2011 Trade Deadline Thread

[SoxFanForsyth]

I honestly do not think Epstein constructed this team with thoughts of ever putting a defensive liability at any position' date=' especially shortstop. If Ramirez ever comes back, I believe it will be to play the outfield.[/quote']

 

If he came back, he would play SS for 2011, and then move to 3B for 2012 and beyond. I think that much is pretty obvious. A lot of players transition from SS to 3B as they get bigger (A-Rod, Ripkin both come to mind).

[iortiz]

Tigers, Red Sox Among Teams Interested In Bedard

By Tim Dierkes [July 26, 2011 at 11:42am CST]

The Tigers and Red Sox are among the many, many teams interested in Mariners lefty Erik Bedard, tweets SI's Jon Heyman. Bedard has missed the last month with a knee sprain, but he'll be activated to start Friday's game against the Rays. You can bet that'll be a well-scouted affair.

 

Even back in April, it was apparent that Bedard could be the closest thing to an ace on the trade market if he stayed healthy. Knee injury aside, Bedard re-established himself with a 3.00 ERA, 8.5 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 1.1 HR/9, and 40.9% groundball rate in 90 innings, picking up steam as he went along. I can picture the Yankees, Guardians, Rangers, Pirates, Cardinals, Reds, and Diamondbacks entering the fray as well, but Bedard has a good relationship with the Mariners and it's possible their best move is to re-sign him.

[Dojji]

Intriguing, especially since he's pitched in the AL East, but I'd rather go after Kuroda. If the price in talent favors Bedard though, I'll get behind it.

 

The Mariners would have to be interested in Lavarnway. They are dying for a bat and Lavarnway offers them some immediate help there with the possibility for elite offense. They have a ton of places to put his bat and have their DH spot live to slip him into if that's the way it has to be as well. You could get something done around that.

[Palodios]

He's one of the most injury prone pitchers in baseball. No way I'd trade a blue chip for half a year of his services.

[Dojji]

You want to beat the Phillies and Giants? He's a guy who'll help you. I wouldn't part with, say, Middlebrooks, who looks like a 2 way all star third baseman, but I could be talked out of Lavarnway, who's a guy we'll have trouble fitting into the lineup and the Mariners won't.

[Palodios]

How is Bedard going to help this team beat Cole Hamels? Bedard has split his career with Baltimore and Seattle, not exactly a winning formula.

[SoxFanForsyth]

How is Bedard going to help this team beat Cole Hamels? Bedard has split his career with Baltimore and Seattle' date=' not exactly a winning formula.[/quote']

 

At least he's thrown in the AL East before. :dunno:

[Dojji]

Yeah, but not for lack of success on Bedard's part. Isn't he still the last pitcher on the Orioles to win 15 or more games? He's won on bad teams when he's healthy for his whole career.

 

A good power lefty is worth a risk or two. I don't see a good reason not to make a reasonable offer. Just don't be afraid to skip a start or two down the stretch to keep him healthy.

[redsoxbeatz]

5 days till the Deadline... ahhhsnappp..

[Palodios]

Yeah' date=' but not for lack of success on Bedard's part. Isn't he still the last pitcher on the Orioles to win 15 or more games?[/quote']

 

Yep, back in 2006, the last time he pitched a full season. He missed all of 2010, in case anyone forgot. The Red Sox aren't desperate enough to trade a blue chip for half a season for a broken lefty.

[jacksonianmarch]

If the sox go out and deal a significant prospect for a starter, then you know they have reservations about Buchholz's health

[Dojji]

Umm, nope. Honestly it says more about how they feel about Lackey. Buchholz should be back by September at the latest and that should be enough to get up to speed for October. The question is can they count on Lackey to make playoff starts, or whether it's time to cram him into the 5th role.

[SoxFanForsyth]

If the sox go out and deal a significant prospect for a starter' date=' then you know they have reservations about Buchholz's health[/quote']

 

The Sox have a spoon in just about every single pot out there right now. Eric Bedard, Rich Harden, Ubaldo Jimenez, White Sox entire team, Carlos Beltran, Jeff Franceour, Ryan Ludwick, and the list goes on.

 

I think they're just kicking the tires on Bedard. I'd be shocked if they dealt for any SP not named Ubaldo Jimenez. Joel Sherman is reporting that executives feel as though the Rox are wanting to move him. Probably because everyone can still remember when he was good.

 

EDIT: What I mean is that I don't think they'll deal for a SP, and if they do, it will probably be someone significant like Jimenez.

[Will617]

How is Bedard going to help this team beat Cole Hamels? Bedard has split his career with Baltimore and Seattle' date=' not exactly a winning formula.[/quote']

 

God, that Felix Hernandez guy is terrible too, I don't know why people say he's so good when he's only played for Seattle his whole career.

[Palodios]

God' date=' that Felix Hernandez guy is terrible too, I don't know why people say he's so good when he's only played for Seattle his whole career.[/quote']

 

Yeah, except that he's HEALTHY, among a lot of other good things that Bedard isn't. Bedard is currently on the DL, and has averaged around 18 starts every year throughout his career. Lack of playoff experience, health concerns, stats influenced by a pitching park makes him not worth a blue chip. Won't be a Type B next year either, and does not serve as a long term solution for this team either.

[Dojji]

Then criticize the things that are actually the problem, not this other stuff that isn't.

 

First time I've ever heard Camden Yards called a pitcher's park.

[Palodios]

Then criticize the things that are actually the problem, not this other stuff that isn't.

 

First time I've ever heard Camden Yards called a pitcher's park.

 

Last time I checked, he hasn't called Camden Yards his home for a few years.

[Dojji]

Nope, but he's still got the same stuff he had there, at least when he's in the field.

 

Look, you don't want to give up a blue chip and you want a good pitcher, a guy like Bedard is your best bet. Something has to be there to bring down the trade value, and when it comes to shopping for flaws, I'll take injury risk over most of the others when you're talking about a short-term rental.

[ORS]

Intriguing, especially since he's pitched in the AL East, but I'd rather go after Kuroda. If the price in talent favors Bedard though, I'll get behind it.

 

The Mariners would have to be interested in Lavarnway. They are dying for a bat and Lavarnway offers them some immediate help there with the possibility for elite offense. They have a ton of places to put his bat and have their DH spot live to slip him into if that's the way it has to be as well. You could get something done around that.

If Lavarnway continues to crush AAA pitching and widens the gap between him and Montero, offensively, this year. He's a good bet to be a centerpiece for a star, like Montero has been recently. Using that kind of prospect value on a player like Bedard would be absolutely foolish.

[Dojji]

Point taken. It's just hard to get a feel for Lavarnway's value when you get people talking up his bat and talking down his glove in the same paragraph. Is he a catcher, or is he a DH? I imagine any team receiving Lavarnway would try to convince us that he's a DH and has no position, and that really hurts his ability to be traded for his actual value.

[ORS]

Point taken. It's just hard to get a feel for Lavarnway's value when you get people talking up his bat and talking down his glove in the same paragraph.

The same concerns exist for Montero, yet he was the centerpiece of a deal that almost got the Yankees Cliff Lee - the best pitcher in the AL last year. Using precedents, getting Bedard would be silly.

[Dojji]

The key word here may be "almost." How close was it?

[ORS]

The key word here may be "almost." How close was it?

Close enough that is was almost a done deal, however the Mariners favored Smoak.

 

No, it's not the key word. Montero has reportedly been included as a name teams are asking for when dealing very good players to the Yankees over the past 2 years.

 

I'm not against getting Bedard for the stretch run. When healthy, he's still a very effective player, but he hasn't been healthy for 3 consecutive years now. The acquistion cost needs to be knocked down to account for injury risk (even if it's only 3 months, that risk still exists for Bedard, meaning he's of no use for the stretch run he was acquired for) and his status as a free agent. Even over a 3 month window, accounting for those things, Bedard falls well short of a Cliff Lee type pitcher.

[Dojji]

I wonder if the Mariners have any interest in Che-Hsuan Lin as part of a Bedard package. He's still young, still has some bounceback potential, and he has a skillset they seem to like. Maybe build a deal around him and Chih-Hsien Chiang whose value is on the high side at the moment. Just throwing ideas out there.

[ORS]

I wonder if the Mariners have any interest in Che-Hsuan Lin as part of a Bedard package. He's still young' date=' still has some bounceback potential, and he has a skillset they seem to like. Maybe build a deal around him and Chih-Hsien Chiang whose value is on the high side at the moment. [b']Just throwing ideas out there[/b].

There's another, albeit a bit crude, but maybe more accurate, way of phrasing this. Some might say you are fligging poop against the wall to see what sticks.

[Dojji]

Doing a bit of that too, not stupid enough to deny it.

[Spitball]

That would be ridiculous' date=' considering that you have to pay a premium talent for a shortstop, you're destroying a lot of the value you get back if you make him a right fielder.[/quote']

 

I agree, which is why I doubt Epstein is interested in Ramirez. He could put Pedroia or Youkilis there if he just wanted a bat at the position.

 

Epstein has built this team to have strong offense and strong defense. We won't see him put Ramirez at shortstop ever. It is not his current mode of opperation.

 

Sides which' date=' we have 3 solid starting outfielders right now.[/quote']

 

Then why are they still in talks for Beltran?

[SoxFanForsyth]

I can almost guarantee you that the Sox are about to deal for Ubaldo. Check out the telling signs:

 

Yesterday, JD Drew was supposed to go on the DL. It got delayed. This was Francona's explanation:

 

"We held off and made a different roster move," Francona said after the 14-inning loss. "There's a lot of moving parts and some of it is baseball and some of it is personal. We've got caught in some things that we're probably not able to talk about, but you're going to have to take my word for it. Sometimes personal stuff gets in the way."

 

Today, there is a report that the Rockies are wanting to trade Jimenez. Here's exactly what Joel Sherman has said:

 

The feeling from executives is that the Rockies want to find a trade for Jimenez, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The Yankees, Red Sox, and Reds are calling, and the Blue Jays kicked the tires.

 

Tonight, the Rockies have scouts at the Red Sox game.

 

Put it all together. The Rockies are in Boston to scout Reddick. He and Ranaudo will be the centerpiece of the trade. The Sox were trying to see if they could get away without DL'ing JD Drew because if they DL him and deal Reddick, the Sox have no RF. Unfortunately, his shoulder is too sore, he needs some time off (surprise!). Tonight, they play McDonald. It wouldn't surprise me if Darnell got playing time tomorrow as well because they need to get him in a groove because he'll be the everyday RF until Drew gets back. It all makes sense. I really think that's what's going on.

 

Thoughts?

[a700hitter]

Right now our 4th OFer is Darnell McDonald and that bag of trash is batting leadoff tonight. Wouldn't it be much better if Reddick was the 4th OFer?

[SoxFanForsyth]

Right now our 4th OFer is Darnell McDonald and that bag of trash is batting leadoff tonight. Wouldn't it be much better if Reddick was the 4th OFer?

 

Yes, but our offense isn't what needs an upgrade. We lead in almost every single offensive category. You get Jimenez and pair an improved pitching rotation with this offense and we become almost unstoppable.