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Can cupcakes become a bat?

by Bud Light on Dec 13, 2010 9:18 PM PST

Cliff Lee going to PHI .......

Why not offer a bag of balls (or a non relevant prospect) to PHI for Joe Blanton and assume all his salary. Thats's right same guy we traded to get Outman, Cardenas and Spencer. This time all he costs is cash. Something the A's can't give to a free agent hitter under 35. He is set to earn 8.5 million this year and 2012 or 2 million less than the posting fee the A's just got returned. The A's could then assume most of that salary and flip him for a hitter.

What would Joe Blanton and a one million a year salary for the next two years fetch in the way of a bat? I got to assume either a really nice prospect in the Brett Lawrie prospect range or a hitter with a few years left before FA.

With today's moves of adding Matsui and McCarthy and the raises in arbitration this salary obligation would still give them a lower payroll than last year and have the ability to add another bat.

Thoughts?

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This was my first thought as well

Absorb Blanton’s entire deal and flip him for a hitter.

Or, absorb Blanton and Ibanez in the hopes of landing Domonic Brown. That’s like, what, $26M in payroll relief? And the Phillies are built to win now, so they could plug in some veteran platoon guys on the cheap in the outfield corners, rather than struggling through Brown’s hiccups as he develops on a World Series contender.

The Oakland A's: If you have a no-trade clause in your contract, we're in it.

by notsellingjeans on Dec 13, 2010 9:31 PM PST reply actions 1 recs

Philly already lost Werth.

Why would they give the other 2/3 of their outfield to the A’s for salary relief? I could see getting buying a lesser prospect, but probably not Dom Brown.

by NateHST on Dec 13, 2010 9:44 PM PST up reply actions

Phillies have traded for Lee, Halladay and Oswalt and they haven't parted with Brown

I wouldn’t bet on them finally saying their goodbyes as a way to move Cupcakes.

The idea to offer a minimal package in exchange for taking on the full nut of Blanton’s remaining contract to flip him elsewhere makes some sense. Although I’m not sure how practical the idea is in terms of demand for his pitching ability even at a markedly reduced price.

The monster at the end of this blog.

by grover on Dec 13, 2010 10:48 PM PST up reply actions

I'm reccing this thread, mostly because I think it will become our "discuss the Cliff Lee deal" thread for tomorrow...

I think elite pitchers are thinking about their legacy when they sign FA deals more than ever.

I think part of the motivation for Lee to sign back in Philly was the realization of how tough it is to post elite numbers in the AL East, or in Texas.

For an elite guy who probably has Hall of Fame aspirations, the resume looks a lot better 6 years later if it includes a couple World Series appearances, a sub-3.00 era, etc. That stuff is harder to come by in the AL.

The Oakland A's: If you have a no-trade clause in your contract, we're in it.

by notsellingjeans on Dec 13, 2010 9:34 PM PST reply actions

Looks like this discussion migrated over the the front page instead.

The Oakland A's: If you have a no-trade clause in your contract, we're in it.

by notsellingjeans on Dec 13, 2010 10:16 PM PST reply actions

Very interesting idea...

…but I have a modified take: find a team that, in a more perfect situation, would be looking for an SP but has run up against payroll issues. Then propose to be the third team that can facilitate the deal by making a cash contribution. The Athletics wouldn’t likely get a ready-bat with that approach [because who’s going to want an SP to be more competitive but has a good surplus position-player lying around and available]. But could land a solid prospect or two with that approach.

"It boils down to this. You guys aren’t fans of our management and look through that prism." ~ DrDoom

by LowcountryJoe on Dec 13, 2010 10:17 PM PST reply actions

why not keep blanton?

surely if everyone wants beltre to contend a veteran starter not named mccarthy would be useful

by DubElXero on Dec 14, 2010 2:00 AM PST reply actions

I agree. Get him and keep him.

Since going to Philly his strikeout rates are back up to respectable levels (7.5/9 in 09 and 6.9/9 last year), walks have remained steady in the low twos, but he’s given up more home runs (1.38/9 both the last two years). Home runs would naturally drop a lot in the Coliseum. If he maintained the strikeout and walk rate he could easily turn in a mid 3s ERA in the Coliseum in front of the A’s defense, at which point his trade value would presumably be rebuilt. He’d be a good fifth starter for the A’s whether they wanted to flip him eventually or not. I guess the question is how much of the contract the Phillies would be willing to eat. I don’t think the A’s would pay Blanton more than $5m, just a guess. That would leave the Phils eating $7m, which is quite a bit.

by AgitationStation on Dec 14, 2010 2:32 AM PST up reply actions

I agree with much of this...

…but I don’t think the Phillies are going to need to eat any of Blanton’s salary to trade him. They would just be willing to send him elsewhere for a lackluster return. Most of Blanton’s peripherals actually look better than when he was with Oakland. He’s may actually be worth $8.5M on the open market. A lot of last years troubles can seemingly be attributed to bad luck on balls in play and gopheritis. As you pointed out, that would be less of a concern with us. If we did acquire Blanton, I’d like to use Cahill as a chip and go aggressive on trading for Colby Rasmus (although no one really knows if he’s available or not). If we fall out of contention next year, we would always have the option of dumping Blanton’s salary off to a contender who is looking for rotation help (assuming Blanton does indeed bounce back some next season to rebuild some value).

"As a rule we disbelieve all the facts and theories for which we have no use."
-Gustave Flaubert

by thinwhiteduke on Dec 14, 2010 9:08 AM PST up reply actions

the jon garland and jake westbrook contracts

suggest that 2/$17 is right about market for a pitcher of blanton’s abilities.

by NRC on Dec 14, 2010 12:27 PM PST up reply actions

7 million over two seasons for the Phils

and ten over two years for the A’s, right?

Still I think the A’s could afford to absorb the whole contract and probably just give the Phils a throw in type prospect in return since it would be giving them 8.5 million in salary relief.

Hell, if they bring Harden back from the dead, the A’s would have 2/5th’s of their 2008 starting rotation back for 2011!

"You're early, but hang around; we'll have a fight for you sooner or later."

-John "Blue Moon" Odom

by mrod on Dec 14, 2010 2:30 PM PST up reply actions

looks like someone has already moved on Cupcakes

the Sux

by OaklandSi on Dec 14, 2010 5:57 AM PST reply actions

Latest from MLBTR is

no deal has been completed. They’re just talking.

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by Kelly on Dec 14, 2010 6:30 AM PST up reply actions

ps

hi kelly

Official Athletics Nation Rotating Tagline Editor
Pam liked my old sig better.

by mikev on Dec 14, 2010 7:43 AM PST up reply actions

hi mikev!

Wisconsin's #1 A's fan!
http://athleticsforlife.net/

by Kelly on Dec 14, 2010 12:11 PM PST up reply actions

This is a bad idea

We already have plenty of trade chips, but apparently no reasonable suitors. That means we would get stuck with Blanton. The question then is, “would we be any better with Blanton?” My answer is absolutely not. I just don’t think he’ll be any better than McCarthy/Outman/Ross/Mortenson/Cramer. Remember, we don’t need all of those guys to be good, just one of them. That means if any 1 of these 5 guys has a good year, we have no need whatsoever for Blanton. By my calculations, we still have >11M left after the Godzilla signing. Surely we can do something better with 8 figures than a 5th starter/long reliever.

"Today, I am the greatest of all time" - Rickey Henderson

by A'sFanDFW on Dec 14, 2010 9:34 AM PST reply actions

Though.....

Blanton is durable and an almost guaranteed 2 WAR pitcher. With our injury history we can reasonable expect McCarthy/Outman/Ross/Mortenson/Cramer to be filling in somewhat regularly. Remember Anderson pitched only 112 innings last years so for long term reasons we probably shouldn’t bump his innings up too significantly.

I’d like a big bat too, but the free agent market doesn’t seem too deep this year. Blanton seems like he’s worth the risk. I like this idea.

by OnlybuyBeaneJerseys on Dec 14, 2010 10:27 AM PST up reply actions

unfortunately

we probably need more than one of those guys to be good. especially given the apparent frailty of braden and anderson. also, outman won’t be ready for the rotation before june, mccarthy and ross are huge health risks, and mortensen and cramer are unlikely to provide more than replacement level performance.

you underrate blanton. he may not have killer stuff, but its the same stuff he had with oakland, and he’s been playing in the philly bandbox with ibanez and ryan howard fielding behind him for the past two seasons. advanced metrics like him as about the same pitcher he was when the a’s traded him.

i have little doubt blanton would be a 2 win upgrade for the a’s, maybe more. if they can get him by merely assuming his salary, they absolutely should.

by NRC on Dec 14, 2010 12:20 PM PST up reply actions

This is not correct

5 guys each with a 20% chance of being worth 2 WAR are not worth the same as 1 guy with a 100% chance of being that good. It takes significant time (and IP) to figure out that a guy is NOT good enough. That waste makes “multi-headed monsters,” like the one you propose, incredibly inefficient.

Odds are decent that the one who has a good year will be having it in AAA, and you won’t get around to giving him the job until half the season has gone by.

"We don't want our people to be preoccupied with seminude, crazy men jumping up and down who are chasing an inflated object," said Sheik Mohamed Osman Arus, head of operations for the Hizbul Islam insurgent group.

by PaulThomas on Dec 14, 2010 2:26 PM PST up reply actions

Yes

I miss Joe Blanton. He was one of my favorite players on the A’s before he was traded. He will give the team innings, a competitive attitude, and cat-like reflexes. He will also fight any Mariner who gets out of line. Bring back Joe Blanton!

by Reg on Dec 14, 2010 1:46 PM PST reply actions