Assorted updates: Alou, Hudson, Garland, Okajima

Earlier today, we found a report that Moises Alou was about to sign with the Mets.  Now Rosenthal is saying that it could be a two-year deal.  With Carlos Gomez right behind Lastings Milledge, putting two established vets in the outfield through 2008 would seem to make Milledge expendable. 

Yesterday, Phil Rogers speculated that Mark Buehrle could be headed to Texas.  Rosenthal says it's Jon Garland, and hints (as Rogers did) that John Danks and Brian Anderson could be part of the package, especially if the deal gets bigger.

And, Buster Olney is reporting chatter about Tim Hudson heading to the Orioles.  If, as Olney speculates, the return could include Adam Loewen or Hayden Penn, it would seem to be ideal for Atlanta: free up payroll for Tom Glavine, and get another (cheap) potentially decent starter in the deal as well.

And here's something out of nowhere: Hideki Okajima, a lefty reliever, may be coming to the states.  Okajima, a longtime Yomiuri Giant and recently a Nippon Ham Fighter, had a great 2006 but a mediocre '05.  Sounds like your typical middle-bullpen fodder.

By Jeff Sackmann

Comments

[was385]

I would love to move Hudson and his backloaded contract. If the braves can free up between 10 to 20 million with Jones and Hudson then we can really go after a big name finally which would be nice

[Brian]

That Alou signing is typical of Omar Minaya. That guy will not sign/trade for a guy who isnt Latin American. No wonder he doesnt want to bring back Glavine and you can take them out of the Barry Zito chase as well.

[BaLLooNNoT]

I wouldn't mind signing Alou so much if we didn't have to lose *2 draft picks* for him! Thats just ridiculous for a 40 year old OF with poor defense and who is injury prone.

[nom3k]

He wants Glavine back, stupid ass.

They'd take Zito too, but they won't overpay for him like he was a #1.

[akirell]

To me the optimal situation could occur if they deal Hudson to the Orioles.

This frees up the payroll to go and get Glavine back. And then if the Braves can also unload Giles, they could consider pursuing Roberts. I say keep Andruw.

[buehrlebro]

Allow me to repeat what I just posted in the Kenny Williams topic:

Noooo way Jon Garland is traded, he's been too good when we needed him most. He claims he was injured through the first two months, with his 6+ ERA and was lights out afterwards. I don't think Danks' future is clear enough to center a deal around him, maybe if he was a throw in to Michael Young. I'd rather have Edison Valquez or Eric Hurley, but Daniels would have to be stupid to part with either. Danks' Ks surpassed his innings in both AA and AAA last year, but he didn't consistently hit high innings in his games like Garland or Buehrle will, especially without the playoffs.

My problem with trading Buehrle or especially Garland is that they are both very young and have many good seasons ahead of them. I would rather just dump Javy Vasquez, no one likes him in Chicago and he isn't a good fit. This might not bring as high a return, however. Another thing is, it's unclear what the Rangers are offering in return. I would have to assume Michael Young, but then one of Uribe or Iguchi(preferably Iguchi, Young sucks at SS and Uribe is a beast, plus Iguchi's market value is higher after posting two solid seasons and the need for 2Bs on the market). Brian Anderson might have too much ruff over his diamond, but I know he'll be a good player someday and it could be a regrettable move. Kenny already made the mistake of trading CF Chris Young who has star potential.

[Brian]

Nom3k, you're an idiot. All Minaya has done since becoming GM of the Mets has sign Latin players and trade for Latin Players with the one exception being Billy Wagner. Other GM's and people around baseball have said this also. Instead of starting "hot shot" prospect Lastings Milledge (who isnt Latin) they sign Moises Alou who is Latin. They traded Kris Benson (who isnt Latin) for Jorge Julio (who is Latin). He signed Beltran and trade daway Cameron, he traded for Delgado and Lo Duca. Now, he's letting Glavine go. Stop me when I'm wrong here. I dont care what he says the reasons are for letting Glavine go, the fact remains that its a cycal that he keeps repeating.

[SiddFinch]

Shawn Green isn't Latin you simpleton.

[nom3k]

The word is 'cycle'.

"He signed Beltran and trade daway Cameron"

Beltran is 1000000 times the player Cameron is. Point?

"he traded for Delgado and Lo Duca."

Since when is Paul Lo Duca latin?

"Now, he's letting Glavine go. Stop me when I'm wrong here."

You've been wrong since you started giving your opinion. He's not letting Glavine go. Omar has offered him 2 year/25 million dollar extention. Glavine is deciding whether he wants to remain in NY or return to Atlanta so he could be near his family.

[SiddFinch]

"Since when is Paul Lo Duca latin?"

Italian, Latin...its hard to tell the difference when you're looking out from underneath the pointy white hood.

[buehrlebro]

I think Minaya's doing a great job. Brian, you might as well be accusing a white GM for acquiring white players. Your argument holds no water, and he's not the one penciling in the line ups you idiot, so your Milledge argument fails even harder.

[eeleye99]

These sorts of things could be coincidence. JP Riccardi was accused of creating the "White Jays," having traded Miguel Batista and Orlando Hudson for Glaus, trading away Felipe Lopez...well the whole goddamn team is white. But its just BS.

[jd]

"Young sucks at SS and Uribe is a beast"
LMAO, have you even seen mike young play? He's not the best defensive SS but dammit he's just as good as that last guy we had down here..... plus he's not a prick.

[buehrlebro]

You realize you just said Michael Young's a gold glove caliber shortstop. And how is Uribe a prick, exactly?

[desturbd1]

"Young sucks at SS and Uribe is a beast"

Yeah that's a pretty ridiculous claim to make.

According to THT win shares, Uribe's fielding was worth 6.2 win shares compared to Young's 7.7. Overall, Young had a total of 26 winshares; Uribe had 11.

And Iguchi was worth 18 WS.

[desturbd1]

And jd was referring to A-Rod...not Uribe when he said Young's not a prick. Thus the "just as good as that last guy we had down here" part.

[buehrlebro]

I know Iguchi has been very good, but if it came down to a combination of Young and Uribe or Young and Iguchi I would take the former. Uribe is among the best shortstops in the game- maybe to say Young sucks defensively is incorrect, but I would definitely rather have Uribe manning short and Young returning to second if that's an option.

[jd]

desturbd1-thanks, i'm glad you got that. In the minors Kinsler was a SS, I'd love to have young and him switch back simply for defensive reasons but it will never happen.

[buehrlebro]

I've been thinking they should do that all along.

[buehrlebro]

What are the possible players being givin to the White Sox in a potential deal between them and the Rangers? I know that they aren't giving Buehrle and Anderson for John Danks.

[Ganman]

Trade Miledge for a ace and Alou is a good fit for a year or so if he stays healthy

[buehrlebro]

You can't get "a ace" for Milledge.

[wihargo]

about minaya's moves: hell, I remember back in school when another kid told me the Jays couldn't win the '93 WS cause they had too many dominicans. I hadn't heard anything like that for a while though. I think that Minaya just takes the best player available.

[start_wearing_purple]

Minaya is doing a great job, plain and simple. Yes he's gotten latin players but he also in the same time period:
1) Traded for John Maine whom in my opinion is going to be far better than Benson.
2) Got a better catcher that what was on the free agent market (LoDuca)
3) Built a team that ended the Braves reign in the east.
That's just to name a few.

Oh and Olney is reporting the Astros are on the verge of signing Lee

[Ganman]

NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA HEY HEY HEY SCREW THE BRAVES!!! AND THIS METS TEAM IS AMAZONG NO MATTER THE AMOUNT OF SPANISH PEOPLE ON THE TEAM... ALL THAT MATTERS IS THAT WE ARE WINNING WITH BLACK WHITE SPANISH ASIAN OR GREEN PEOPLE ON THE TEAM

[Ganman]

yeah u dont have a responce.. thought so... GET AT ME!!

[start_wearing_purple]

dude, wtf

[nickjs21]

Could we impose an age limit on the comments?

Do people really do "na na na na na" anymore?

[nickjs21]

Yknow I hate to say this, but Mets fans on the whole seem to be some of the more immature, in-their-own-world fans out there.

More specifically, though, I know some great, intelligent Mets fans.

But by god people, do you know how hard it is to make Yankee fans look good?

And if we've got a link on the Astros/Lee thing, get at that. That would be a huge name off the board.

[Droptop]

People who think Michael Young "sucks" at SS either A) Haven't seen him enough or B) Are just clueless. Uribe over Young is simply LAUGHABLE, compare the stats. WHY would ANYONE not take Young at SS over Uribe(or 2B Iguchi)??? The guy is one of the better hitters in the game and has hit over .300(200+ hits) 4 years in a row now(and 3 years in a row of 90+ RBI's). Another thing forgotten in all this about Iguchi(if he was part of a trade to the Rangers), is that the Rangers have a young kid by the name of Ian Kinsler that had a very respectable rookie season and was A reason the Rangers felt comfortable trading Soriano.

[Droptop]

Kinsler had 18 errors as a 2B and his range factor was over 5.5 but as a SS it'd drop right down to 4.5 or so, moving him over to SS just wouldn't be a smart move. Watch the kid play some more, he's a ML 2B. You guys are drastically over stating Young's supposed bad defensive skills as a SS.

[nrmax88]

ok i know people will call me a homer and say im biased, but seriously, anyone who says minaya isnt a great gm is an idiot. Brian in baseball there is no such thing as latin, white, black asian, jamaican, green, yellow, or purple, players are players and if latin players are where the talent is, then do what you gota do. You cant argue the fact that he put together a winning team, and if you are to shallow and stereotypical to understand that, than you are stupid.

[nrmax88]

ganman dont be stupid bro. I am as big a met fan as anybody, but dont be an idiot, the braves will better then last year first of all, the phillies are going to be a big contender also, we can easily have a better season then 06, and only win about 90 games. I kind of like alou, but for 2 years im not quite sure. The thing is he will have plenty of rest, with ben johnson and endy chavez giving him lots of days off. Same goes for shawn green. I see endy chavez starting somewhere around 60 games this season, ben johnson probably about 30. Ganman beurhlebro is right we cannot get an ace for milledge, but i think he is expendable now more then ever if this alou thing is true. When and if he is traded, the team that gets him will have a very good promising young player. All the milledge bashers, give the kid time, he showed signs in his very small cup of coffee. By the time he is 24, this kid should be a legit 30/100 20 sb guy

[nrmax88]

"putting two established vets in the outfield through 2008 would seem to make Milledge expendable."

Is shawn green signed thru 08? I thought it was 07 with an option for 08

[nrmax88]

By the way brian, who is the most marketable player the mets have "wright" now?
Its this little white boy named david wright kidd. I can see brian as a hitler follower to sidfinch, i liked the whole white hood comment though, got a chuckle out of that

[Droptop]

nrmax - Minaya is a good GM. As for the Braves and Phillies giving the Mets more problems, you're right but you left out the Marlins. People forgot about Chad Bradford as for "only latin players", let alone the fact 3 out of 5 starters were "white players".

[palehose35]

HAHAHAHAHAHA...."Brian"

How is Paul Lo Duca latin?

I'm guessing you've been called on it 10 times by now. I'm not even going to check. You deserve to be called on it 20 times. That's just flat out clueless.

I'm surprised you're still not fuming over the signing of some bum named J. Robinson. He was only called up because he was black, I'm sure...

[nrmax88]

droptop your right the marlins could be a contender next year, but they can also take a step back ya know. Last year was so unbelievable for them.They did like as well as anyone could have possibly expected and it might be tough to repeat it. Also, their idiot owner fired Girardi, who was a HUGE reason for their success. Not everybody can manage a young ballclub the way he did

[start_wearing_purple]

Max, you can really say that about any team. Hell last year I remember everyone including myself predicted the Braves would take another pennent despite their pen was in as much trouble as the Mets pitching staff appear to be, I mean c'mon Chris Reitsma was their closer, I've been calling that guy a waste of skin for 2 years. The Marlins have an extremely talented club and will probably beat out Washington and depending on what the Braves and Phils do with their pitching staffs, the Marlins could shock the division again and be in at least second.

Getting rid of Girardi was a mistake. But I think it was done on purpose, I half wondering if Loria was trying to drive down ticket sales even further so he'd have a better excuse to move the team (yeah, I know that was done in the movie Major League). The other possibility is Loria is just an ass.

[nrmax88]

yeah true i mean i thought the mets would win the division but im a met fan so i say that every year, but its like the indians, after 05, everyone thought they would win the al central in 06, or the wildcard, or atleast contend for one of the 2. Shit happens, look at the tigers

[start_wearing_purple]

ESPN is reporting Speier to the Angels

[buehrlebro]

I just found a surprisingly relevant article.

http://boogiedownbaseball.mlblogs.com/baseball_the_boogie_down/2006/11/ive_lost_my_pin.html

So it basically says Michael Young is a stud shorstop statistically, but he's not the one diving and making impressively plays all the time like Uribe and Jeter. It doesn't specifically say that about Uribe but myself and Kenny Williams know it, and he's the one who matters. Plus, Uribe has very good hands and a cannon for an arm; I've seen him make unreal plays with that arm of his. I mean just look at those two plays he made to close out the 2005 World Series. That's just part of what we see every game he plays.

I didn't say anything about Young's offense- I know he's one of the best and most consistent hitters in the game you twit. Never said anything about trading Iguchi to the Rangers, because they don't need a second basemen. They do have Joaquin Arias should they trade Young, or Uribe would be part of the deal. What I did say is that I would rather have Uribe playing SS and Young playing 2B if they were on the same team. Young was known as one of the best all around 2Bs in the game a few years ago and could probably be even better with his experience at short. BTW, if Young could switch back to SS then Kinsler can too.

[Jeff Sackmann]

'''
"putting two established vets in the outfield through 2008 would seem to make Milledge expendable."

Is shawn green signed thru 08? I thought it was 07 with an option for 08
'''

I meant Alou and Beltran. IOW, if there's only one spot in 2008, that could go to Carlos Gomez. You're right, Green is only signed through 07.

[Twanger]

A note about Latins. While the appellation Latin and/or Latino is commonly used to mean Hispanics, Latin was the language of the Roman Empire. The city of Rome, was the capital & is in Italy. Italians are the original Latins. That makes Paul LoDuca's background more Latin than the Hispanic players.

Spanish is a Romance ( as in Roman ) language from Latin roots & as with many things, calling Hispanics Latino just became what it is today by historic usage based on the influx of the Spanish to what became South or Latin America.

AND regardless of why, it is verifiable fact that the majority of Minaya's deals involve Hispanics. To paraphrase loosely, he has more of a rapport in terms of communication & establishing if a ball player fits his vision. I frankly don' t see anything wrong with hiring people you feel are going to mesh well with you. It seems to be working.

BTW Zito being part Italian, is part Latin. I don't know if Willie Randolph is part Hispanic. You could look it up.

[coolpapabell]

I might be going out on a limb, but it seems like Brian's definition of Latin refers to Latin Americans and omits the French, Romanians, Italians, and Iberians.

"That Alou signing is typical of Omar Minaya. That guy will not sign/trade for a guy who isn’t Latin American. No wonder he doesn’t want to bring back Glavine and you can take them out of the Barry Zito chase as well."

Maybe we should ask Brian what he meant.
Brian.......are you there?
Would you like to explain yourself?