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Re: The MLB Thread
I keep hearing Morneau and Span's name in possible trade talks near the deadline. Though I wish we could trade Mauer, his contract will go down as one of the worst in MLB history IMO. The Guy is getting paid $22 million a year to do nothing and not play due to petty injuries
Re: The MLB Thread
As for Youkilis to the White Sox, that's a win for the White Sox... for now. The White Sox are so desperate for ANY kind of 3B option to plug into that lineup, especially in a division race, I personally don't think they expected.
But Youkilis sucks right now. So I wouldn't oversell it, and the Red Sox basically gave him away. It might help to break up the man love fest between him and Pedroia and get the team more focused on listening to Bobby, rather than each other.
The change of scenary might help Youkilis also. The White Sox are a perfect fit for him right now. As good as it's gonna get. A team that "needs" him, despite his awful production this year, and still going to a "big city contender". It helps.
Yeah it was time for Youk to go. It's sad in a way because he's been with the team for almost a decade, was a homegrown product of their system. He gave it his all, almost to a fault. He produced and surpassed what anyone expected of him. He also won 2 titles. But, with the emergence of Will Middlebrooks there just wasn't a spot for him anymore. His skills have deteriorated over the last few seasons, as injuries have worn him on a bit. He's no longer the .300/30/100 guy he amazingly used to be. I do think he can still hit around .260 though and pop a fair amount of balls out of the park. I do think he'll play better now not having to look over his shoulder or fight for playing time.
With all that being said, I don't think the Red Sox could've gotten much more in return. It was no secret that they were desperate to trade him, so they were at a disadvantage from the start. It's almost a case of addition by subtraction. They felt they couldn't afford to have an unhappy Youkilis toiling away on the bench, so they got what they could for him. Which wasn't much. Trust me, they worked tirelessly to trade him. The offers just weren't all that great. I read that Zach Stewart was thought to be the best player in the Edwin Jackson deal when that went down. Obviously it hasn't panned out that way to date. Maybe a change of organizations will do him some good, but I'm not expecting much of anything. In short, the Red Sox aren't any better because of the trade. They're also not any worse in my mind. Lillibridge actually gives them a little more flexibility with the fact that he can fill in at any position.
They have some interesting decisions to make in the coming weeks as well. Ellsbury, Crawford, Ryan Sweeney, Scott Podsednik, and Andrew Bailey should all be coming off the DL. The OF's who have stepped in have done a really good job though, as well as the bullpen. I wonder if they may have to make some more deals to create room on the roster when the aforementioned come back.
Re: The MLB Thread
Well Crawford ain't going anywhere. There's years and years on that deal, and they still don't know if it'll be a "full" bust, although I always thought they overpaid for him anyways.
I still expect the Cubs & Twins to be the big sellers at the deadline.
Re: The MLB Thread
Oh they certainly overpaid for Crawford. Even if he was putting up normal Crawford type numbers, he'd still be overpaid. With what he's done so far though, it's grand larceny. No one would take him, that's for sure. I was thinking more along the lines of some of their cheaper OF's that aren't really big time prospects. Ryan Kalish is in the plans for the future, so you'd think they'd want to hold onto him. But a guy like Daniel Nava has played really well since being called up. However, I would say his ceiling will never be higher. Not sure what they could get for him but when/if Crawford AND Ellsbury come back there wouldn't be much of a role for him. Not to mention Sweeney and Podsednik, who were both playing well before they got injured. Again, I'm not talking about any blockbuster deals by any means. Just thinking of ways to create roster spots for all these guys. They're going to have to get creative, as I believe Kalish is the only one with options remaining.
Re: The MLB Thread
Podsednik probably is expendable. I was thinking for sure he'd be the one to be DFA'd when the time came, but then the guy became the leadoff hitter and was hitting over .400 before he got hurt. Plus he's still got wheels. But it is a small sample, so you have to factor that in. But Sweeney plays a very good OF. He can play all 3 positions out there very well. And he's got a good stick, albeit with NO POWER. I don't understand how a guy his size can't at least hit 10 homers by mistake. But on the whole, nearly all the Red Sox OF's are good 4th and 5th OF's on a team. They just have 6 of those types of players right now. I'd say for sure Ellsbury, Crawford, Ross, and Sweeney make up 4. If they decide to go with a 5th, which I'm not sure they can afford to do then one more out of Nava, Podsednik, McDonald, and Kalish stick as the 5th.
Marlon Byrd got busted for PED's today. Didn't work out too well for him. He must've been using the same stuff Manny Alexander used back in the day, as it had the same effect. ZERO.
I see Anthony Rizzo is getting called up tomorrow for the Cubs. Hopefully he adds a little excitement to an otherwise unexciting Cubs season so far. A glimpse into the future at least.
Re: The MLB Thread
Well Crawford ain't going anywhere. There's years and years on that deal, and they still don't know if it'll be a "full" bust, although I always thought they overpaid for him anyways.
I still expect the Cubs & Twins to be the big sellers at the deadline.
Actually, I think Crawford has an elbow injury that could require Tommy John surgery. Man Theo made a lot of expensive FA mistakes during the end there.
Twins are pretty much a one stop shop for contenders. They have a lot of players they can offer.
Morneau
Willingham
Capps
Liriano
Revere/Span (they both have the same skillset, one of them should be traded)
Pavano
I don't think they'll get much for Liriano and Pavano though. The position players (Morneau is tricky though) should bring back a decent haul.
I think Mauer might have the worst contract in MLB right now. Vernon Wells one is awful but it is at least shorter.
