Stark's Latest

Jayson Stark has an assessment of the trade market over at ESPN.com.

• Aside from the usual Mark Teixeira/Eric Gagne mentions, Stark believes many Rangers may be headed out at the trading deadline.  Specifically, he names Brad Wilkerson, Kenny Lofton, and Sammy Sosa.  Lofton is always a good midseason mercenary.  He's like a Mike Stanton in that way.
• Ken Griffey Jr. would approve a trade to Atlanta and might consider certain other teams.  Junior is making $12.5MM this year and next, plus a $4MM buyout for '09.  Quite a bit of the contract is deferred, also.  $29MM over 2007-08 is still pretty steep, but now would be the right time to trade Griffey. 
• Nationals - still asking too much for Chad Cordero.  Bowden's got time to wait around for the right deal, I suppose.
• Best option for Todd Helton still appears to be the Angels, in Stark's mind.  That does not seem workable to me, because Casey Kotchman has broken out and Vlad needs access to the DH spot.
• Speaking of DHs, this might finally be the year Mike Sweeney gets traded and gets to play for a contender.  If he heats up, maybe the Twins could snag him.
• Michael Bourn could be a trade candidate, if the Phillies decide he's only a future fourth outfielder.  Probably makes sense to keep him around if Aaron Rowand is going to walk after this season.
• The Astros are buyers, and they have all sorts of needs.  A young catcher would be nice, but those are always in short supply.
• Speaking of young catchers, Jarrod Saltalamacchia has received interest but the Braves are not biting.  A lot hinges on Scott Thorman's performance and, of course, which young player the Braves are offered for Salty.  Most teams would love to have him.

Comments

[biprobertsstilltheman]

i really think that griffey would be good for the padres. he gives them a bat in the middle of the line up and you probably don't have to give up too much if they take contract from the reds maybe a reliever and one of their lower level third base prospects since encarnacion is not playing so well this year. as for griffey playing for the padres he gives them a legit power and average guy in the line up improves their defense by putting him in a corner spot and then is a good replacement for cameron until cedric hunter comes up to the bigs.

[jatorres]

Sure the Astros are going to do something trade-wise at some point, but should they? Brad Lidge should get the closer's job back soon as Dan Wheeler's been struggling (he just blew a save in Colorado, bringing his ERA to 5.60). And what could they get, given the players they've got? I certainly wouldn't want to see them trade away Hunter Pence or Troy Patton unless we're talking a Carlos Zambrano (which won't happen) or Mark Teixeira (moving Berkman to right, which probably wouldn't make him too happy).

[Brian]

There a ton of rumors here in Houston that the Astros and Braves are having talks of a Brad Lidge for Jarrod Saltalamacchia trade.

[Pimpinpinstripes]

I think the Braves could get a much better return for Saltalawhatever. If the Braves are looking for bullpen help, why not go after Percival?

[WHIPit]

jatorres:

As an Astros fan, those ideas are terrible. You'd give up Patton and/or Pence for ZAMBRANO?? First of all, our org. would never sign a hot head like Big Z. If you don't know that, you don't know the Astros. Good or bad, Drayton McLane thinks character is paramount and Z leaves much to be desired in that category.

The Houston farm system is depleted as it is, Patton isn't going anywhere. As for Pence, give me a break. He's the ONE bright spot on this team.

We'll be buyers, but our only REAL bargaining chips are Lamb and Ensberg and MAYBE even Jennings. J.J. isn't signed past this year and I hear he wants more than the Astros want to pay.

Getting rid of Phil Garner and Tim Purpura would go a long way for this team as well. it's a sad time in Houston sports.

[bravesbeast]

Brian,

I can just go ahead and tell that trade is not going to happen. Yes schuerholz wants his bullpen strong, but salty is our best trading piece, so we would need a more vaulable bounty in return, such as a good young starter, or a young outfielder to replace andruw. The market for salty is almost as fueled by need as much as it is talent, as a lot of teams want him. With that being said, the braves could get a better deal done for a younger player who will play a bigger part in the team's future.

[bravesbeast]

Brian,

I can just go ahead and tell that trade is not going to happen. Yes schuerholz wants his bullpen strong, but salty is our best trading piece, so we would need a more vaulable bounty in return, such as a good young starter, or a young outfielder to replace andruw. The market for salty is almost as fueled by need as much as it is talent, as a lot of teams want him. With that being said, the braves could get a better deal done for a younger player who will play a bigger part in the team's future.

[ConservativeTog]

I think that rowand is definitely walking even though I like him. He plays hard but doesn't love this team. The white sox want him back and probably would sign him as a free agent so I would rather trade him to get something in return. Macdougal and Gio Gonzalez would be fair return. Michael bourn doesn't seem to be a great player to me. Terrible hitter. I would take whatever we could take for him as I would prefer Dobbs play left and victorino to center. It would be nice to see the phillies get percival out of free agency and land a good trade for relief pitching.

[Dave]

There's no way KW trades Mike MacDougal AND Gio Gonzalez for a player he could sign a few months later.

He'd just wait for Pods and Erstad to come back from the DL. He's probably more after Bullpen help anyway.

[GoBoSox420]

Macdougal and Gio would be a fair return?

Does anyone ever propose somewhat logical trades?

[Blutarski]

If KW offered Gio alone to Gillick for Rowand, I'm sure that he'd do cartwheels around his office.

[bobo]

Bourn is a terrible hitter? .360+ OBP potential with blazing speed? Not to mention good defense in CF? Sounds like a nice, cheap leadoff man to me. I'd take him over Pierre any day, for example.

[bravesbeast]

I sincerely hope you mean in terms of youd take bourn at 500,000 instead of pierre at 9million, in those terms I completely agree. However, I just feel that people underrate Pierre. Now am I saying that he is a 9 million dollar outfielder, no, not even close. What I am saying is that He is a very good average hitter, who steals 50 bases a year, and a part of his game that never gets looked at is that he can get on base in a lot of ways. He also can get to some balls that other centerfielders cannot get too, even though i would agree that his arm sucks. My point is that a lot of teams would love to have a high average 50-steal potential guy at the top of their order, which makes pierre a vauluable player.

[Teetz]

Only fantasy teams should want Juan Pierre. Juan Pierre doesn't create runs because he doesn't get on base and he hits for no power. He's an outs machine with no arm and horrible instincts in Center Field. He should be a 4th outfielder.

[Not Joe Morgan]

"and a part of his game that never gets looked at is that he can get on base in a lot of ways."

It never gets looked at because it doesn't exist (unless you know of secret ways of getting on base that don't show up in the OBP calculation)

[Baseballfan79]

juan pierre = one of the most over-rated players in baseball . He needs to hit 340s to get a decent OBP for he never takes walks. His Arm is weaker then a 80 year old woman, his routes are often horrible in the outfield. He has no power production for slugging either.

He is one of the most over-rated players in baseball period

Luis Castillo was more value in 03 by far and JP has lived offof that year since

[lih]

Although I recently recommended the Dodgers trade Pierre and Loney for a one day contract of Raul Mondesi, I'd like to note that he does have a positive stat that no one really talks about much. Don Sutton was talking about it during the LAD-WAS series...Pierre is usually in the top five in the league for pitches seen per at-bat. I think it's an underrated statistic that has a lot of value. Even though he doesn't get on base, he does work the count. The reason he doesn't walk much is because pitchers know they can throw right down the middle on a 3 ball count and the worst thing that will happen, more often than not, is a single. Now, basically, what I'm saying is Pierre for 1 year at 9 million...ok...5 years?? Say it isn't so!

[Not Joe Morgan]

Wrong. Pierre is absolutely never even in top *half* of the league in pitches seen.

Pierre's P/PA among qualified hitters
2007: 179th(!) of 185
2006: 127th of 146
2005: 86th of 143
2004: 132nd of 154

Stats are only relevant when they're true.

[lih]

Ok. I was just going off what Sutton said. I didn't look it up or anything. Not sure what he was talking about in that case.

[nilodnayr]

If by top 5 P/PA you mean top 500, then yes, you'd be correct. This year Pierre's 7th this year among regulars on his team. For the love of God, don't blindly rely on what baseball commentators say, regardless of whether or not they are HOFers.

[lih]

Relax with the god love comment. I post for the love of baseball, but this isn't a presidential debate. I'm not writing a book about baseball stats. I said I didn't agree with the deal. I never said I wouldn't trade him for Raul Mondesi or Darren Dreifort or Sidney Ponson. I just thought it was strange when I heard it, so I mentioned it. I didn't know it wasn't true. I'm used to Scully who doesn't make things up like this.

[bravesbeast]

Yea, you guys are right, juan pierre fricking sucks, pfft what idiot said he wasnt overrated. Good grief.

In a seriousness, I still will not lie, for a much better contract, like 4 to 5 mill a year, id love to have pierre at the top of the order. You can give all the stats you want, they are all very valid, and yall are right, but just on personal opinion i think he is a great option to have at the top of the order

[Not Joe Morgan]

I don't see how you can call him a great option when he can't do the one thing leadoffs hitters have to do; get on base. If you made a list of the 30 regular leadoff hitters, Pierre couldn't possibly be higher than 24th or so.

[Blue]

You're way off on Griffey's contract. He is owed $6 million during 2007-2009, with $6.5 million deferred to 2009-2014. If the Reds pay the deferred money, that's a hell of a bargain, and they should get a nice return.

[Blue]

that should read "$6.5 million/year between 2000 and 2009 deferred to 2009-2024."