Adam Eaton On The Block

ESPN's Jerry Crasnick spoke to Adam Eaton last week, and his article definitely gives the vibe that the righthander won't be staying in San Diego past 2006. 

Eaton's opinion of the Padres' three-year, $17MM offer?

"It was almost like a slap in the face compared to what I'm capable of doing."

That's an amusing statement.  Here's my translation:

"I've pitched almost 800 Major League innings and have posted a medicore 4.35 ERA for my career.  I've never pitched more than 200 innings or had an ERA below 4 in a season, in a pitcher's ballpark to boot.  But since I'm under 30 and don't completely suck, I'm worth at least $10MM per season.  I'm insulted that you've only offered me $5MM per season."

Given that impressive resume, it's no surprise teams are beating down the door to acquire Eaton.  No, really, they are.  These are the interested parties, according to Crasnick:

Rangers
Nationals
Tigers
Orioles
Red Sox
Cubs

Thoughts on a few of these suitors:

The Rangers have been shaky about including both Gerald Laird and Adrian Gonzalez to get a deal done, and they reportedly backed out of such a deal earlier this month.  Eaton has been below average in home run prevention throughout his career, so I'm not sure he's the best fit for Ameriquest.  But Texas can't count on Vicente Padilla to fill the void left by Kenny Rogers, so it's likely they'll bring another starter in this winter.

If Eaton could remain healthy, he'd give Washington solid starting pitching depth.  1-5, it'd go John Patterson, Livan Hernandez, Eaton, Brian Lawrence, and Ryan Drese.  Top prospect Mike Hinckley will need some time before he's ready to step in.  A swap of Ryan Church for Eaton sounds like fair value to me, and Church would be a nice fit in left field for the Pads.

I'm not sure that the Cubs have what Padres GM Kevin Towers would want for Eaton.  Plus, the point of Hendry adding another starter was seemingly to add a durable pitcher to the mix in the event that Kerry Wood can't make 30 starts.  Eaton is anything but durable.   

Comments

[Texadero]

Listen, why don't the Rangers go get Kris Benson? He's a much better #3 starter!

[RumorMonger]

You think so? I'd rather have Eaton, more upside.

[Michael]

I'd take Eaton over Benson any day of the week. Definitely more upside.

[Steve]

Are you kidding me?
The Nats would not be THAT STUPID to give up a young promising player such as Church for some shitty pitcher who thinks he's worth 10M a year.
Not that stupid anyway, Hinckley is ready to step up to MLB and fill that spot vacated by Tony Armas Jr.

[RumorMonger]

Well, they were stupid enough to make the Soriano trade. They gave up their best position player for a shitty 2B who thinks he's worth $10MM a year. They don't seem to view Church as a full-timer, which is also stupid.

As for Hinckley, the 4.93 ERA and 1.58 WHIP in A ball don't scream "ready to step up to MLB."

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/H/mike-hinckley.shtml

[dave]

Any chance Eaton is Wells' ticket back to San Deigo?

[RumorMonger]

Sounds feasible to me, Dave. The Padres already made the horribly uneven Loretta deal; this wouldn't be quite as unfair.

[Dennis Rasmussen]

If S.D. even thinks about an Eaton for Wells trade, I'm going to file a collusion protest myself.

[James]

Is Eaton they only player out there the Mets arent interested in? That should show you his worth.

[Texadero]

Does anyone here hate the Mets? I sure as hell do!

your not the only one

[Metsfan]

Why all the hate? The Mets are hard line fiscal conservatives compared to the Yankees and Red Sox. Their payroll has actually DECLINED since last year.

If anything, Mets fans should be pissed off that the Mets didn't go after big free agents like Burnett and Millwood. They certainly have the money...

[Texadero]

Because the Mets overspend on mediocre talent, thus pricing good players out of reach for most mid-market level teams.

Beltran? 20M? What the hell is Minaya smoking? Didn't he also trade Kazmir for Zambrano? Yeah, real brilliant move there! Watch the Mets lose to the Braves once again, with some ridiculous inflated payroll. If the Braves had the Mets payroll, the Mets would never have a chance.

That's another thing... why is Minaya getting so much credit for what is essentially a monkey's job? He's a GM... And a bad one, I might add.

[Cubs-Mylife]

well, i think if eaton can get you ryan church, y couldnt jerome williams???

[RumorMonger]

Williams for Church...hmmm, fairly reasonable. Advantage Cubs, but you never know what Bowden will do.

Minaya didn't trade Kazmir that was Duquette.

[Texadero]

Then how the hell did Duquette get a job with the O's?

I sometimes wonder who has the more inept management. The Rangers or the Mets?

[smc]

Omar Minaya still loves Jose Vidro and is considering trading Kris Benson for him.