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Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Braun, Holliday, Kouzmanoff, Greene, Sabean

By Cork Gaines [May 16, 2008 at 2:09pm CST]

Let's take a look at what is being said about some recent rumors, trades and signings in the Blogosphere...

Right Field Bleachers sees the signing of Ryan Braun and Corey Hart to long-term deals as a "must" for the Brewers.
Brewers Nation sees the Braun deal as evidence that Prince Fielder will not sign an extension even if the two situations are very different.
Oleanders and Morning Glories thinks that if Nats' management was hoping to sign Ryan Zimmerman to a Troy Tulowitzki-type deal, Braun's deal may have raised the bar.
Squawking Baseball sees the recent trend in giving long-term deals to young stars and wonders if the absence of top-level free agents in a few years will drive up free agency prices. If that happens, players may stop signing these extensions and the market will correct itself...The point is valid, but these players will still become free agents eventually. The difference is only that they will be free agents in their age 30 season (approximately) instead of their age 28 season. If there is a correction, it will only be minimal and would only last a year or two.
The Tribe Time Report explains why Matt Holliday would be a perfect fit for the Indians even if it is only for a season and a half.
Friar Forum does not seem surprised about the notion of the Padres selling off pieces sooner, rather than later. However, they would be surprised to see Kevin Kouzmanoff moved, noting that it is much more likely that the slew of free agents-to-be will be shipped to other clubs.
The Southpaw would love to see the Jays make a push for Khalil Greene, but their scenario is contingent on the Padres also dealing Kouzmanoff.
Sorry we missed this before, but in light of Brian Sabean's recent comments, I felt it was worth noting that Bucs Dugout has been running a series of polls to determine the worst GM in baseball. The finals featured Sabean easily out-distancing his opponent, Ed Wade of the Astros.

Cork Gaines writes for Rays Index and can be reached here.

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Comments

I would imagine if the Indians were to acquire Holliday it would take Kelvin De La Cruz and Ryan Miller just to open talks.

Posted by: integr96 | May 16, 2008 at 02:54 PM

I think the Braun signing is a year early (though I'm not a Brewers fan, so no expert and no vested interest).

Same deal could be had a year from now, and a chance to make sure he's what they're hoping he is.

HR's are good in '08, but OBP is awful, and SLG is down. K's are up. Why the rush?

It'll probably work out fine, but seems premature to me.

The Hanley Ramirez and Scot Kazmir signings make sense to me, but the Longoria and Braun deals? I dunno.

Posted by: AtlantaMike | May 16, 2008 at 03:26 PM

I've read its because Milwaukee was worried the big power numbers plus the ROY trophy would carry much more weight than they should in arbitration.

Posted by: Not Joe Morgan | May 16, 2008 at 03:31 PM

SABEAN IS AN IDIOT!!!

finaly it comes out. The Giants management needs to replace him with A's assistant GM David Forst or Diamondbacks Director of Personal AJ Hinch.

Posted by: AriGoldisaG | May 16, 2008 at 03:34 PM

More Padres trade talk from a baseball blog:

http://www.sdpadrefan.com/tradeablecommoditiespart1.html

http://www.sdpadrefan.com/tradeablecommoditiespart2.html

Posted by: sdpadrefan.com | May 16, 2008 at 03:39 PM

Baseball America has its first mock draft up.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/draft/mock-draft/2008/266117.html

Posted by: integr96 | May 16, 2008 at 03:42 PM

I think that the Braun contract is fine because the Brewers can easily trade it, and they should be sorely tempted to do so if he doesn't show any defensive improvement sometime soon. He could potentially be far more valuable to an AL team than he is to the Brewers.

Posted by: MikeMeyer | May 16, 2008 at 03:49 PM

I love how Callis defends his number 18 pick of Jason Castro going to the Mets because they are going to go buy the slotting system again, but at number 22 he says they will take the best available talent to make up for the Johan trade. Right....

I think the Mets have already said they will not abide by the slotting system this year, though I could be wrong.

Posted by: nrmax88 | May 16, 2008 at 04:01 PM

Okay, so I'm fine with Sabean being the worst GM in baseball, although it's important to realize the owner has been more forceful in some moves than others...Barry Zito for one. I'm not saying Sabean isn't the worst GM, but this team is nowhere close to a dictatorship rule by Sabean. Past scouts and the current owner need to shoulder some blame too. Second of all, whatever idiot on that pirates website thinks Fred Lewis is only a 4th outfielder is full of it. The reason he's only now getting his chance to prove his abilities is because Bonds has been blocking him. Not hating on Bonds because he's been great (obviously), but Lewis hasn't had an opening...especially with the philosophy that this team has had for so long. He's playing like an everyday player for the time being, so until he proves us wrong, then he's a good everyday player. And not like it says a whole lot, but he's always been on the Giants' Top 10 prospects from BA. They've always talked about the great tools he has.

Posted by: cobweb25 | May 16, 2008 at 04:14 PM

I'm also determining the worst GMs in baseball according to my own subjective opinion, by way of ranking every GM in the game.

#29, Ed Wade: http://blastingsthrilledge.blogspot.com/2008/05/ranking-gms-29-ed-wade.html

Posted by: John Peterson | May 16, 2008 at 05:04 PM

Well, if the brewers hope to stay in a race int he central division, they better sign both Braun and Fielder. The cubs are looking great, and the Breweres will need every offensive bit to survive these cubs, even in the weakest division in baseball.

Posted by: angelsfan | May 18, 2008 at 02:38 AM

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Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Braun, Holliday, Kouzmanoff, Greene, Sabean

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