Loading ...Some items from around the interwebs…
–For those of you who didn’t see this mentioned in the comments yesterday, Baseball Prospectus has a great article busting the myth of the salary cap. It’s a must-read.
–Replacement Level Yankees Blog has run a number of simulations of the 2009 season using player projections. They have the Reds coming out at 79-83, lodged once again in the ever-familiar fifth place in the standings..
–This Hot Stove Report over at MLB.com seems to indicate that the Giants had/have an interest in Edwin Encarnacion. We’ve been hearing that rumor for a while.
–Are the Reds really going to have more speed, or just less power in 2009?
–Over at Reds Minor Leagues, Doug has unearthed some video of Juan Duran and Yorman Rodriguez, the two big Latin prospects signed by the Reds recently. Interesting.
–Some Yankees fans want to trade Xavier Nady to the Reds…for Aaron Harang. No thanks. To their credit, they admit that it’s a longshot.
As the guy who proposed the Nady/Harang thing, even though Chad noted it, I wanted to reinforce that it was for fun. I’m a huge Harang fan and would love to see him in the Bronx. There’s an obvious need/need thing going on between the two clubs, but yes, a one-for-one swap is inequitable.
Yankee fans… what else do they want!? … Harang is worth MUCH more than Xavier Nady.
If Harang is in fact on the table … the Yanks might have to kick something else the Reds way.
Might?
No way do the Reds trade Harang or Arroyo before the season starts. It might seem as if the Reds have a pitching surplus, but all those young guys are still a risk to regress or get hurt. I suspect one of those two will be traded at the deadline, when their value could be much higher, but not now.
And definitely not for a guy like Nady (good but not great, not young, not cheap and certain to leave for free agency after the season).
I’d counter with Arroyo for Swisher and Hughes.
Every team has myopic fans, but the Yankees and Red Sox ones are the best.
BTW, the Cubs signed Milton Bradley. 3/$30
Too long, IMO, but will still be a better player than all but 2 Reds (and even that’s close). It should be fun to watch him and Pinella.
Yeah, that story was dated Monday. I must have been in a coma all week.
Chris…you also meant to say “when healthy”, right?
And he’s not exactly without clubhouse baggage…but you’re right, he and Lou should be fun to watch.
[...] veteran such as Harang. As I said in the original, though, a one-for-one swap would be inequitable. Chad from Redleg Nation says “no thanks” to the proposal. The commenters on that post are also taking me to [...]
Yankees don’t have to trade Nady though. I guess the Reds don’t have to trade for him, since they won’t be winning the division, at least not this year. I think their time will come soon though. I wouldn’t trade Nady unless someone overpaid for him though. Cashman holds the cards in this trade, we’ll just have to see who folds and who calls.
On the Bradley to the Cubs… I highly doubt that’s going to pay off… for one, he’s a real piece of work… secondly (and I’ve said this in a comment before), there’s no guarentee that he’s going to be able to play in the outfield for any decent number of games. He played in a total of 126 games in 2008 (his most, by far, since 2004) – 100 of those games was at DH.
That’s why the three years part is the worst part. Bradley on a short lease/leash is a good thing. Bradley that you can’t get rid of is tough.
Bradley is perfect for the Cubs. Discension in the clubhouse and tangling with Lou.
Today’s Baseball Prospectus has an article Every Given Sunday, Not Actually Getting Ink Done, by John Perrotto. He has the Reds listed next to Bobby Abreu, I preseume it’s his guess of the most likely destination. I don’t have access to “premium” coverage.
What does he say about Abreu ?
Thanks.
I saw that also, Pinson343. Abreu would be quite a catch as long as the Reds don’t get saddled with a long term deal.
I’ve been saying for awhile now, we need to make a competitive two year offer to Abreu. Though he’s similar to Dunn in many aspects, he usually has a pretty good batting average so that might keep some fans from getting on him.
Abreu used to have a lot of speed. He turns 35 soon, but he can still run a little (more than Dunn).
mlbtraderumors.com is reporting this morning that Rangers SS Michael Young is demanding a trade. He has a short list of teams he would agree to go to. Wonder if the Reds are on that list? :rolleyes
The BP article didn’t say much about Abreu, but did say his best fit seemed to be with the Reds.
Also said Adam Dunn would probably be a National, especially because of Jim Bowden’s penchant for ex-Reds (wow…neither team can win….)
Another BP article said the Yanks did have Xavier Nady on the trading block, and that there had been discussions with the Reds.
Yet, another BP article was discussing Alan Trammell’s HOF chances as a shortstop…the article included Barry Larkin since he would be HOF eligible next year. The article said that Larkin’s baseball peak ranked him 12th among shortstops, his career stats ranked hinm 9th, and the BP “JAWS” analysis ranked him 8th…but, that some voters would be confused with the stats put up by ARod and Jeter the last few years.
One more thing…BP also says shortstop Orlando Cabrera may be forced to go with a one-year contract…and that the A’s were calling….
Where are the Reds?
Cabrera’s a Type A free agent, so the Reds would have to give up their second-round pick (their first rounder is protected). I’m not sure I’d do that for a 34-year-old with average defense and a career OPS+ of 86, even for one or two years.
Michael Young will be entering the 1st year of a 5-yr/$80M contract extension at age 32. The Rangers want to move him to 3B to make room for a SS prospect, and he strenuously objects (according to these reports.) He just won his first gold glove award, but he also just had his worst offensive performance since 2002. The years in between he hit over .300 each year.
Is it worth the prospects it would cost to overpay a 30-yr-old for the performance he put up in another organization in his 20’s?
Is this how Brandon Phillips would react if he were asked to move to SS?
I was looking at Cabrera’s numbers last week…he would be an acceptable stopgap to the Reds SS problems.
I suppose it would depend on how strong our minor league candidates are, and how healthy/ready to play Alex Gonzalez would be.
(I have to say, typing AGon doesn’t sound very optimistic…)
Hairston and Keppinger aren’t shortstops.
If we’re not going to move Phillips, we have to find one somewhere…
Valaika is striking 20% of the time he bats, and his fielding stats don’t make him appear to be catching lightning in a bottle.
Janish can’t hit…but can pick it.
I didn’t look up Cabrera being 34….that’s not good at all; most shortstops can’t play regularly past 32 or 33 (I know about Vizquel, and even Larkin…they’re exceptions).
Look up Bobby Crosby’s “similar players”…is like looking up a back up catcher reunion (Bobby Morgan, Andujar Cedeno, Kelly Stinnett, Chris Widger, and Damon Berryhill).
Looking at who’s out there…we’ve been really spoiled through Concepcion and Larkin…
I wonder if we really even talked with Furcal…I hope Gonzalez can play…if he can’t, Furcal may have been a real key to any future infield.
Having said that…Brandon Phillips should be playing shortstop…
Oh, I forgot about the draft pick compensation. He should have accepted arbitration. If Valaika keeps hitting in AAA the way he hit at the other levels, I’d expect him up before the all-star break.
It would be nice to see Valaika, Dorn, and Stubbs all make a strong case to be starting on this team before mid-season.
Steve – I agree with you on both Furcal and Phillips. Orlando Hudson is still the best short-term option out there, IMHO.
Ah well, the Rays signed Gabe Kapler, my pet cause for this offseason. His career .828 OPS vs. righties (.725 vs. lefties) and ability to play all three OF spots are a great value at one year, $1 million.
Rays beat Reds, 2-0