I wasn't going to blog again until after I got back from Colorado but I woke up at the crack of dawn to get ready for my flight and found out that the Yanks made a trade, the BoSox were exploring a trade and the Marlins are about to pull the trigger on yet another franchise-killing move. So, really quickly, since I have a flight to catch...
1. Shawn Chacon: The Yanks gave up two minor league players that I won't classify as prospects (Ramon Ramierz and Eduardo Sierra) to get the Rockies pitcher. Since these guys aren't highly touted and since the Yanks are only on the hook for $847K of Chacon's contract, this is a fairly low-risk move for them. Both minor leaguers are pitchers so it's a safe assumption that Coors Field won't be any friendlier to them than it was to Chacon. As for Chacon himself, well he's better than Nomo so that's something...
2. Manny Ramirez: I can't believe this guy is asking to be traded. He's in the middle of a World Series title defense, in 1st place, having another great statistical season and he's unhappy? What a dope. This situation reminds me of the Cecil Fielder situation of 1997 when Cecil, fresh from his parade down Broadway in October of '96, got greedy and told Joe Torre that if he wasn't getting all the AB's for the team, he didn't want to be in NYC. Some guys are just never happy.
On another note, while I'm thrilled that the Red Sox are having clubhouse problems (so much for the theory that they have the tightest-knit clubhouse chemistry, by the way), I'm a bit scared of this development. If some greedy GM wants Manny, he'll have to give up a lot for him and thus might give Boston more pieces for another October run. Somehow, I can see John Hart salivating here; he missed his Manny opportunity in the failed ARod dealings in the winter of 2003 and I'm sure he'd love to bring his boy back into the fold. This might make Soriano's departure possible and it might take emptying the Rangers' system of its pitching prospects to get the deal done. The Red Sox have a lot of leverage here.
3. AJ Burnett: I read somewhere that the Marlins are close to sending AJ Burnett to the White Sox for reliever Damaso Marte and minor leaguer Brandon McCarthy. I don't know the backstory on McCarthy but his stats in AAA and the majors this year are not impressive. He's only 22 so maybe he'll become something in the future but given the fact that the Marlins are only 3 1/2 games out of the playoffs right now, why sell? The Marlins always do stuff to drive fans away. This trade makes no sense for them.
Ok, now I'm really outta here until Tuesday next.
2 comments:
Manny isn't going anywhere. If they couldn't release him last year they're not going to find any takers this year.
Agreed on Florida. They are prime example of how short term focusing on costs can hurt future turn style draw. Please pay head Cleveland Indians with Kevin Millwood
Manny - some of the talking heads on Chicago sports radio today are salivating over the idea of Manny coming to the north side. It's all conjecture at this point; media talking because they have to fill air time. I don't think anyone's taking on his massive contract.
Florida - you're both missing what's been said to be the point. The Marlins' angle is that they won't be able to re-sign Burnett, so they move him (probably in a package with Lowell) and then turn around and make another trade or two to position them to reach the postseason. I'm not sure it's a sound strategy either, but they're not planning on giving up on 2005 just yet.
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