The Left Fielder Market Revisited

I know the market is weak for Adam Dunn, but I didn't think it was so weak that he wouldn't even get a mention as being in the market.

Its really amazing what a low AVG can do even when its combined with 12th best OBP. He's like a weird inverse Carlos Lee and Lee was given $16MM per.

Jay Payton has been lousy, Tim, I agree. But I don't really think he's a DFA candidate. Why? As a starting or platoon outfielder for a contender, he's not an answer. But as a 4th outfielder for a second tier team, he's fine.

Perhaps the O's will bring Reimold up sometime in August. If so, I suppose Payton might be DFA'd. I'd bet, though, that there's a better chance of Luke Scott being traded than of Payton being DFA'd. Scott could be a very desirable left fielder, though I know some of the contenders would prefer a right handed bat.

Is there a reason you didn't include Manny Ramirez on this list? He's a free agent at the end of the season and is becoming increasingly more of an agitator it seems for Red Sox management these days. I would not at all be surprised if they try to ship him out, a la Nomar in 2004.

What about Frank Catalanatto or Marlon Byrd of the Rangers?

I'll take Matt Holliday please. No one will bite at the reported price tag in prospects, but the Rockies should trade him and should land some quality talent in return.

PLEASE take David Dellucci off our hands.

Does anyone want Dellucci? Tribe needs to dump wasted roster spots.

The only way somebody trades for Dellucci is if one of his family members buys a major league team and the way he has played they may also pass on him.

By far next to the Phillips move the Dellucci signing to a multi year contract may be the BIGGEST MISTAKE that Shapiro will ever make with Dolan's money .

A mid market to small market team can't make this type of mistake and expect to win.

I don't see Manny as a legit trade candidate. Good call on Catalanotto and Byrd though.

Regarding the Bonds-Yankees debunked rumor, please don't post that link in the MLBTR comments. I keep having to delete that.

Anybody want Matt Diaz?

With Lewis being slowed down due to injury, with a possibility of season ending surgery, there is a strong chance that Roberts starts most or at least a lot of the time in left. Hopefully he can gain some value and the Giants could trade him to bring up Schierholtz from AAA and finally give him a starting role.

I think Manny is still a viable trade option. The yankees did it with Sheff, exercising the option and then dealing him. I know Manny's 10/5 rights make a trade difficult, but I think it's still possible.

A 900+ OPS that can still play LF, albeit slightly better than a blind man, has got to be worth a decent prospect or two. If you're like me and believe Manny is on his way out, the sox would obviously look to trade him rather than release him.

"A 900+ OPS that can still play LF, albeit slightly better than a blind man, has got to be worth a decent prospect or two."

Manny's arm still plays in any ballpark, but his defensive "style" really only seems suited to Fenway, where he has mastered the Monster.

He's definitely aided by his experience playing the monster, but I do think he could play a passable LF. Offensively he has declined, but still represents an upgrade at LF or DH for some teams.

If the sox decide to move on, I think they trade him.

This is not an anti-Bonds zone, feel free to discuss the merits of the idea cmac.

But, the Bonds report you referenced was from an unknown source and I try hard to filter that type of thing out. If a credible source posts a Bonds rumor, it'll definitely be posted here.

CMac, the Red Sox have club options on Manny for '09 and '10 at $20M per year, so he's not a "true" free agent yet.

Where's Pat Burrell?

Why is Marcus Thames NEVER listed as a trade candidate and NEVER discussed during chats? He's cheap, plays 3 positions, hits for power and was looked into by the Mets before the season started. The Tigers could concievably part with him since Matt Joyce is holding his own in the majors.

Obviously the trade market list is subjective...personally I don't see Thames as a trade candidate. But I'm not sure about all the NEVER stuff, the rumors have been well-chronicled at MLBTR.

Never mind on Burrell - he's an upcoming FA but not a trade candidate. Got it.

I don't see any indication that the Phillies would trade Burrell.

does anybody seeing the red sox possibly going under the radar and going after dunn?

he would be a decent first basemen, outfield, and dh when players need some rest. he could also turn into the hitter he should be with dave mags as his hitting coach. the following year take over for manny.

i see that as a legit destination for dunn and his big left bat to join with drew who is now coming into his own and ortiz. thats a very very threatening middle of the lineup.

and for the rest of this year you have manny, dunn, ortiz and drew. thats a large threat for any team who is making a run at the al east.

the reds are a dire need of some young pitchers and the sox have the guys they might covet for dunn. something like a bowden martinez and crisp or a martinez, hansack, crisp, and cris carter.

if any reds fans care to comment tell me your thoughts

also the sox have had discussions before about dunn and the have madetrades with the reds before so they are in a good relationship with the reds

"Offensively he has declined, but still represents an upgrade at LF or DH for some teams."

Decline is relative. His numbers are still freakish and he is doing it without Ortiz protecting him (or without protecting Ortiz, as it may be).

"He's definitely aided by his experience playing the monster, but I do think he could play a passable LF."

People seem to forget that Manny came up as a RF and can still play that position if needed. Like I said, his arm still definately qualifies as plus.

"Why is Marcus Thames NEVER listed as a trade candidate and NEVER discussed during chats? "

I tend to agree here. A .607 SLG is nothing to sneeze at.

Thames hasn't really been mentioned since March and I've asked multiple questions about him on chats that have been ignored. I don't really care about that, I know lots of people write in. But if he isn't a trade candidate I just want to know why. Most of the guys listed here come with a "he probably won't get traded because of..." caveat, so it just seems like a player with Thames's skill set and salary might get thrown into the mix.

I can't imagine the Tigers would trade Thames. He's only getting $1.275M this year, and he's under team control for a couple more seasons. Obviously he'll get a big raise at arbitration this year, but he'll still be dirt cheap for his production level.

Yes, but The Tigers can also put Matt Joyce in LF for half of what Thames makes and seem unwilling to give Thames a full-time job. Plus, The Tigers don't need more offense, they need better pitching. If they could use Thames, Rodney and/or Larish to land a starter I think they'd at least consider it.

"I tend to agree here. A .607 SLG is nothing to sneeze at. "

Consider it sneezed upon.

I think that the Rockies asking 2 top prospects and a thir quality one is more than reasonable... Everyone seems to forget that Holliday is the type of player that will definitely be a type A and will definitely NOT accept arbitration, so you are guaranteed two top players in the draft as long as you know how to evaluate talent. Then anything above that has to be compensation for 1.33 seasons of having one of the most elite outfielders in the game... I think that definitely is worth a grade B and a grade C potential player or another grade A potential player.

I think the request for the Angels is pretty ridiculous though, considering there is a huge value difference between dominating AA and AAA vs. dominating the majors. Since the players they were reportedly talking about are both All-Star pitchers this year and Adenhart is a top AAA arm. I think the reports were off a little and that it was probably a request for 3 guys 1) Santana OR Saunders, 2) Adenhart, AND 3) either Willits or Rivera.

In general I would hedge my bets and say that Saunders is less likely to maintain his level of domination... However, Santana and Saunders are both exhibiting fluke-like symptoms and should recover soon to being somewhere around low 4's/high 3's ERA, type pitchers, this low 3's/high 2's ERA is crap and is totally misleading and I would sell high on Saunders to someone before the bottom falls out of this vaudville act.

There is no way they maintain this level, just looking at Santana, he's two years away from being able to play a full season like he did the first half of the year and even then maybe he only sniffs those type of numbers, as I see no way he maintains Pedro of the 90's/Johnson of Arizona type domination.

The Angels don't match up well with the Rockies anyways... The Rockies have Seth Smith and Ryan Spilborghs both ready to start and with Holliday needing Atkins at his side before he'll sign a long-term pact, it's clear this would require a blockbuster deal that the OF heavy Angels can't support. There's just no way that the Rockies can get enough value from them without tearing apart the fabric of the team... Figgins would have to be involved if Atkins is... Since there's little else the Angels could do to equal the talent level short of trading position for position and kicking in extra. I think the Angels want to seem busy, but they are already carrying one too many outfielders and I think they only want a rental player and that's why they balked... Sorry Tony, no Beanesque Moneyball Coo is going to happen here!

As for Ibanez, I think the Mariners are planning to trade him if they think that they can get one good prospect... If they sign re-sign him, they get nothing, but considering they could trade him as a rental player, the team receiving him would offer arbitration, Ibanez could be back in Seattle by next spring and since the Mariners will be drafting in the top 15, they won't have to give up a top pick, instead the picks will be sandwick picks and the team getting Ibanez gets him for two months and then gets to reap the rewards of his signing elsewhere after the season is over... I really like Arizona for this move and see a Max Scherzer or Conor Jackson for Ibanez move... With Reynolds at 3B, that leaves either Chad Tracy or Conor Jackson as the odd man out. With Tracy still lacking trade value and the need for lefties in the order against predominately right handed starting rotations in the NL West, Jackson and his limited power seem most expendable and it solves the Mariners 1B problem going forward.

In case you are balking at the trade proposal of Conor Jackson for Ibanez straight up, realize that they'd be getting Ibanez and his 44 OF Assists since since the beginning of 2004 (2nd in the majors) and his top 10 RBI production for 2 months, making their lineup better than with Tracy in LF and Jackson at 1B. They also get two draft picks... Two draft picks and Raul Ibanez for the rest of the year is definitely worth Jackson.