Will Braves trade Jurrjens to strengthen outfield?
Giving up this home run to Washington pitcher Livan Hernandez in September was one of Jair Jurrjens' lowlights.
Braves general manager Frank Wren went into the winter last offseason determined to trade a starting pitcher in hopes of acquiring some help for the Braves’ offensively-challenged lineup. The result was the oft-lampooned Javier Vazquez-for-Melky Cabrera trade.
The only difference this winter is the Braves are coming off a postseason berth — so maybe they won’t appear quite as desperate. But an unpopular move could be forthcoming: Are you ready to say goodbye to Jair Jurrjens?
I know — dealing Jurrjens seems unfathomable. Why would Wren trade his team’s young, inexpensive and talented starting pitcher? Simple: If he doesn’t, it’s going to significantly limit his options this winter and certainly would force him to get real creative with the team’s budget.
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♦ 1.) The Braves’ payroll this season was approximately $84 million. It’s not expected to increase much, if at all. Owner Liberty Media’s Board of Directors, as you might’ve noticed, did not arrange a field trip to Turner Field for the postseason. Nobody handed out red foam tomahawks at stockholders’ meetings. In short, they don’t care. So don’t expect the club to be free to pursue a mega-dollar free agent like Tampa Bay outfielder Carl Crawford.
♦ 2.) Chipper Jones’ intention to hold off on retirement and rehab from a major knee surgery — he seems more determined than ever to come back and is a big fan of new manager Fredi Gonzalez — means his $13 million salary will remain on the books. Closer Billy Wagner ($7 million) falls off the payroll. So does big-money late-season acquisition Derrek Lee ($13 million, of which the Braves paid only a fraction).
But here comes the painful part: The Braves still have 2011 obligations to outfielder Nate McLouth ($6.5 million) and pitcher Kenshin Kawakami ($6.67 million) — both of whom were demoted to Triple-A Gwinnett during the season.
♦ 3.) The top three starters in the rotation are Tim Hudson, Tommy Hanson and Derek Lowe. Lowe finished the season strong and was outstanding in two postseason starts (three earned runs, 14 strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings, despite two losses). He is perceived as far more important to the success of this team than he was after last season. Also, even if the Braves wanted to move Lowe, the fact he is owed $30 million over the next two years makes that possibility unlikely.
♦ 4.) Unless Wren is willing to deal touted prospects, something he’s generally been averse to, that means he’ll either have to shop for low-budget free agents again or deal from his position of strength: starting pitching. Jurrjens is only 24 but his long-term future in Atlanta is uncertain, given that his agent is Scott Boras. Jurrjens also struggled this season with a hamstring and knee injuries. He dropped from 34 starts, 25 quality starts (allowing three or fewer earned runs in six or more innings), a 14-10 record and a 2.60 ERA in 2009 to 20 starts, 10 quality starts, 7-6 and a 4.64 ERA this season.
But of all the Braves’ tradable assets, Jurrjens is the most likely to fetch something decent in return. It’s either that or fill available starting jobs in left and center field on the cheap again.
After Hudson, Hanson and Lowe, the Braves’ next two spots would go to some combination of Kawakami (if he is kept and not paid to walk away), Mike Minor, Brandon Beachy and a low-budget free agent (back-end-of-the-rotation starters aren’t difficult to find). Kris Medlen will miss most of the season recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Wren obviously moved quickly with his new managerial hire. But that move was kind of a slam dunk: Fredi Gonzalez was unemployed and living in Marietta. The roster fix won’t be as easy — and somebody may have to leave.
(I’ll leave you with this: Columbus, Ga., native and St. Louis center field Colby Rasmus clashed this season with manager Tony LaRussa and requested a trade two months ago. Would you be willing to part with Jurrjens if he was part of a Rasmus trade, or do you think the Braves can do better than Rasmus? And yes: I’m just throwing this against the wall. Below are all the pitchers who started games for the Braves this season, listed in order of quality starts.)
Pitcher QS (GS) W-L ERA K BB
Tim Hudson 25 (34) 17-9 2.83 139 74
Tommy Hanson 19 (34) 10-11 3.33 173 56
Derek Lowe 15 (33) 16-12 4.00 136 61
Jair Jurrjens 10 (20) 7-6 4.64 86 42
Kris Medlen 7 (14) 6-2 3.68 83 21
Kenshin Kawakami 7 (16) 1-10 5.15 59 32
Mike Minor 3 (8) 3-2 5.98 43 11
Brandon Beachy 0 (3) 0-2 3.00 15 7
♦
EARLIER TODAY:
♦ Gonzalez keeps Pendleton but not as hitting coach (UPDATED)
♦ Fredi Gonzalez is Braves’ perfect choice to replace Cox
♦ Challenge of Cox’s replacement will be recreating chemistry
♦
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553 comments Add your comment
Simon
October 14th, 2010
12:29 pm
For the record, Coco Crisp might be on the FA market…injuries limited him to 75 games but he did hit .270+, had an OBP of .342 and still stole 32 bases…
ryan
October 14th, 2010
12:33 pm
What about Adam Jones from Baltimore or will he stay with new manager and what about former Brave Andruw Jones .
TNScott
October 14th, 2010
12:34 pm
We have Time-Warner II for owners. This isn’t really surprising to me. I knew this was exactly what would eventually happen. This is the corporate way. Thankfully, 2011 is just around the corner, and the team can be sold unless Liberty wants to continue to torment Braves fans with its Dollar General Store budget mentality. If we’ve learned anything from this ownership fiasco, it is:
1. Bud and the boys care more about increasing their own personal wealth than what’s best for the Braves and:
Note: See Bud’s net wealth prior to being named commissioner and since.
2. Corporate ownership is a joke. They talk a good game when they first take over, but they won’t do what it takes financially to take a team from a World Series pretender to a World Series contender.
Liberty, please, sell the team to someone (not another corporation) who unlike you, actually gives a crap about winning another World Series title.
If you doubt that corporate ownership is the major problem, look at the Yankees when they were owned by CBS from 1964-1972 and the following success in the Steinbrenner years. Well, isn’t that a coincidence? Another MLB ownership flop involving a media outlet.
bobby
October 14th, 2010
12:35 pm
Enter your comments here
Ted M
October 14th, 2010
12:36 pm
Since coming back from AAA McLouth hit the ball extremely well.
Really…the best you could say is he didn’t hit extremely bad. He hit .275 in September and .000 in August (0 for 2) & 1 for 4 in October.
The very best the Braves could hope for is we pay him $6.5 mil to play for the Gwinnett Braves. If he’s on the Atlanta Braves it mean our outfield really sucks again.
Kevin
October 14th, 2010
12:37 pm
Jeff, your reasoning makes no sense. You say the Braves should do it because they are constrained by payroll cap/concerns. Well how does trading JJ help that? He makes very little money right now and trading him frees up nothing. What kind of OF are you going to get in return that would help the team and be payroll neutral?
N8
October 14th, 2010
12:38 pm
“Freeman didn’t show too well but the sample size is way too small to make any conclusions yet.”
I wish people would stop saying this. First of all the kid hit two bullets in his first game when he got called up (September 1st), that were right into a shift. Atom balls if you will.
Then he didn’t start another game until September 26th. The kid was asked to come in and PH ice cold off the bench against tough relievers that usually get experienced big-leaguers out.
Cox has always stated he doesn’t like young kids especially rookies (Conrad was different because he’s 30), for the bench. They need to bat everyday.
Freddie got 3 AB in his debut September 1st, then got 14 AB in the next 25 days between his two starts.
And people want to judge that, and say things like “small sample size”.
It was a minimal sample size, where the kid wasn’t even remotely put in a position to succeed.
Everything I saw about him, has me excited. Good bat speed (turned on a couple of inside fastballs), GREAT defense and footwork at 1B and has the classic uppercut HR hitter swing. Probably going to K quite a bit. But I’ll take 120 K’ and 20-25 bombs from him, which I think he’s capable of if he gets more AB than 24 in 20 games.
If a guy that plays everyday gets about 500 AB over the course of a season, even at the small sample size pace he was on (1 HR ever 24 AB), he’d pro-rate out to 20 HR. Which is about what he did at AAA. 18 HR and 87 RBI in 124 games (461 AB)
Correct me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t we all have been happy with stellar defense all year (Glaus was fine but not great – and Lee was very good), at 1B with 18-20 HR and 90ish RBI?
Then you add in that he’ll make the league minimum?
Where do I sign up?
Heisenberg
October 14th, 2010
12:38 pm
If only Ted would take the money he made from dumping his Time-Warner stock and buy them back. But even if Liberty wanted to sell, they could not for at least a couple more years without a huge tax penalty because of how the sale was structured. So we are stuck.
Owl Hunter
October 14th, 2010
12:39 pm
Why do all the yayhoos show up on this particular blog? On DOB’s blog, you generally find people having intelligent conversations with a few nuts peppered in. One here, everyone wants to fire the whole organization, eat salaries left and right, and think that trading our trash for guys like Braun are reasonable solutions. Most of you are uneducated about baseball, finances, the worth of players, and the dynamics of trades and free agent signings. DO you think about what you say, or freak out everytime we don’t go 162 and 0, or our 8th place hitter doesn’t hit 40 hrs?
Owl Hunter
October 14th, 2010
12:39 pm
By the way, Ted Turner and/or Arthur Blank are not walking through that door. Give it up.
Luv 2 Hate Me
October 14th, 2010
12:41 pm
They need to trade Nate, Melky and KK . In return they need to get Jose Bautista from Toronto. Now if they don’t bite with that lineup then put JJ or a minor leaguer on the chopping block.
Heisenberg
October 14th, 2010
12:42 pm
OH you know that was just dreaming. The point being made was that Liberty is not selling anytime soon.
Simon
October 14th, 2010
12:42 pm
I realize people hate our ownership but lets face it folks,
A) were not going to change that here
B) money does not always guarantee championships
How many HUGE salary deals have delivered no world series rings? Look at the Yankees from 2000-2010. Johan Santana. Joe Mauer (and Im not knocking him, hes one of the best) has never won a playoff series. Remember when Seattle bought Adrian Beltre, that didnt work.
Thank God we have a GM that makes nifty moves. with an 84 million dollar payroll we were in the playoffs. And we were even destroyed like the best hitting NL Reds. We were in every game right down to the final at-bat. Take away Prados injury late, and Wagner instead of the rookie to close game 3, we may be in the NLCS.
Also, Adam Jones is not available. Hes not a FA to be, the Orioles arent moving him, they played WAY too well under Showalter to make any moves like that…their young talent stays put.
JoeFan
October 14th, 2010
12:42 pm
Trade Lowe for outfield help. His value will never be higher and use the money saved to sign more offensive help no matter what position they play. Retain JJ, he still doesn’t cost much and hopefully he will rebound. Resign Vasquez. He should come cheap after the year he had with NY. Convince Chipper to go to AL and become a DH. Get a new SS. Lots of holes to fill. Would be great if the Braves could fill one or two.
bobby
October 14th, 2010
12:42 pm
It’s time for the braves to draft some hitters instead of all pitchers. As far as I know they don’t have a legitimate hitter in their farm system. Of course they can always make those wonderful trades like they did for Mark Texiera. They gave away one of the better shortstops in baseball plus how many pitchers for nothing. As far as trading Jurrjens, you should always trade your players when their value is the lowest as you know his is coming off a year like he had this year.
Owl Hunter
October 14th, 2010
12:44 pm
Luv 2 Hate
Why would Toronto agree to that trade?
Ted M
October 14th, 2010
12:45 pm
Those of you griping about the owners are crazy…the Yankee’s are a very profitable team, they are not some altruistic team losing money solely for the sake of winning.
hogmtndawg
October 14th, 2010
12:45 pm
I voted Hell No until I saw his agent is Boras. Now I vote Hell Yes.
Fergie
October 14th, 2010
12:46 pm
Soooo,
I wanna know when does Liberty Media ownership rights end? I heard rumors Arthur Blank wants the team.
Heisenberg
October 14th, 2010
12:47 pm
Baustita never hit more than half the HR before that he hit this year and I doubt he will again. There is a long list of 1 year wonders in that category. I will pass.
Owl Hunter
October 14th, 2010
12:47 pm
Fergie
Where did you hear those rumors? In your dreams?
Simon
October 14th, 2010
12:48 pm
I admit Freeman had a small sample size, and I live in Florida for now so I didnt get to see all the Braves game. If you vouch for him then thats good.
My concern is where you say youre willing to take 120 K for 20 homers. We had that…his name was Andruw Jones. Stellar D, hit 240 with 30-40 homers…if the game is on the line down by one bases loaded, he struck out. If were down by 8, he hits a solo shot…
to be honest, I was never a big fan of Terry P as hitting coach, lets find a guy whos good with the young kids, and lets make sure we dont get TOO big of a whiffer at first. Id like the homers but I don’t want this to become a Mark Reynolds situation.
Supes
October 14th, 2010
12:48 pm
I would trade Jair in a heartbeat if it would improve our OF situation and stabilize either LF or CF with it.
Colby Rasmus is a good up and coming player, only downside is he’s a left handed batter, it really makes us heavily left handed.
Jair has been injury prone and some say “not tough enough” to pitch through pain like the Braves starters traditionally have been thought to do.
He won’t be resigned here when he is due to hit FA.
Braves have a surplus of young starting pitching. They can’t pay/keep them all. It all makes sense folks.
Second…No Crawford and Werth. Neither one fits our budget and or clubhouse (Werth seems like a real class act doesn’t he!)
Third…Ryan Braun is NOT untouchable…the price is just simply going to be way high…something like Jair, Teheran and someone like Venters/Kimbrall. So are you willing to trade all those arms….Jair, our top minor league prospect pitching wise and our “closer/pen arm of the future”? If you so, you could get Braun but then you weaken the team long term. Actually, they may want something like Hanson,and Jair! You willing to give up 2 starters? Point is…price is too much and should be. He’s a cornerstone type player. Same if someone came calling for McCann here…Braves would want a LOT in return.
McLouth isn’t going anywhere. Nobody wants him and he’s due some money.
Kawakami could be traded and will be, book it. Only thing is…Wren may have to eat some salary…probably as much as half of it. I believe going out west…in either LA or Seattle would be a good match.
I believe Hinske will be retained and SHOULD BE, he was a good pick up. Played well, Fits well in the clubhouse. Keep him.
I would keep only one from Diaz/Ankiel. Diaz is the more consistent hitter, Ankiel has more raw power and is better defensively.
Wren is going to have to get really creative to fill out the roster and make the moves but it’s doable.
Jair will be dealt if the deal is right. Book it.
Also I’m in favor of picking up Vazquez on a 1-2 year contract as a number 4-5 type starter, I believe he can rebound again in the NL and here in Atl.
tony austin
October 14th, 2010
12:52 pm
If the right deal came along I’d trade JJ in a heartbeat, but what is the right deal? I personally think his value is very low right now, so I think the Braves will have no choice but to hold on to him for at least one more season. Unless some team is willing to give up a power outfielder in a package surrounded by JJ.
As far as Rasmus, the Braves need power from the right side of the plate, so I’d pass on him.
There really isn’t much out there in the FA pool. Werth will probably be too expensive, so I just see the Braves going on the cheap again. Not by choice but simply no other alternatives, unless FW decides to move some of the minor league talent.
$0.02
Heisenberg
October 14th, 2010
12:52 pm
Diaz is arb elgible. I am a Matty D fan but only at the right price. It would be sad but also not a surprise if he is non-tendered with the hope of signing him for less.
stew
October 14th, 2010
12:52 pm
Lowe has value and is tradeable. I’d trade Lowe and KK. We might have to eat some salary. We’ve gotta get younger. Lowe isn’t as good as he’s been his last 8 starts. All of a sudden, he’s got a slider that he didn’t really have prior to this stretch. We need a CFer, LFer, SS, and a third baseman. Some can come via trade. We’re gonna have to spend some big bucks on free agents I’d go after Zimmerman and Braun. Both can be had. We have to sign a couple of free agents to compete. We gotta hit more homers. That’s what wins games. Please non-tender Melky. He makes me want to vomit when I see that he’s in the lineup.
Simon
October 14th, 2010
12:52 pm
Why are we going back and getting Vazquez when, even if JJ is traded, we have 5 starters?
Hudson, Lowe, Hanson, Minor, Beachy and Medlen comes back from surgery 2012. We dont need Vazquez, if were that worried about payroll, save the couple of million it would take to bring Vazquez back…btw, he may not WANT to come back seeing as we brought him in from the ChiSox, he was thrilled to be in ATL with Bobby Cox, pitched phenomenal, 3rd in Cy Young voting, and his thanks was being traded back to NYY.
reagan
October 14th, 2010
12:53 pm
Random thoughts………………..1).Rasmus has a drop off in power against southpaws but only drops from .278 to .270 against them,,,,,,,,,he hits 248 in St.Louis… BUT… hit 306 on the road. 2) Chipper would, I believe, take some deferred money to help the braves AND was looking good before he got injured. 3)Keep Hinske, Diaz and yes Conrad for the bench.4)Has anyone got any real news on how Shaffer’s wrist is doing at this time? 5) Wouldn’t make me mad to see Gonzales go. 6) Someone on the blog said the other day that even after his thumb seemed healed that Hayward wasn’t the same player he was at the beginning of the season,,,that he had lost his touch for the strike zone…..I agree wholeheartedly.
Chris P. Bacon
October 14th, 2010
12:54 pm
The Braves will probably never get more value in a trade for Jair Jurrjens then right now. A Colby Rasmus-for-Jair trade is an exciting possibility, this would be a significant upgrade for both teams. Don’t forget, St. Louis was so high on Rasmus that they gave away long-timer Rick Ankiel to KC!
Callaway Blue
October 14th, 2010
12:55 pm
It ought to be obvious that we need BATS! Trade anybody, don’t be sentimental, get BATS!
Simon
October 14th, 2010
12:55 pm
Stew….why do you think now Zimmerman is available? The Nationals are building up a beast. Zimmerman is not on the market. Braun, if he is on the market which I doubt he is, will cost us both an arm and a leg.
Stay realistic folks. Look at guys like Garrett Jones in Pittsburgh, Coco Crisp (good for stealing bases) and disgruntled players with their current teams like a Dan Uggla. Not every trade that we pull off in MLB 2K10 can be done in real life.
Owl Hunter
October 14th, 2010
12:55 pm
Simon
For the right price, I’d get Vazquez. Minor and Beachy are hardly sure things, and while he won’t recreate 2009, Vaz can pitch well at the back end of the rotation in ATL.
fart gargunkel
October 14th, 2010
12:57 pm
I like the sounds of going after Corey Hart, or even if they could pull off something for Kepmp. I like Rasmus, but just don’t know if straight up for JJ is a good deal.
Simon
October 14th, 2010
12:57 pm
Remember guys St. Louis is headlined in the pitching department by two Cy young candidates and even has a Rookie of the Year candidate as the 3rd pitcher. They may not want to give up THEIR CF of the future for someone they perceive is just a 4th starter.
Also, St. Louis will have money problems soon enough. They signed Holliday to a mamoth deal and Pujols will command EVEN more money. If youre all afraid of JJ because hes now a Boras client, what do you think the Cardinals are thinking then?
Owl Hunter
October 14th, 2010
12:58 pm
reagan
If you think Heyward is a bust because some random blogger said so, you’re crazy. He’s 21, and there will be a learning curve. Thank God you people don’t have jobs evaluating talent!
Reid Adair
October 14th, 2010
12:58 pm
Javier Vazquez for Melky Cabrera … typical Frank Wren.
Throw in Nate McLouth, Kenshin Kawakami, Derrek Lee, Troy Glaus and Rick Ankiel.
Having Wren deal Jair Jurrjens for an outfielder is sure to do what the above-listed “additions” did – weaken the team overall.
Ted M
October 14th, 2010
1:00 pm
I’d like to see Andruw back (at 210 lbs) if no blockbusters can be pulled off.
Every game I watch there are 3 to 4 plays were I say “Andruw would’ve made that play”.
jhog
October 14th, 2010
1:00 pm
As long as Liberty owns the Braves, they will never win a WS. Btw, ATL fans should be ashamed for not selling out game 4, the worse fanbase in the nation resides in the A
jeff
October 14th, 2010
1:00 pm
No way. We need to actually sign a good OF, and try playing with 2 decent OF’s this year. Quit being a joke Braves and use Major League Players in 2011. Cabrera, Ankiel, Diaz, Conrad, Hinske – can all go away. They suck.
Ueeediot
October 14th, 2010
1:00 pm
Bring back McLouth! That man is a baseball player. He had a horrid season, but September showed a lot of promise.
KK on the other hand must go.
Simon
October 14th, 2010
1:00 pm
Reid I gotta disagree with you a bit…
Glaus carried the Braves thru the month of May and June. His bat alone kept us in the race. Kawakami did pitch a little better than his record indicates. And if we expected some save the franchise type deliverance from Ankiel or Lee we were expecting too much.
Do you smell that? Its the offseason… « The Grit Tree
October 14th, 2010
1:02 pm
[...] Good News: We have the pitching depth to use as trade bait. As Jeff Schultz at AJC mentions, Jair Jurrjens might be the best bait the Braves have. Unless Wren is willing to deal touted [...]
Supes
October 14th, 2010
1:02 pm
Tony Austin Jair’s value is LOW??? When healthy he’s a number 2 on any STAFF in the NL…well almost any staff (Phillies and Cards probably exceptions)
So it’s a health issue not a PERFORMANCE issue. Just get him healthy if he pitches well and is healthy in spring training I think his value is just fine.
I already said that Rasmus would make us too left handed, but is a better option than anyone else the Braves have for CF in the organization right now.
Lets look at our CF situation:
McLouth (u really wanna risk the 2011 season on Nate coming back)?
Melky (ahh no)
Ankiel (I think he’s a good 4th OF to have on the team but not an everyday starter)
Infante (really more of an infielder than an OF)
Schafer (who knows if he’ll ever be anything, sorry to say)
So who else is left? Look at the FA list of CF options right now. Anyone as good as Rasmus (in the Braves price range, don’t bring up Crawford although he played LF for the rays he could play CF)
Rasmus would be an instant upgrade over anyone on the current roster.
Braves can’t afford to platoon both LF and CF anymore. Need stability in the OF.
NSS
October 14th, 2010
1:03 pm
As long as you’re coming up with ridiculous trades that the other team would never even consider, how about Brooks Conrad to the Phils for Chase Utley? Then we trade Troy Glaus to Tampa for Evan Longoria, trade Medlen for Hanley Ramirez, and sign Albert Pujols to a team-friendly 5 yr $35 mm deal next offseason, and our infield will be set. Good plan, right?
Kentavo
October 14th, 2010
1:03 pm
Let’s say you get Uggla; he is adamant about playing 2B; we’ve already got two all-stars at 2B. Do we really know that Omar and Martin can play the OF on a consistent basis?
N8
October 14th, 2010
1:04 pm
“My concern is where you say youre willing to take 120 K for 20 homers. We had that…his name was Andruw Jones. Stellar D, hit 240 with 30-40 homers…if the game is on the line down by one bases loaded, he struck out. If were down by 8, he hits a solo shot…” Simon
I’m not going to argue that point. You pretty much nailed it.
I think Freeman will eventually strike out less (seems to have a good approach against LHP which will eventualy help keep that K total down), and I also think that the HR total eventually goes above and beyond 20-25 HR. More like 30-40 HR. But I was just speaking for 2011 initially.
Also, the point about Andruw doesn’t have much bearing on the 2011 team. I was comparing what I think Freeman would do, compared to what Lee and Glaus did in 2010. We made the playoffs with that due getting the majority of time at 1B (with Hinske sprinkled in).
Lee and Glaus combined for 19 HR and 95 RBI. Or about what I think Freeman will do (probably have about 80-85 RBI depending on batting order spot – but the 19 HR are not out of line). That duo combined to make about 5-6 million dollars from the Braves once you pro-rate Lee’s salary and and factor in Glaus’s incentive bonuses.
Freeman will make about 400K next year.
Right there, Wren is saving 5 million dollars and likely not to lose production. I’m not sure if Freeman is good as the GG defender Lee is. But he’s certainly better than Glaus over there.
So not only will the production likely be in line, we’ll have much better defense than we had for 3.5 months over there. Which can only help with the arms around our infield.
That means that 5 million more dollars can be spent on an outfielder or two.
I agree with you. Long-term we need a mashing 1B that can field and not K so much. But in 2011, we simply need Freddie to be about as good as Lee/Glaus was with the bat and play solid defense. Then he can grow into whatever player he’s going to become from there.
Simon
October 14th, 2010
1:05 pm
Im still not sold on Rasmus availability for JJ. Like I said, they have 3 solid pitchers, so why give up their CF of the future for a 4th starter and they will have money issues, as much as we dont want a Boras client, they want one even less…
Howie
October 14th, 2010
1:06 pm
Your logic on the ownership is valid but the way for this team to make the playoffs again and improve the team is to keep the top 4 starters and the bullpen in place and get a high quality free agent outfielder. Maybe platoon Infante and Mclouth in center?
All of the addtion by trade is very dicey….please no more reclaimation projects like Troy Glaus, eventhough ge worked out OK.
Souldd they stand pat and wait for a Derrick Lee type outfileder mid year?
N8
October 14th, 2010
1:07 pm
“Javier Vazquez for Melky Cabrera … typical Frank Wren.”
You can stop right there. If that’s what you think that trade was, you’re a baffoon and your opinion is pretty much a not factor. Whatever you spewed after that likely sounds like toddlers blowing bubbles.
Simon
October 14th, 2010
1:07 pm
N8, I agree with you completely. Like I told people when Heyward came up and people awarded the ROY to him immediately, I just wanted 275+ average, 20 homers. They will grow from their rookie years. If Freeman gives me that, Im happy and yes it would be nice to see some consistency at 1B.