Odds and Ends: Rivera, Hamels, Sherrill

What, then, might the Mets offer? Why would the Angels trade for less than that?

im trying to understand why the orioles would shop sherrill and inquire the sox about corey so much? why dont the sox just trade relievers?

is that guy in that interview a disgruntled ex-employee? cause it seems like he wanted to be hugged and kissed for his work...

Kline should just be DFA'd

Roberts could be a good deal if the Giants kick in 2 mill...He is worth 4 mill

I find myself in the painful situation of agreeing with a Redsox fan, but why in the world would you move Rivera with a potentially huge bat vs Willits with a lesser upside?

Glad to hear about Sherrill. That was the one part of the Bedard deal that didn't make sense to me; it seemed like the O's would've been better off putting the value represented by Sherrill (and Mickolio, for that matter) toward a third and final top prospect like Carlos Triunfel. Triunfel is nowhere near ready and won't be helping the Mariners during this window they've opened (so to speak), and Baltimore desperately needs as much talent (not just pitchers, McPhail) as they can get to rebuild enough to compete in the AL BEast. Furthermore, it seemed like Sherrill was a better fit where he was; a top B.P. arm helping out a contender (as opposed to a team that could lose 120 games and probably won't NEED a closer). I would've been cool with the O's adding either Aubrey Huff (would've been MORE than cool with that, but I don't know how much value he has; just seems like he'd fit on the Mariners, esp. if Sexson falters again) or Chad Bradford to bolster the BP or even Luke Scott, since Seattle was so weak there that they went out and signed Wilkerson. Make it Bedard and Scott for A. Jones, Tillman, Butler, TRIUNFEL, and Michael Saunders? Saunders might've been too much, but remember, in this hypothetical, they're not only getting a 29 year old LF with 25+HR power, but also keeping Sherrill as LH S.U. man (if Sunders is too much, make it Mickolio...or split the difference and say M. Martinez or J. DeJesus- we need more of an intn'l presence) Anyway...I guess Bavasi was hard-up to hang on to his young'uns and would've nixed the deal had it included Triunfel. McPhail gets a little creative and says, 'I'll turn Sherrill into a closer, up his value, and flip him for, if not Triunfel-esque, at least some solid prospects. Basically, Sherrill is a fixer-upper we're renovating and, hopefully selling at a profit. Hope McPhail knows the housing market is s*$! right now! Pretty creative, but I'd still rather have Triunfel. Kid's gonna be a monster.

Probably, however you need a big bat after losing GA to free agency, and during the season too injury. Willits did a good job last year when Rivera wasn't around at all. You don't give up the known big bat you need now to get talent that is unproven for tomorrow. Especially with the farm system the Angels have.

In this age of the anonymous internet post and over-excited fanatics, the word under-rated is seldom used. George Sherrill is under-rated. Whichever team nets him (please let it be the Yankees) will get a durable, sub 2.00 era, late inning intimidator who will account for 4 or 5 wins by himself. The possibilities for a trade partner with the Orioles is apparently everybody but the Mariners ... and probably (yet unfortunately) the American League East.

Milehigh: Paragraph breaks...Paragraph breaks

There was an article I read in a book not that long ago (I'm drawing a blank on the title) that kinda touched on the whole Voros McCracken issue.

The sabermetrics guy was asking why more teams aren't paying more money to the stats guys to help their team and the team person said, why? They just use the established research that comes out like DIPS and so forth; why pay a guy to do that when it's published and available? In other words, Voros isn't needed unless he can come up with totally unique measures that aren't commonly available.

Burtis- who is GA? I'm drawing a blank. I know the Angels traded Cabrera, but I can't figure out who you're talking about. I hope you're not talking about Garrett Anderson...he's still there, dude.

The Juice- LOL; point taken!

rossdfarian- agreed

allaboutthephils- Interesting. Who do you see the Phils giving up? Don't know much about their prospects...

Finally, as far as that sabremetrics stuff...the reason teams don't need to pay a bunch of stat guys is because all of that crap is subjective (packaged as objectivity). There are literally hundreds of different systems and combinations and everyone thinks theirs is superior.

Furthermore, every team in baseball spends millions of dollars on scouting departments because stats don't tell the real story. They can be bent and manipulated to 'say' whatever you want them to say.

One need only check certain threads on this very site to know that sabremetrics are anything but definitive. Indeed, some of the most intense debates are between 'stat-heads,' defending their favored systems. In the end, though, it's a lost cause- trying to quantify the qualitative.

Scouts and crosscheckers and GMs are all there, in part, to do the job stats cannot- providing a human response- decision- in the face of subjectivity.

The Angels really should hold out for a lot on Rivera ~ they will probably need him! (I mean, GA/Vlad/Hunter ~ not exactly the most durable group of players you can compile). It is hardly a stretch to imagine a time where one is on the DL ~ at that point Rivera is the 4th OFer; or possibly on the field when one of the others needs a day off…

Now, Willits is another story. Why they are holding onto this guy is beyond me ~ trade him while other teams think he has value!

"Because Rivera would net better talent in return."

No he wouldnt, probably much less talent, he is injury prone and only has one morew year left before FA. That is the reason. Willits is controlled for 5 or so years, and that holds more value then one year of a superior player that is as good as gone next year.