Forgotten Trade Candidates

Amidst all the Buehrle/Jacque rumors floating around this week, we've neglected to write about the many other players who could be traded in July.  Let's give a little press to three forgotten players who could be on the move.

Kyle Lohse, SP, CIN - I was pretty high on Lohse after April, thinking he was about to go all Bronson Arroyo on the NL.  Good Bronson, that is.  But Lohse followed up his first four starts by going 2-10 with a 6.27 ERA and 4.4 K/9.  And that actually included a shutout against the Pirates.  It's hard to see how Lohse can help a pennant contender this year, but as a Boras client and impending free agent earning $4.2MM, Wayne Krivsky should dump him off somewhere.  OK, so now that I think about it, he's more of a DFA candidate than a trade candidate.

Joe Kennedy, SP, OAK - Billy Beane might be able to move the 28 year-old southpaw and free agent-to-be for something useful.  Kennedy makes only $2.8MM and has an ERA under 4.  That might not last with his microscopic strikeout rate though.  With Esteban Loaiza on the shelf and Rich Harden questionable, Beane might have to hold off and take the draft picks for Kennedy.  But given Kennedy's strong groundball tendencies and the Phillies' lousy starting pitching, maybe they could match up.

Jose Guillen, RF, SEA - Guillen is earning $4MM this year with a $9MM club option for '08.  The Mariners are just 2.5 games out of the wild card, and their rotation could use a boost.  Guillen has posted a subpar line for a right fielder - .257/.330/.412.  I'm not sure how much trade value he has, but the Mariners already have a superior player ready to go at Triple A in Adam Jones.  Guillen is on pace for about 20 homers and 90 RBIs, so maybe some GM would bite on that.  Teams looking for an outfielder with some pop could include the Royals, Twins, Mets, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, and Padres.

Comments

[was385]

I doubt the Mariners would get anything useful for Guillen. The guy is a clubhouse cancer and all his teammates just end up hating him.

[ArodSucksAtLife]

"I doubt the Mariners would get anything useful for Guillen. The guy is a clubhouse cancer and all his teammates just end up hating him. "

I hate the term clubhouse cancer, it is the most over hyped bullshit label that anyone can ever get.

Unless you are Barry Bonds and the media does nothing but badger your team mates about you all day every day its meaningless.

[darkstar1661]

Yeah, but guys can become a distraction or bad influence in a clubhouse. You get too many egos and it can really screw things up. Plus, if you have someone with a big mouth he can start to mess up the developement of younger players.

Some people you can write it off (ie, "that's just Manny being Manny"), but some can create bad media, fights in the clubhouse or even hissy-fits on the field which can hinder a teams attitude (ie Milton Bradley). Obviously it is a real problem when 4 teams ship you out because of attitude like is the case with Milton...

I do know the Angels couldn't wait to get rid of Jose when he was here and he seemed to have created more problems than most around the country probably realize... Inserted into a team like Min or Atl with a bunch of kids and he could have a negative effect on play...