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Rosenthal's Latest: Fielder, Beimel, Eckstein

By Tim Dierkes [November 4, 2008 at 8:30am CST]

Ken Rosenthal is on the scene at the GM meetings, and as usual has all kinds of new info.

The Brewers are unlikely to trade Prince Fielder, and reluctant to trade J.J. Hardy or Alcides Escobar. It'd be smart to retain those three players.
Rosenthal still likes the Braves as the favorite for Jake Peavy, but wonders if the Cubs or another team could incorporate a third team to get it done.
The Cubs will need to spend much of their available money on pitching, which may leave little payroll room for an outfielder like Bobby Abreu. They could backload contracts and move some of Jason Marquis' salary though.
The Mets are interested in lefty reliever Joe Beimel, as well as usual suspects Francisco Rodriguez, Brian Fuentes, and Kerry Wood. They also like Raul Ibanez.
The Cardinals could move forward with a Ryan Ludwick/Colby Rasmus/Rick Ankiel outfield, or trade one of them. Ankiel, entering his contract year, seems most likely to go if Rasmus is ready.
David Eckstein is marketing himself as a second baseman for 2009.
Don't look for the Phillies to move Shane Victorino in a Matt Holliday deal.
The Cardinals and Nationals are not contenders for A.J. Burnett. Still no word on Burnett's opt-out.
The Marlins may wait until some of the top free agent starters sign before shopping Scott Olsen.

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Comments

I disagree with the Cardinals not being contenders for Burnett. I don't know where that came from. I know that Burnett expressed a desire to play there and I fully expect the Cards to be in the hunt for his services if/when he opts out.

Posted by: JP | November 04, 2008 at 08:41 AM

Prince Fielder should be traded if one of the two following conditions are true.

1. Fielder is paired up with a prospect or dealt straight up(unlikely) to bring back a frontline starter.

2. A Fielder trade frees up money to sign a frontline starter, since he will get some large arbitration awards.

The Brewers have an ample back of their rotation, they just need that guy to pair up with Gallardo to be the 1-2 punch.

I'm hesitant to trade Hardy, as who knows when Alcides Escobar will be ready and whether his bat will be half decent at the MLB level.

Posted by: melonis rex | November 04, 2008 at 08:42 AM

"I disagree with the Cardinals not being contenders for Burnett. I don't know where that came from. I know that Burnett expressed a desire to play there and I fully expect the Cards to be in the hunt for his services if/when he opts out."

With Chris Carpenter still on the payroll? Having that much money tied up in two injury-prone starters? Sounds like a bad idea. I would think that the Lohse signing took them out of the running for Burnett.

Posted by: melonis rex | November 04, 2008 at 08:43 AM

I like the idea of not trading Victorino for Holliday

Posted by: derman1984 | November 04, 2008 at 08:43 AM

Yes, even with Carp being on the payroll. Right now, Carp's salary is being paid by insurance money, plus the Cards still have roughly $15-20M to spend. Now, they have other needs as well and Im not saying they will pick up Burnett, but I think they will at least "kick the tires" on him and talk contract.

Posted by: JP | November 04, 2008 at 08:47 AM

I hope the Cardinals hold on to Ludwick and the group right now. I know they have a surplus of OF's, but to trade an all-star like Ludwick or some great potential talent like Ankiel and/or Rasmus, they deal has to be "too good to be true" for the Cardinals. I don't think that kind of a deal is out there.

Posted by: JP | November 04, 2008 at 09:06 AM

JP,

Are you sure the Cards were able to get the Carpenter contract insured? If so, whoever decided to insure the contract of a pitcher with a history of shoulder problems and 1 shoulder surgery already under his belt has hopefully already been fired.

Posted by: nixa37 | November 04, 2008 at 09:16 AM

Ive heard that from a few different Cardinal sources. It is becoming a common practice to buy insurance protection and bigger contracts. Carp's contract was definately big enough for the Cardinals to purchase the protection.

Posted by: JP | November 04, 2008 at 09:21 AM

Plus, the insurance would have been purchased at the time the new contract was signed. Back then, Carp had had one shoulder surgery yes, but he was coming off of 2 terrific seasons, so the insurance companies probably thought he was "safe" to insure.

Posted by: JP | November 04, 2008 at 09:22 AM

Buying insurance has been a common practice for years, but the insurance companies started rethinking their practices after the rash of injuries to pitchers signed to long term contracts in the late 90's and early 00's. Many times insurance companies won't insure beyond the first 3 seasons, and I would hope they wouldn't be insuring guys who have already had shoulder surgery, especially when they threw over 500 innings the previous two seasons (regular and post season), no matter how good he looked doing it.

I don't have any special info, so I assume you're right. Pretty lucky for the Cards that insurance company messed up that bad.

Posted by: nixa37 | November 04, 2008 at 09:35 AM

Well, another catch too is Im not sure if the whole contract is covered or just a percentage, so the Cards are probably on the hook for some of the money I would guess. I doubt the whole contract is covered, but if at least some of the contract is covered, that is just a bonus for the Cards. Either way, they still have some extra cash to spend and I hope that Johnny Mo spends it wisely.

Posted by: JP | November 04, 2008 at 09:42 AM

J.J. needs to stay a Brewer at 3 million a year he is steal. He has a sure Glove , great arm and he is the best fastball hitter on the team , during the 2008 season he started driving the ball to the opposite field as well.When JJ is hot at the plate there is no one better.

JJ also brings lot of hotties to Miller Park decked out with number 7 jersey and shirts.

Posted by: bum76 | November 04, 2008 at 10:56 AM

We might as well keep Marquis; we'd have to pay most of his salary anyway.

I really wonder what the Cubs are going to do.

Posted by: www.homehalfway.net | November 04, 2008 at 01:03 PM

Gotta love the mets... going after everyone they can then blowing it in September... Mets arent good they never will be good there all self- centered and the Phillies will run the division for years to come

Posted by: adam44is | November 04, 2008 at 04:00 PM

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