Odds and Ends: Happ, Igawa, Hawkins, Lowe

Man oh Man is Samardzija electric. I love that Lou left him in for the 6 out save and got to see what he has in him. And he answered the bell. Helluva play by Edmonds to end the game also. Do the Cubs fans sing like that after every home win? I thought that was pretty cool how the entire stadium just broke into song when the game ended. Sounded like a Soccer game. And as annoying as some fans of the cubs are that post at MLBTR, they really do have a great fanbase. I remember watching Glavine walk off the mound to a standing ovation from the Cub fans the night he won his 300th game. But man, it seems like every home game at Wrigley is a party.

I remember Chris Cotter who was sort of the "sideline reporter" type for the Mets in 2006 hanging out with a bunch of Cub fans on the roof ofe one of the building across the street, talking about how its just a big party up there. He said something like, "its great up here, plenty of hot girls and cold beers, but unfortunately I cant have either right now."

I get the feeling after his camera time was up he went after a bit of each.

Samardzija is a stud. They can trade Wuertz, Eyre, or Lieber. They should have their bullpen like this.

LRP- Sean Marshall
RP- Bob Howry
RP- Chad Gaudin
RP- Neal Cotts
RP- ?
SU- Jeff Samardzija
SU- Carlos Marmol
CL- Kerry Wood

Interesting about Colletti and Lowe. Perhaps that meeting with Lowe and Boras was a prelude to a possible extension/resigning? Makes sense if it is looking like time to cash in the insurance policy on Schmidt.

Someone tell T.R. Sullivan McCutchen went to the Pirates.

Can somebody explain to me why the D'Backs would trade their best player for a rental? The D'Backs have gotten a ton out of Co-Jack this year, and he is younger, cheaper, and so far this year, more productive then Tex. So why would they swap him for Tex? I understand they need to offense, but seeing as how he has been their most consistent offensive contributor, wouldnt moving him for a rental be way counter productive?

By the way, Buster Olney needs to be put down.

Sullivan article might be a couple of days old.

Bob Howry sucks. Period. For as 'sucky' as Lieber and Eyre have been, I can't believe no one has mentioned unloading Howry. The guy couldn't find the plate if he was in a restaurant. And when he does, it's usually hit 400+ feet. The guy is terrible. He was consistently at 95-96 last year. This year he's barely getting it over 90. NO MORE HOWRY PLEASE!!!

What happens between Bowden and Cordero doesn't really effect Cordero's resign status, as Bowden has probably a 20% chance (or less) of being the GM of the Nats next year.

nrmax- The DBacks aren't even considering that trade. That's what the Braves asked for but there's no way we'd trade CJ away at this point for any 2 month rental and they've gone on record a few times stating such.

Tex is great and I'd love to see him on our team but not at that price. Maybe for Chad Tracy but even then I think the Braves would be getting the better deal.

Cordero's not coming back unless (a) he's healthy and (b) Bowden is gone.

Non-Nats GMs would do well to keep his agent's number in their speed dial. Dammit anyhow.

Samardizja is an injury waiting to happen. Just wait.

tmar,

Chad Tracy straight up for Tex is a joke. I've said it before and I'll say it again, while he may be worth 2 months of Tex, he is definitely not worth 2 months of Tex and 2 draft picks. Its really as simple as that. I wouldn't trade Jackson for Tex either, though I would certainly argue about Jackson being more productive (131 OPS+ compared to 135 for Tex), but the way you feel about that is basically the same way the Braves would feel about Tracy for Tex. I think a deal along the lines of Tracy plus a good prospect would be fair, but I don't know if the Braves would bite.

Is it just me, or is the Blake deal eerily similar to the Renteria-Jurrjens/Hernandez deal? A contending team with prospects just burning a hole in their GM's wallet, looking for an offensive boost for their infield, only to come to an over-performing veteran. The Blake trade doesn't look to be as bad, seeing as Meloan projects to be a good addition to the bullpen, and not a #2 starter like Jurrjens. Not to mention that Renteria is severely underperforming to the point that Ramon Santiago is looking like a better choice for everyday shortstop, seeing as Santiago offers much better defense with about the same offense. Blake might even benefit from the mythical NL boost.

Even the lesser prospects offered in each deal are very intriguing, with Hernandez looking to be the better of the two so far.

At least Blake's deal ends in two months. The Tigers will have to pay $3 million to buy out Renteria, because there's no way Dombrowski is picking up an $11 million option for a .632 OPS and severely limited range at shortstop.

Oh, finally. Just looked up his stats on The Baseball Cube. Apparently Santiago has an offensive line this season of .358/.485/.547!! Granted it is a small sample size (53 AB's), but come on Leyland!! Give Santiago a few more starts to see if this trend continues!!

Crap, posted that comment under the wrong post.

nixa37,
I could see how the Braves might want more, but for a team on a budget it wouldn't be worth losing 2 more pretty afforadable years of a solid 1B for 2mos & 2 prospects.

Depending on who ends up with Tex next year those prospects might be so far down the line that they'd be long shots.

I think the Dodgers did the right thing with trading Meloan. He had a little bit of value left and wasn't going to get a spot in the Dodger 'pen, where he has been thoroughly out pitched by every member. That Wade was brought up from AA over Meloan says something. Santana may or may not be the real thing, but he had no chance at catcher and probably not in the outfield either, especially when it seems Kemp and Ethier are sticking around. Meanwhile, Blake does all the things the Dodgers have been lacking and genuinely seems to like being in L.A., which can only be a good thing for a clubhouse that seems to be gelling.

"Samardizja is an injury waiting to happen. Just wait."

So is every player, moron.

Samardizja has looked really good. Its early though...but you have to like what you see so far. He attacks the hitters and throws strikes, which is exactly what Lou likes to see.

As for Howry...I'm not happy. However, if you look at his pre and post all star break numbers the last 3 years, he has gotten much better after the break. Hasn't happened so far...but lets just hope his history repeats itself. I actually still like Eyre, but Leiber serves no purpose on this team if Lou isn't going to use him, which he has proven that he just isn't. If you can get a B prospect for him...I think you go ahead.

By the way, I think Howry will end up at least a type B free agent, so he is worth at least a sandwich pick. He has some work to do to maintain his type A status though...

tmar,

First of all Chad Tracy isn't a very good hitter for a 1B. He only has a career OPS+ of 106. If he is your 1B you'd probably like to upgrade. Second of all, the draft picks would almost certainly be a 1st rounder and supplemental 1st rounder. Worst case it'd be the 1st supplemental and a 2nd rounder. You really don't think a team with the Braves history of drafting and developing players couldn't do better than Chad Tracy with those picks? That's just ridiculous.

As for the team on a budget comment, the Braves are now a 90-100 million payroll team. They have like 40 million coming off the payroll this offseason. They aren't in a position where they have to take a below average 1B in return for the best hitter on the market just because they are strapped for cash. Honestly, you're kidding yourself if you think a Chad Tracy for Mark Teixeira deal has any chance of happening.

Besides the fact that Tracy is nowhere near enough for the Braves to move Tex, do you really think that no teams could beat that offer? I mean the Braves would probably take 1 good prospect for Tex at that. You don't think the Angels would give up Wood or Adenhart, if that's all they had to do to land Tex and they knew they were getting two draft picks as well? Honestly, I have no idea how you talked yourself into the idea that Chad Tracy is worth Mark Teixeira. That'd be like me suggesting the Braves should be able to land Adam Dunn for Matt Diaz or something.

"So is every player, moron."

Wrong. Not every player is prone to injury. There are freak injuries like Yovani Gallardo this year with his knee.

Jeff Samardizja's delivery makes him very injury prone(specifically his elbow).