
"If Bowden was a general contractor, he'd build houses with nine bedrooms, six garages, no bathrooms, and half a roof."
can victor play 3rd?
If so…i would love to have him…but not give up anything for him…do you guys think that’s possible? lol
What you fail to understand in your joyless myopia is that baseball is the key to life-- the Rosetta Stone, if you will. If you just understood baseball better all your other questions your, your... the, uh... the aliens, the conspiracies they would all, in their way be answered by the baseball gods.
I do.
"To this day and dating back 25 years, before every game he plays, Henderson stands completely naked in front of a full length locker room mirror and says, "Ricky’s the best," for several minutes."
by VORP is too nerdy on Jun 13, 2009 8:07 AM PDT up reply actions
that's wheat I thought
where corn he play?
I always take it with a Grain of salt.
"If Bowden was a general contractor, he'd build houses with nine bedrooms, six garages, no bathrooms, and half a roof."
by DyeLongJustice on Jun 13, 2009 10:47 AM PDT up reply actions
I like Ryan Spilborghs.
Or Seth Smith, for that matter. Both of them are being buried on Colorado’s bench, and we could use a better solution in center.
"PECOTA can pretty much kiss my ass."-Nico
My take on the 6
DeRosa excellent player for the A’s but will cost a top prospect.
Martinez Not coming to oakland. He will cost even more a cahill or Mazzaro.
Spillbourgh excellent player for the A’s. He has always hit lefties and a OBA guy. Cost is not as high so could we offer a Eveland for him?
Huff another giambi. Only if the cost is a low prospect.
Milledge Bradley jr. Only if he is available on the cheap of a filler type of prospect.
Johnson as i said before a Eveland for him or a Patterson but no top prospect. He can hit.
If Milledge is Milton Bradley(not the Cubs version) Jr, sign me up
Too bad he isn’t hitting. Or playing defense.
Eveland for Johnson would be a solid deal for both sides. He should easily put up a FIP in the mid 4’s in the NL, and 4-5 years of that isn’t a bad deal in the slightest sense.
"You end up with a name like ‘Outman,’" he said last week. "What else are you going to do? You’re going to get people out, man." ~ Dallas Braden
First off no one..But if we're in it or out of it...
If we trade Holliday – I think we should go get L.Milledge and take a flyer on him…I’m guessing he can be had for cheap…
If we’re in it:
1 – Get some bullpen help
2 – DeRosa would be great! but that means Kennedy doesn’t play 3rd when Ellis comes back..but DeRosa is solid and would be a great pickup for any team.
Horray- a great question
I think that it will take about 2-3 weeks of good playing for us to get back into the race.
Lets say that we do this and it looks like we can swing a trade for an established player as your post suggests. If we have been playing well over the past month, then that probably means several hitters must be performing well (Like Giambi or Nomar or Sweeney). I think the A’s should add a player who fills a gap in the line-up.
The most likely gap will be 3B or CF. However, as I said we might have a productive Sweeney back in CF or it could mean that Davis is still hot. At 3b- We could have shifted Kennedy or Nomar there.
I suppose we could just add whatever power hitter was available and use him at 1B or RF and make Cust/ Giambi or the new guy go to DH.
From your list I would take V. Martinez and use him at DH (Could he be back-up catcher when Suzuki needs day off?) I think Powell needs to play at AAA for a while to get some more Playing time. He is not ready for major league pitching.
I would also be interested in N. Johnson. (making Giambi full-time DH)
However, I can’t stand L. Milledge. I follow the Mets and was embarassed by his behvior. He is not someone who was missed in the Mets clubhouse.
I really think Beane would greatly improve the morale of the club by adding an established player. It would be a needed sign from him that he believes in them and Geren. Aside from losing Haren’s production his trade was seen as sending up a white flag and the team fell apart.
Lastings Milledge is garbage
Don’t get me wrong, I and others appreciate people like yourself coming up with ideas such as this and some of your suggestions I like (Mark DeRosa) but Lastings Milledge is a big fat NO.
There’s a mistake Beane tried to make and thank God the other side didn’t take him up on his offers (if the rumors were true).
Yeah, Milledge just doesn't fit
1- Milledge is not a centerfielder. Not even close.
2- Yes, he has more upside than the Sweeney/Cunningham/Buck crew. Problem is, right now, its just “upside”. I think he reaches his potential, but a team with plenty of “upside” types and few sure things shouldn’t make such a move.
3. The Nats have no reason to trade him right now. None.
"You end up with a name like ‘Outman,’" he said last week. "What else are you going to do? You’re going to get people out, man." ~ Dallas Braden
Hmm... good suggestions
1- Gio, Gallagher, and Pennington for Brad Hawpe? Umm, that’s a horrendous deal for the A’s. The A’s should give up half that, AT THE MOST, for Hawpe. The Rox are going to overprice and overvalue him, so I stay away.
Hawpe is a significantly worse defender than the likes of Adam Dunn, Jack Cust, Jason Giambi, Raul Ibanez, etc. He gives back in the field almost all the runs, if not all, that he produces. He’s going to be overvalued on the trade market because of that.
2- Any VMart discussion starts with one of MAC. In other words, I’ll pass.
3- DeRosa probably seems like the most logical of the bunch. He’ll cost more than what the Cubs got for him (because that deal was absolutely stupid, a salary dump, and only made so the Cubs could afford Milton Bradley) but I think the A’s can grab him with one mid level prospect.
"You end up with a name like ‘Outman,’" he said last week. "What else are you going to do? You’re going to get people out, man." ~ Dallas Braden
In retrospect
You’re right, that would be giving up too much. I was taking into account my perceived value of each Gio/Gallagher rather than the league’s perceived value of them (I don’t see either of them really panning out). And yeah, I agree that V-Mart is most likely out of the question. But anyway, what player do you think Gio/Gallagher/Pennington could nab us? It seems difficult to gauge the trade value of that group since Gio/Gallagher have shown flashes of brilliance and flashes of terrible pitching. Pennington could prove to be a decent Utility man.
Jack "The Must, Just has no Rust, ain't no Bust, after him the ladies Lust, turns pitchers into Dust, likes his pizza with no Crust" Cust
Hrm...
Gallagher’s FIP last year was 4.48 . In his cup of tea in the bigs this season, he put up a FIP of 4.48. He’s only 23, and has already showed a fair amount of proficiency at the MLB level. If he were still prospect eligible, he’d be a top 50-75 prospect in all MLB, easy.
Gio’s a hard one, as he hasn’t really flashed much at the MLB level and he’s a year older. He’s got less value than Gallagher, but he’s still got value.
Pennington – utility man. Simple as that. Not much value. But then, Wilson Betemit was able to draw a paycheck over 1MM before getting cut and guys like Willie Bloomquist and Aaron Miles got considerable money.
This wouldn’t be enough to get a Victor Martinez, but it could get much more than a Brad Hawpe in trade. I don’t know, honestly.
"You end up with a name like ‘Outman,’" he said last week. "What else are you going to do? You’re going to get people out, man." ~ Dallas Braden
How I see it
Gio has the most value since nobody knows how good he will be once in the majors. Gallagher could be valuable but since he is back in AAA his value goes down when other GM question why he could stick with the majors just yet but at 23 he has strong value. Pennigton is what you call a B prospect in that evry team has a utility AAA player. I still don;‘t know why the A’s have him in AAA because he has more of a upside than crosby. That being said the A’s have 3 starters in AAA that could be in the majors so the A’s do have trading chips and as everyone knows starting pitching is what most non-contenders worship so any of thsoe 3 should be able to get a hitter stright across. Not a allstar but a quality hitter.
Hawpe is a fantastic offensive player, though, IIRC
Not sure what his splits look like.
Never, Never, NEVER give up
While being sellers is definately a possibility...
Think of it this way: were 8 games back of the Rangers, who’s pitching has historically worn down as the weather has gotten warmer. Although their pitching is struggling, the Angels are still the team to beat in my mind. We are only 3.5 games behind them in the standings. One solid week and we are right back in the thick of things in this very winnable division. Our pitching has shown great improvements since Mazzaro came up; once our offense goes on a roll, we will look like a contending team. Plus, don’t forget that we play our division rivals numerous times before the season ends, allowing for vital ground to be made up.
Jack "The Must, Just has no Rust, ain't no Bust, after him the ladies Lust, turns pitchers into Dust, likes his pizza with no Crust" Cust
In a division that a .500 team could potentially win
With our team, particularly with our mostly no-go offense and scrubs, I’d rather be sellers and take our chance with our current kids AND any kids we might haul back then be buyers giving up a piece of our future. My major issue with your idea is I don’t want to play a crap shoot in the post season with this team. More accurately, I don’t want to give up an iota of our future based on a crap shoot with this team.`
CuttheMullet, from "The Thread":
"Whenever I’m about to do something, I think "would an idiot do that?" and if they would, I do not do that thing."
The playoffs are a crapshoot
No matter what the team. To be honest, if our hitting starts to click, I don’t think any team would be excited to face Braden/Outman/Mazzaro? in the playoffs
Jack "The Must, Just has no Rust, ain't no Bust, after him the ladies Lust, turns pitchers into Dust, likes his pizza with no Crust" Cust
Maybe, and I stress maybe
because based on the alternative rotations they’d face, it’s likely to be the weakest and least experience (not a good combo). It’s pretty much a wait and see about all three of those guys with varying degrees about whether they maintain their current level of play (Mazzaro and Outman most likely to regress pretty badly). And I sure as hell would never mortgage our future on the idea of our offense “clicking” for the playoffs.
I can appreciate your enthusiasm, particularly getting caught up with a lot of people around here when they rattled off a seven game win streak. BUT, while I believe our pitching will definitely have similar flashes from here on out, I wouldn’t count on our offense of doing the same. This team will be lucky to finish at .500 and I don’t think there’s going to be any difference makers out there (that won’t cost us a couple of big arms of the MAC variety) that will improve on that. Our offense is more than one player away from reliably getting it done. THIS is why trading our pieces for AAA major league ready pieces now would be a good idea. Let them play for .500 and IF they somehow make the playoffs, let them get that experience, not a bunch of scrubs that won’t be around for long.
CuttheMullet, from "The Thread":
"Whenever I’m about to do something, I think "would an idiot do that?" and if they would, I do not do that thing."
I share this sentiment
I seriously, seriously doubt that the team with the worst pitching in baseball(that moniker still belongs to the Rangers) is going to continue going on this tear.
If we’re close enough (say, at .500 and/or within 4-5 games), I say keep Holliday but don’t buy anything else unless its something like a salary dump or will only cost fringe prospects. Maybe go for DeRosa if the price isn’t much (with the amount of interest in DeRo, I think the Tribe will be able to get a better deal than what I think we should give up). As Nick said below me, DeRo isn’t going to transform this team from a .450-.500 team into a .550 team/ the division favorites.
If we’re any further back, trade Holliday.
"You end up with a name like ‘Outman,’" he said last week. "What else are you going to do? You’re going to get people out, man." ~ Dallas Braden
And just to elaborate on trading-deadline deals
These kind of deals usually involve one of the following:
1) A very good, contending team getting a role player they want for the stretch run or even for the playoffs (a LOOGY or a pinch-runner or pinch-hitter type);
2) A very good, contending team getting a starter to replace their current #5 starter;
3) A very good, contending team filling a big hole in the lineup with a big bat in exchange for prospects (like the McLouth deal, or when the A’s got Guillen or Dye).
I don’t really see any of these applying to the A’s. We already have role players — they just happen to be starting every day. Half our lineup is holes — unless we’re talking about, I dunno, Hanley Ramirez or David Wright, it’s hard or me to imagine any single player changing our lineup from mediocre and inconsistent into something more threatening. And any scenario in which the A’s are contending involves our current pitching staff exceeding expectations. I can’t imagine the A’s being in position to contend, and wanting to trade prospects for a front-line starter.
And the kinds of guys we could get, like DeRosa, just aren’t good enough to put us over the top.
I’m sure Beane will keep an open mind, but I don’t think the A’s will be trading medium- or long-term talent for short-term improvement in the next month and a half. In fact, I hope they don’t.
"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s
But on the flip side,
4) a bargain-hunter GM who isn’t trying to accomplish any of those things, but makes the most of the trade-deadline frenzy by trying to get a good deal out of some other GM who does have an agenda.
I think that regardless of the A’s record, Beane will once again be neither “seller” nor “buyer”. I think he feels no great need to unload Holliday, but if a good enough offer is made he’ll take it. Likewise, he feels no great need to go out and get anyone, but if someone is available at a good price, he’ll take it.
As for the latter, if it’s really possible to get any player who doesn’t suck for Eveland, I’d be in favor of that. I think Eveland’s best years are behind him. I don’t think he’s coming back at all.
"Go ahead and overachieve, you scrappy Brett-Favre-colored walk-takers." —Rev Halofan
{And by "best years" you mean 3 months}
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
I have a really hard time believing, though
that Mark DeRosa is going to be the difference between us winning the division an us finishing 2nd. I mean, the likelihood of that is probably in the low single-digit percentile.
We might get back into the race (i.e., actually climb all the way up to .500 and be, say, 5 games out) before the All-Star break. And then we might go 10-20 when our rookie starters all hit the wall at the same time.
The A’s pythagorean record is identical to our real record — we’re a .450 ballclub because that’s what we are, not because of luck. None of those guys is going to transform a .450 ballclub into a .550 ballclub in half a season.
"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s
Always nice to have a little optimism
That said, even if the A’s can continue to build off a good start to the month and get back to .500 I don’t think we’ll see any moves that would hinder the team’s strength in the coming years to help their chances this year. If we are actually buyers this summer I think it will either be small moves that don’t cost too much or a deal from strength for a player who will fill a need not just for this year but for coming years as well.
I could see Eveland or a reliever going in a smaller deal for a stop-gap third basemen, I’m not sure if you could make a package using those pieces to get Derosa but it might be worth a look. Another name that might be interesting is Jeremy Hermida, I’ve heard that the Marlins are considering moving him but I don’t know what it would take to land him. I think he is just heading into arbitration years and shouldn’t command too much because of his inconsistent performance. He strikes out a bit too much but has shown the ability to take a walk and hit for some power, might be worth looking at depending on how strongly you believe in Sweeney, Buck, and Cunningham.
Huff, DeRosa and Johnson are free agents
I don´t see Beane trading young pitchers for rental players, you can get those guys in the offseason and with Holliday, Crosby, Cabrera, Duke, Springer and Giambi off the books Beane will have more than 30 million to spend, and that Number in THIS market put the A’s in a really good position…He can get Tejada to play SS, DeRosa to play 3B, Johnosn/Huff to play 1B and he wont spend the 22 Millions…
If Beane goes out and try to get help this year I would liketo see someone who can help this AND next year, I think JOSH WILLINGHAM will be a good fit for this team, he can play 1B/LF, RH bat with power and good OBP…
Andy Marte?
what about a flyer on Marte – he’s batting over .300 for Cleveland’s AAA team, from what I remember, he was pretty solid with the glove, and I don’t think Cleveland’s going to be using him any time soon…
"He's pretty nasty," Gardenhire said. "The last pitch to Harris, we went and watched it, it's on the black. It cut the outside corner of the plate, the tip of it, and that's pretty nasty."
(Ron Gardenhire on Brad Ziegler)
How about Jake Fox
AAA guy, yeah. Since he’s going to cost pretty much nothing, go for it. He hasn’t really gotten a shot at the MLB level and fits the Jack Cust/Russell Branyan mold.
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/free-jake-fox
"You end up with a name like ‘Outman,’" he said last week. "What else are you going to do? You’re going to get people out, man." ~ Dallas Braden
Good idea with Jake Fox
Hoffpauir could also be had for relatively little I would imagine.
Jack "The Must, Just has no Rust, ain't no Bust, after him the ladies Lust, turns pitchers into Dust, likes his pizza with no Crust" Cust
Good God yes on Fox
Can we trade the Cubs Harden again?
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
Zimmerman.
"I’m Joey Devine, I’m what Joba Chamberlain would be if he was good and nobody had ever heard of him."
And I hate his news.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
Hawpe is a product of colorado
He would disappoint.
Cust is the new Jaha.
by johnjahafanclub on Jun 15, 2009 10:19 AM PDT reply actions
he might not be as good as his colorado numbers
but he’d likely be alright. Keep in mind that he is hitting .276/.364/.520 away. From 06-08, he hit .288/.384/.505 away.
Vmart ofcourse
Not that anybody would want to play for us
What about Holliday for Hart and Gamel?
with another expendable pitcher thrown in? I would love to see that happen, but it’s probably only a dream.
can't see the brewers doing that
two young cheap pieces for an expensive guy like Holliday? Doubt it, particularly with their needs on the mound.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
