Cafardo's Latest: Pettitte, Kotsay, Red Sox

pettitte just accept our offer already
sabathia
burnett
wang
pettitte
joba or hughes
maybe.start joba in the pen 8th inning guy

It seems like every other day that the Boston Globe is putting out a statement from the Red Sox that they are going to hold firm to not trade Buchholz to the Rangers. Who cares? It isn't like the Rangers are going to give up any of their remaining catchers to the Red Sox if they don't get the personnel they want. Maybe instead of griping about the Rangers demands every other day, the Red Sox should look elsewhere for a catcher...unless they want Salty so bad that they aren't looking anywhere else.

I wonder if the Braves would be willing to resign Kotsay. Wren didn't burn any bridges by trading him. Trading him to Boston was a smart idea (Braves weren't contending, try to get value for the player). Kotsay would be a depth move, insurance for Francoeur in RF and insurance for Blanco/Anderson in CF(or he'd assume the starting CF job) until Schafer/Heyward/etc. are ready. Sign Kotsay as that 4th OF/depth at the IF positions, then sign the big OF bat.

I'm still convinced Josh Anderson is an AAAA type though. His '08 was definitely flukish. And, Braves brass obviously saw Kotsay as an improvement over Blanco/Anderson when they traded for Kotsay before the '08 season.

What would it take for the NY Mets to acquire Vernon Wells? I know that the Blue Jays are trying to slash payroll and the Mets do need a corner outfielder. Plus the trade could allow Murphy to take over at 1B next year when Delgado leaves. Any way what would the Mets have to give up for Wells *while eating his salary*?

If I were a Dodger fan, even though they just lost out on Randy Johnson and are losing a lot of players, I'd be pretty happy right now. As long as the Mets' owners want no part of Manny Ramirez, he's going back to LA, meaning the Giants are going to have some competition to win the NL West. Arizona still needs to add a bat who doesn't strike out as often as Barry Bonds stuck needles into his butt in 2001.

"and if the redsucks are considering trading bucholtz why not trade him for a proven guy such as mauer just add maybe masterson, lowell and lowrie"

Because the Twins don't do the trade. You have to think about both sides in a trade.

Rolling- If the Mets eat all of Wells' salary, they wouldn't have to give up anything of value.

I dont know about that Stephen. I just saw on ESPN that Yanks might pull their offer back

(when he's not hurt)

Rolling, do you have any idea how much money Vernon Wells makes? He got a seven-year, $120 million extension that starts next year! Why do you think the Blue Jays want to trade him? Wells may be worth 3/30, but not 7/120. That's ridiculous. No way on Mr. Wells. Manny or bust!

Boston is pretty even with the Yankees right now but if they want to put their rotation over the top they ould sign Lowe. And all ive ever heard coming from the Braves organization is that they're interested in Kawakami...make an offer already. They can beat Boston's offer to him.

bbxxj,
I agree with you 100%. If I wanted to pick our rotation this year that would be it.

Two questions for the Braves fans. The first one might be ignorant, but what happened to Tim Hudson? Secondly, how can you assume anything with John Smoltz? Here's how I'd line up the Braves (without Hudson):

Jurrjens
Kawakami
Campillo
Vasquez
Smoltz/Glavine/Reyes

"Obviously, that's the best case scenario, but if the going gets rough, we can always trade for Matt Holliday on July 31st."

I have a feeling that the trade meme of 2009 will be Matt Holliday. Let's just say: any Matt Holliday trade package has to have at least one GOOD 3B/SS prospect. Close to MLB ready is also heavily desired.

metsobsessed,
Well we really cant put alot of the weight on Smoltz's shoulders this year because of injury. And the Braves organization is looking elsewhere to find someone to lead the rotation. And yes Hudson had Tommy John surgery and wont be back until late next season. So assuming the Braves sign Kawakami and Smoltz isnt ready by opening day, I think the rotation would look like...
1.Vazquez
2.Jurrjens
3.Kawakami
4.Campillo
5.Glavine/Hanson/Mortan
...and yes this is all good news for you mets fan but the winter aint over yet

And because Smoltz may be a question mark come opening day ive been suggesting the Braves sign the likes of Kawakami and another midlevel starting pitcher. Like a Garland or Byrd. It would be tough to pick out an ace in that rotation but i think Vazquez would do a good job leading the staff til the great Smoltzie returns. But before the Braves get their left fielder they need to sign Kawakami...

How is Javier Vasquez a medium 2? Absolutely not. The Braves don't have a 2 starter, other than Jair Jurrjens, who might be a number 1. They have Campillo, who is a solid 3, and Vasquez, who is a 4 or a high 5. The Braves rotation SHOULD look like:

Jurrjens
Lowe
Kawakami
Campillo
Vasquez

With all the money they were throwing at D.L. Burnett, they certainly can afford to go after Lowe and Kawakami. I have no idea why Frank Wren isn't pursuing him. Is he afraid of Omar Minaya and Theo Epstein driving the price up. The Red Sox don't need Lowe, and the Mets (unfortunately) have Oliver Perez as a backup option.

rex how is trading mauer not in their plans. ex johan santana, they will not be able to keep mauer so trade him for young semi-proven talent such as bucholtz, masterson, lowrie and a needed 3b in lowell where as the left side of minnys infield consist of punto and brian buscher?

melonis rex,
Yea Garland isnt exact what I had in mind either but i was jst thinking out loud. What i ment was the Braves may want to sign Kawakami and possibly someone else for short-term. I wouldnt mind resigning Glavine and having him as a number 5 if he proves healthy.
metsobsessed,
I dont know why Wren isnt pursuing Lowe. He stated at the end of the season he would then after Burnett he kinda gave up on that. And I dont see Jurrjens as a number 1...yet. I would have Lowe ahead of him and Vazquez is much better than Campillo. Vazquez is a 2 0r 3 not a 5.

Pudge to Red Sox a consideration???

"Phillies will be in on Matt Holliday, and we have Jason Donald to dangle, among SP's Happ and Carasco. Could even add one of our OF's to the A's as well..."

Phillies and A's could match up so perfectly for a deadline party. IDK about Holliday's ability to play RF though and moving Raul Ibanez to RF is extremely stupid.

I'd think the OF would be more appealing than the pitcher, since the A's have more high ceiling with an ETA of 2010 (Cahill, Anderson, Mazarro, Simmons, Gio, along with Gallagher at the MLB level) than OF depth, but you can never have too much pitching.

But, will Donald be able to stick at SS though?

melonis rex-and lets say the Braves go for Lowe and Kawakami, think of our 2010 rotation...
1.T.Hudson
2.D.Lowe
3.J.Jurrjens
4.J.Vazquez
5.K.Kawakami
...yea that'd be kewl

Holliday's a free agent after this year, and he's definitely not re-signing with the A's so I think the best move would be to wait until the offseason to sign him, that way Billy Beane doesn't steal your farm and you'll only lose 2 picks.

"Byrd makes sense on a 1 year deal though. "

If Byrd wanted 1 year he could have gotten that from Boston through arbitration and with a considerable raise over his 7.5 million 2008 contract. Byrd is looking for a 2-3 year contract and someone desperate for a 4-5 starter (Pirates, Milwaukee) will end up giving to him, but probably at a tad less than his 2008 salary.

I still disagree with you Rex on texas holding the cards with it's 3 catchers. They are relegating themselves to a .500 season at BEST with that lousy pitching staff they have. None of the young pitchers they have (except boston import Gabbard) are expected to make much of an impact this year and Millwood and padilla re .500 pitchers at best they would love to unload if they could on somebody, no, they hold no cards in this proposal, which is why Boston is still only offering Dabile Bard, or Bowden for salty only, plus texas giving Salty and someone else for Bowden in any catcher deal is why this has not been done or Boston will look elsewhere or go with Kotteras/Brown plus some old timer in 2009.

Forgot, as far as Kotsay, he may be able to play OF and some 1B 9and a fav of Francona) but I would prefer to see Sean casey back, only it ain't gonna happen. casey is a hitting/OB machine and was great at getting that hit when needed to get on base, he just can't move at all anymore.

johns- They're not contending in '09 though. I'd rather my team (I'm not a Rangers fan; this is a general statement) have a sub-.500 season and NOT sell low on pieces and continue to build for the future (and make smart trades, i.e. get max value for the young catchers) than make hasty moves to make a shot at finishing 1-2 games above .500.

Regardless. The AL West will either belong to the Angels or the A's. One new young pitcher (which is what they'll get w/ the Salty trade), is NOT going to get them to contention. They won't be contending until Feliz/Holland/Main/etc. are ready, and that'll be 2010-2011 and beyond. So, they are in no need to trade a catcher now unless they really think his value is going to be gone after '09.

Can someone help me out? What's the physical status on Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Mark Prior? Any eta as to when they might be ready to pitch again?

Hudson may be ready by the end of next season but its not for certain. Thta's all i know YanksFanSince78. Not a bad year to start watching the Yanks by the way. That was the Bucky F***en Dent year lol!

Yeah...I was a kid that year and remember going to a Burger King and getting a pack of the special Topps cards they offered as a promotion. My pack had Jim Beattie, Munson and CLiff Johnson, if I remember correctly. Loved the 'staches and starting watching/going to games whenever my mom would let me.

Good for you! I am in the entertainment biz (music is my first love) but if I weren't I would definetly pursue something in baseball management/agent as well. A friend of mine is a sports agent, but most of his clients are NFL and NBA players. I think he has one guy who was playing for the Cardinals but I think he was dropped. You missed the last mlb job fair (it was during the winter meetings) but you should check out this site and reach out to them:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/info/jobs.jsp

Thanks Yanksfan! I'll check that out:)

"If you were building a team, who would you want at catcher?"

Wieters.

If i were building a team, my catcher without a doubt is Joe Mauer.

Why do you guys keep talking about Joe Mauer . hes not going nowhere . Hes the last Twin you could trade for . Salty 's your answer , you have plenty of pitching , and we're not trading for anything less its a good trade for both .

Buchholz is just worth more than Salty at this time. Salty has has not dominated since 2005 in Single A (.3137/.3939/.5185). In the majors he has just been mediocre (.260/.3274/.3992) over the last three years. The fact that he may not be able to stay at catcher because of his mediocre to poor defense makes him even more risky. Buchholz has dominated in the minors (ERA in 2007 and 2008 of 2.44 and 2.30). He played poorly last year in the majors (6.75 ERA in 76 IP) after a playing well in 2007 (1.59 ERA in 22.2 IP). This year one of Teegarden or Salty will be a backup, lessening their value. The Rangers should probably trade Teegarden now while his value is high. The Rangers should be happy to get Masterson and Bowden for Salty. I'm am a fan of neither the Rangers or the Red Sox so I am neutral in this matter.

I dont feel confident in Owings or the others you listed for a 5th man.

Kawakami would be a good fit here and allows the younger guys to mature, get better, and learn something from a good vet from a different atmosphere.

Fernandez last year in the minors (2001) he put up a .338 average with 30 HR in AAA and a 1.034 OPS. Surprised the guy never got a shot. Could be worth a look, for sure.