guapo34

4 doubles, 7 singles, 2 rbi and a walk in 25 ABs. Good numbers, but it seemed like when Torre batted him leadoff against pedro a couple games Pedro concentrated more and got him out. . I can't really back that up with anything though.

The home run off rivera, the game winning hit in game 4 after the roberts steal. It was obvious he wasn't coming back, best of luck to him in everything, but he'll be missed.

Yeah, can't forget the two of them hanging out during the home run derby the 2004 all star game.

Marte would make sense for us, but they have Melvin Mora there too. It would be amazing if we could pull a trade of for Mora while keeping Lester and Marte, but they'd probably be reluctant to move him in the division.

While theres obviously no guarantee he's the next miguel cabrera, its important to note hes put up really good numbers in AAA at the age of 21. The biggest prospect flameouts are usually guys who look unbelievable at lower levels and struggle when they get promoted. fwiw hanley ramirez has never put up near the numbers marte did last year, and they're the same age.

At 21 he slugged .525 and had an obp of .364 in AA. His 05 stats aren't on that site. I believe he put up similar numbers in AAA last year before being called up but i can't be sure. Those are big time numbers for a 3b prospect. Baseball America ranked him as a top 5 prospect in all of baseball last year.

I think the only reason he was moved to 2b was because the organization already had Hanley Ramirez and Edgar Rentaria blocking him at SS. Hanley is already gone and Edgar might be following him out the door. I think it was Edes that speculated Cora and Rentaria could platoon at SS instead of 2b next year.

from http://www.rotoworld.com "The Philadelphia Daily News says the Phillies asked for Mark Prior when discussing Bobby Abreu with the Cubs yesterday and weren't dismissed outright. They probably will be. Abreu is great, but the Cubs won't be dealing Prior, and even if they were open to the possibility, they wouldn't do it for an outfielder making more than $15 million per year. " Doesn't seem very likely

responding to Beckett 95: I would love to keep Manny. Obviously you're taking a risk with how he'll respond. Damon's definately worth keeping at the right price, but I'm just curious as to how much you'd be willing to pay him? If someone like Detroit offers him 5-6 years at 13 million a year do you think its worth it? The Furcal signing has me worried at what it will take to keep him.

Surprisingly, unless I'm blind, espn.com's player pages don't show errors, but I don't think Glaus's defense is that bad. He started as a shortstop and has a cannon for an arm. He's certainly not as fast as he used to be but thats not a big problem at third. I'm pretty skeptical of Lowell's gold glove. Abreau also won a gold glove fwiw and everyone in Philladelphia say hes awful defensively. Glaus is a right handed fly ball power hitter. I think he could wear out the wall like many people hope Lowell will even though Glaus hit 29 more home runs and slugged .162 higher.

I'll take a shot: First: Trade Manny IF we can get at least this for him: Red Sox get Troy Glaus, Ervin Santana, Casey Kotchman Angels get Manny Dbacks get prospects from the Angels I know people don't think we can get this much, and if we can't I'd keep Manny and tell him either play or we'll keep our 20/mill year. Alternatives for Kotchman in this deal would be chad tracy, connor jackson, or carlos quentin from the Dbacks with better angels prospects going to the dbacks. If we end up with jackson or quentin, skip step five, put glaus at 1b. Two: Do what it takes to get Abreau in a deal that includes Clement and Trot Nixon. Throw in a prospect to get it done. Possible guys to include would be Dave Murphy, Manny Delcarmen, Kevin Youkilis. Three: Trade David Wells. The trade I like the best thats been rumored is to Oakland for Justin Duchscherer. or San Diego for Scott Linebrink. Again, we might be able to get either done, but we should be able to get a pretty good pitcher for Wells and that seems to be what we're looking for. Four: Find out what it would take to get Adam Dunn. This might be the hardest part, but does a package of Arroyo, Pedrioa, and Youk get it done? Probably not, but pretty much anthing that doesn't involve trading a ml starter, or lester I'd go for. Five: Trade Mike Lowell to the twins. Pay part of his salary and get what you can back. Minor leaguers/guys that could be included in the Lowell trade, maybe a backup OF. It really doesn't matter. With Glaus and Kotchman theres nowhere to put him. Six: Sign Juan Encarnacion or Preston Wilson to play center field. Encarnacion is the better hitter, Wilson is better defensively(i think). Something like 2 years 13 million. Seven: Graffanino or Grudzelanick if Pedroia gets traded to Cincy, if not platoon Alex Cora and Dustin Pedroia. I'm assuming Pedoia goes. Lineup: Wilson/Encarnacion (CF) Bobby Abreau (RF) David Ortiz (DH) Adam Dunn (LF) Troy Glaus (3b) Casey Kotchman (1b) Jason Varitek © Edgar Rentaria (SS) Tony Graffanino (2b) Rotation: Schilling Beckett Wakefield Santana Papelbon Bullpen Foulke Timlin Duchschere/Linebrick Mota Hansen Dinardo I realize some of my trades are optomistic, but if you trade Manny this is the type of talent you have to bring in.

according to this AP article on espn: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2246996 they've agreed on the contract and Furcal just needed to take a physical. Furcal doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would fail a physical.

furcal actually got 13 million a year. Way too much money. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2246996

Actually it would be a stupid trade for the Red Sox. Those two are owed 8$ million more than Manny. In a recent herald article Massorati esimated the Sox have $17-18 million they can spend on free agents. That leaves us with $10 million to resolve our 1b/2b/cf issue and not enough money to sign Johnny Damon. Also, Burrell and Abreu play in a stadium thats almost as friendly to hitters as coors field. Remember Mannys opposite field "shot" there? Abreau and Burrell had .805 and .806 road OPS respectively. Fenway might help Burrell over and average stadium, not philly's, but it would probably hurt Abreau. This ignores the fact that Mannys contract isn't nearly as bad as it used to be. If Furcal is worth $13 million, Mannys gotta be worth at least $17 million. Also considering that there are no free agents left and if a teams only chance to add a hitter like Manny is to trade for Manny. I don't see anything wrong with asking for package for players that are at least as good. If Manny does get traded, and i still think theres a chance he doesn't, I think its gonna be for a lot more than people are expecting.

I think to do a deal with the Angels either Santana or their top hitting prospect brandon wood has to be included. If they say they have two prospects who are untouchable then you walk away. I think they'd rather trade Santana than Wood. I remember and old Gammon column that said between the AFL and the minors Wood had 70 hrs in his first 162 games in professional ball. Either one of these guys packaged with Kotchman would be a very good deal for the sox.

Didn't Lucchino come out and say Manny has requested a trade and we will try and accomodate him?

Heilman? They won't give up that guy to get Manny? I can see them not wanting to give up Milledge, even though I disagree with it, but saying they won't give up Heilman means one of two things. They're either lying or there is no way we should trade Manny to them.

How can this be a bad thing? We gave up very little to get him and he had great numbers in the minors. The cubs just signed a few free agent relievers and felt there was no room for him on there team. Glad to see we picked him up.

ESPN news blurb in the bottom corner has Konerko signing a 5 year deal to go back to the White Sox.

You wouldn't trade Papelbon and Manny for Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera????? Considering the Marlins would do this is pretty pointless. Its obvious they wouldn't

I've voiced my opinion on Erstad before. I can't believe people would want him as our starting first basemen. He has posted OPS's the last 5 seasons of .691, .702, .642, .746, and .696. He has been terrible. Plus he's making $8.5 million for the next 2 years. So for Manny people would be ok with Ervin Santana because he might become great and an overpaid first basement that hits worse than Alex Cora? Yes he is fast. Yes he plays good defense. Pokey Reese would play good defense at first base too.

Without looking it up, he has to be. I'm pretty sure Mike Timlin was and Gordan has pitching better than him. You wouldn't get a first rounder if he goes to a team with a top 10 pick or the team he goes to signs a higher ranked type A, then you'd get their second rounder and either way you get a supplemental pick in between the first and second round. I believe the Red Sox type A free agents are Mueller, Millar, and Graffanino. edit: found the link. Gordan is type A. Obviously I forgot Johnny damon for the Sox. Matt Lawton and his automatic 10 day suspension is the only other Yankee on the list. Heres the complete list. http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/columnists/askba.html#FAcomp

Think of it this way, Manny is going to make at least 42 million more than Wright over the next 3 years. Next year alone Manny will make $18 million more. Its impossible to know the exact number because of arbitration. Manny put up an OPS 70 points higher than Wright. But Manny also played terrible defense and is a terrible baserunner also. I don't know much about David Wrights defense, but i'm sure everyone remembers the barehanded catch he made running back. Its also more dificult to find a good hitting third basemen than a good hitting left fielder. Older players generally get worse with age. Mannys offensive production has gone down 3 years in a row. Its not a sharp decline, but a decline. Good Young players tend to get better. It isn't unlikely that Wright will be better offensively than Manny in a couple years. Its not impossible that this won't happen next year. Once again, Manny will cost at least $42 million more. Then Manny will probably retire while Wright will play another 10 years. If we get Wright in a deal for Manny no one will be happier than me. I'd be willing to bet everything I have that we won't.

Completely agree. With all the crappy trade scenarios for Manny i think one good way to go about it is tell the Mets We'd do Milledge plus a guy like Abreu for Manny if they can find a way to trade for Abreau without giving up Milledge. The Phillies may be reluctant getting involved in helping the Mets get Manny though.

The problem is, the Mets aren't trading Wright. Which means you probably have to keep Manny if you won't trade him to the Mets without getting Wright. Wright makes the league minimum and put up an OPS of .912 last year at the age of 22. He has one more year where he isn't even arbitration elibible. Omar may be in love with Manny but hes in love with Wright too. I don't think the Mets would trade him to us if we included Papelbon and Lester.