when I saw “Todd+Worrell”. Thanks for the flashback.

Dave Duncan would kill Mo if he traded Mort. iirc, he fell in love with him in ST>

I really think we would miss Ludwick behind Pujols (and i would assume he would be the piece to go for a Kelly Johnson +, lets say). That would put Glaus Ankiel and Johnson in the 4, 5, 6 spots.

Rasmus
Giles
Pujols
Glaus
Ankiel
Johnson
SS
Molina
P

That lineup has more balance and solid OBP potential in front of Pujols but Im sorry, I just dont trust Glaus and Ank to be ‘counted on’ as middle of the order run PRODUCERS as opposed to mop up guys.

$13.5 mil, and Giles could probably be extended for like 2/$22-24 if he has a good year. I expect that Giles will have a better OPS than Holliday this year IF he’s not playing in Petco. He’s an excellent defender with excellent on base ability and would look great in from of the Mang. It’d probably make more sense for us to move Ankiel for him (since he would effectively bump Ank from the starting OF), but I don’t think the Pads would be interested in Rick’s pending free agency.

I have no idea where you were going with that, but I want to add my .02

There are few things that bother me more than self described “best of” whatevers. Having said that though, I do think that the vast majority of VEB (or SB Nation for that matter) users are some of the most dedicated and knowledgeable fans in baseball. The kind of work that some people put into some of these main posts and fanposts just screams dedicated baseball fan. As for knowledgeable, the post themselves prove that point on most days. Of course some of them are just pure fun, and there is nothing wrong with that either. I have been a huge Cardinal and baseball fan for far longer than I want to admit, and still almost everyday I learn a little something more at this place. So yeah, I don’t mind if some of the elite posters or comment makers on here believe that.

I still think the worst thing about the new stadium was that damn “Welcome to Baseball Heaven” sign. I didn’t notice it last season, that means they got rid of it, right? I guess it is possible I had one too many Franklins at the games last year to care.

/end rant

i would love to have him, but there is talk the indians want him more. i would think that he would want to stay in the national league, so he has some chances to show Sandy Alderson/Kevin Towers/whomever that he still has plenty of gas left in the tank.

My vote above (Yes, for a MI [Yunel, Roberts, etc.]) was contingent on the Roberts side of the equation. Yunel is not nearly good enough to warrant trading away some of our best assets.

I think it might be a good choice too. He had a good second half. Everything but the homers was in line with his norms, and he only gave up 1 homer in the 2nd half.

I imagine we could keep it to 1 or 2 years, which leaves the door open for our young arms if they show well. I think it is worth making a play at.

Dumb that it was removed.

I like the Hoffman idea if he came cheap.

1) he’s old.

2) interestingly, his K/9 last year (9.13!) was the highest it’s been since 2001. His BB/9 was lower than it has been since 2004 and in his entire 15 year career, it’s only been lower than 2008 twice. HR/9 spiked a bit. Was he just throwing it down the middle hoping to get by on park effects?

Because:

3) he gave up 7 HR in petco and 1 HR away, in about twice as many innings at home. After giving up a 3R HR to Berkman on the second day of the season, he had a 3.09 ERA the rest of the way. Every other HR hit against him all year was a solo HR. Only one resulted in a blown save, though 2 others earned him losses. He had a 1.6 ERA in appearances in which he did not give up home runs (most useless stat ever?)

4) his average fastball speed (86) was actually faster than it has been since at least 2005, which is the earliest that data is available on fangraphs.

Dunno if he’d play anywhere other than SD, or if he’d accept an incentive-laden deal, but I’d take him on a 1Y deal if nothing else so that Mo can say “I got us a closer” and not be pressured to trade for a Street or sign a Fuentes. He’s a type B and if he doesn’t work out, we have YP and MH jr and Josh Frickin Kinney to take over…

it was Boston.

to re-sign with the padres in 2005. It’s pretty mean to him to criticize him for not wanting to be traded from the team he gave such a discount to.

Agree, mather and jones are too much to give up for greene unless someone else is really wanting him and you think he’s the only guy that fits.

This is more of an opinion. Ellis though was definitely better then Johnson at second though in terms of total value, even though he had a terrible year offensively. I think that to get Johnson or Escobar we would have to give up Luddy and wouldn’t would get anything else in the deal. If we traded for Ellis or Zobrist then we would get a good young starter if we gave them Ludwick.

what I meant by “existence” was the fact that the Cubs will be eating contracts like crazy and the farm will be more bare than my grandparents cupboard during the Great Depression.

He allowed something like 40 hits in 86 innings, while striking out over 120. That is pure dominance. Plus his slider is way better than Perez’s right now.

but if you are in a division that has some monster lefthanded or righthanded hitters, especially power hitters, it is vital to get a loogy or roogy to shut the door on those guys in crunchtime (the cant let this guy beat me philosophy. Fortunately for us, there is no APOOGY (Albert Pujols One Out GuY)). But i agree, personnel moves should not be reactionary, but always with an eye on your team and your situation, whether it be looking to the future or a win-now mindset.

2009 – Mets pay Kennedy 4 mil and Pineiro 7.5 and the Cardinals pay Castillo’s 6 million
2010 and 2011 – Mets and Cardinals split his salary at 3 mil apiece

The Mets take on an extra 5.5 million in 09 payroll for Kennedy and Pineiro but only end up paying 6 million of the total 18 million Castillo is owed for the next 3 years.
The Cards save 5.5 million in 09 and pay a total of 12 million to Castillo for the next 3 years.

He is healthy. He can pitch deep into games if needed because his pitch count is so low, although he does give up a lot of hits. He was a solid pitcher in most of his career before last year, so i think we could expect a low to mid 4’s era which wouldn’t that bad out of our five spot. He only has one more year left i think so he wouldn’t be a detrement to our future plans. Also kennedy is better than castillo.

but why do you think the Sox want a couple of one-year rentals for Vasquez?

Or he will be traded in the off season. Just no room for him anymore and he is out of options.

…you’re messing with my world view there!!!

I find it interesting that one left handed reliever who happens to be a closer and is often accused of being over-valued ranks so high

2 of those were in the top 10, but you were ofer.

I think he could be had for a prospect or two. Look at the deal the marlins just made:

Scott Olsen and Josh Willingham to the Nationals for (2B) Emilio Bonifacio – .240 with no homers and 16 RBIs in 60 big league games, and two minor leagers (2B) Jake Smolinksi, and (P) P.J. Dean.

Uggla certainly changes the equation and I’ll defer to the more intelligent guys here to determine his value, but I doubt Gregg by himself would not cost a MLB regular like Skip.

He is injury prone. He isn’t great defensively at short, he makes a lot of errors, but he does have a great arm. He is also just a leadoff hitter and I am not sure that teams are gonna spend 15 mil a year for a leadoff guy unless he is really good. I’m guessing that we could probably get him for about 30 mil for 3 years. Also I can’t think of another team that needs a good shortstop as much as us.