Knobler's Latest: Pirates, Brewers, Beltre, Cabrera

The White Sox are looking to trade Orlando Cabrera for pitching?

Maybe they should have just not traded Jon Garland for Cabrera in the first place...

I'd love to see a Marlins/O's deal. If the GMs were willing to get a little creative, it could be a great move for both clubs. Ramon has been pretty hot of late (raising his BA about 30 points and hitting 7 of his 11 HRs since mid-June) and is on pace to hit over 20 HRs while providing typically solid defense. No longer an elite catcher, he'd still be a pretty big improvement over Florida's current options.

The Fish are also looking for help in the 'pen and, to my eyes, might be wise to bolster the rotation as well (the starters have actually been pretty good, but they're young- prone to wearing down and/or injury- and beyond Nolasco and Olsen, have been fairly inconsistent).

Just a thought- what about a package deal...the Marlins address specific needs that could help them overtake the Phils and Mets in the East- without completely mortgaging the future or uncharacteristically adding a bunch of pricey contracts- while the O's continue to build for the future.

How's this (seriously, I'd love to hear some feedback): Florida gets Ramon Hernandez (C), James Johnson (young, fairly awesome RP), and Daniel Cabrera (wildly talented...and sometimes just plain wild, still young SP) for a package of prospects including, say, Chris Coughlin (blocked behind Uggla anyway), Logan Morrison (personal fave, blocked behind Jacobs and AA top 1B prospect Gaby Sanchez), Aaron Thompson (before Marlins fans get upset, Thompson has been pretty bad this year and doesn't appear to be much more than a back of the rotation starter or middle reliever at this point; if you prefer, insert OK SP prospect's name in his place), Jesus Delgado (or other MLB/high minors RP), and Bryan Peterson (crushing it at Low A, but to my knowledge, not considered an elite prospect). Obviously there's some wiggle room on the specific prospects, but...what'dya think? I was trying to make it equitable, with the best Marlins' prospects (Coughlin and Morrison) at least somewhat blocked and not Maybin/Volstad/Tucker/Dominguez level studs, while keeping the O's package (mostly) young, cheap, and with upside, fitting Florida's needs.

milehigh78,

there's a reason the Marlins have Jacobs unofficially on the trade block and want to bring up the guys you are talking about.

Also, Uggla hasn't been signed to an extension and is like around 30 years old, not likely that they move their top 2B prospect without a long-term deal done with Uggla (who has one or two years left of arbitration I believe). I'd pretty much say that the Orioles could get a SS prospect as they are DEFINITELY blocked, it would have to be Guthrie not Cabrera. Cabrera may have upside, but then again so does half their minor leagues after the trades they've made... Cabrera has also pitched real bad since his first month and a half of pitching like a #2, he's a #4 at this point and again as for Johnson, you trade ESTABLISHED players to pennant teams. Figure your trade offer would have to upgrade Cabrera to Guthrie, Johnson to Sherrill, and in addition you'd have to throw in Huff or Payton and pretty much make them a non-factor to the Marlins financially (i.e. pay the remaining salary on anyone other than Sherrill - makes pennies now anyways). It's either a salary dump or an exchange of players, you can't have both!

Joelcards-

For starter, no...I am not a Rockies fan. The nickname is an allusion to my last name (which I will not be revealing).

As far as the Sherrill/Cardinals talk...a couple of ideas.

In the 'Almost Certainly Not Going to Happen' department, I was thinking that a Sherrill/BRob pairing might make sense for St. Louis and might be workable from Baltimore's side if, for instance, Rasmus, Todd, and Kozma were included and St. Louis threw in some low minors talent with some promise as filler. That would be a pretty big step up from Adam Kennedy, I would think and adds a whole new dimension to the offense. Just a thought.

For Sherrill alone, I think the O's would ask for Todd; just a feeling. Other than Rasmus, he and Garcia look like the team's best bets prospect-wise.

Something in between, however, would be what I mentioned in my post above... I actually got myself pretty excited until I remembered that I'm not Andy McPhail nor have anything to do with the Orioles organization whatsoever. Still, it's fun to think about so... The Cardinals get Sherrill and either Daniel Cabrera or Reimold and Penn. Penn's been inconsistent, but the stuff is still there. Reimold gives you a Top 100 OF'er with big time power to replace Rasmus and you get Sherrill for this year's 'pen...and beyond. The Cards might have to include a low minors prospect or two in order to satisfy McPhail's lust for numbers, but hey- no one really special.

Any number of variations could work too. I'm sure McPhail might try to get Kozma in there too, since we're so obviously bereft of any shortstops...anywhere in the organization. Still, something along those lines might work, don't you think?

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101 Years and Counting Pal!