Odds and Ends: Renteria, Burnett, Delmon

If the A's do sign Furcal, would the Dodgers be interested in Bobby Crosby (a SoCal native) for SS? They can likely acquire him almost for free, in all likelyhood.

lol, it says Furcal would be too expensive for the dodgers.

Since when do the dodgers have the payroll of the royals? Please.

"The Dodgers, used to absorbing the Red Sox' sloppy seconds, will trade a small bag of magic beans for Julio Lugo and a large sack of cash. This will allow them the payroll lattitude to go after Manny or another big time slugger."

remember Lugo was a Dodger the year before the Redsox signed him. The Dodgers arent going to go down that road again. sorry

1. Gardy is a moron for writing off a player to the media. You don't have to tell anyone who your opening day outfielders are until...opening day! Great way to help drop Delmon's value.

2. Ivdown: Crosby, Wilson, Bartlett maybe. I'm pretty sure the A's would probably eat all of Crosby's salary, and the Pirates could probably eat most of Wilson's if there was an incentive to do so. Bartlett could be interesting.

maybe gardy said what he said about delmon to light a fire under him. phil jackson does the same thing, directly criticizing players to the media to see how they react. he played with virtually no emotion last season and seemed to comfortable. maybe with news he may not be in the teams plans, a light bulp will go off that he needs to bust his ass to earn his spot and maybe, just maybe he'll finally emerge.

maybe gardy said what he said about delmon to light a fire under him. phil jackson does the same thing, criticizing players to get them fired up and see how they respond on the court (usually it works). delmon played with no emotion last year and seemed too comfortable. maybe if he is the 4th outfielder going into spring training, a light bulb will go off that he needs to bust to earn his spot, and maybe he'll finally emerge as the star he has the potential to be.

minnesotawins, I sure am glad you don't run the front office if you are going to give up Delmon for Huston Street.

maybe Street and a starting caliber IF, but not Street straight-up.

I find that article about AJ intriguing. I don't like the idea of comparing players like that, mainly cause things can change, but its an odd note that none of the players with similar injury histories and performance have made it more then 2 season passed their 32 birthday. AJ is still the best arm thats out there (CC doesn't count, cause only a few teams can truly afford that price tag) but it might not be the best idea to count on him for the life of that contract, especially if given 5 years.

Young for Street? Yuck, no thanks.

I hope Gardenhire was just trying to light a fire under Delmon, but I doubt it.

Gardenhire, in addition to being the most overrated manager in baseball, is a stubborn, borderline-senile old man who constantly takes playing time away from more talented players in favor of players he has good relationships with.

Nick Punto had the worst OPS of anyone in baseball in 2007... third on the team in plate appearances.

How many times did we see Matt Guerrier and his poor exhausted, dead, used-up arm get the ball in the 8th inning this year, while Craig Breslow and his fantastic splits against RH and LH hitters sat in the 'pen?

Where did Brendan Harris go once Punto came off the DL? No spot for him, despite Buscher hitting .230 for the last six weeks of the season while playing the worst 3rd base the Major Leagues will ever see.

Gardy loved Livan Hernandez's "veteran presence" and lobbied for him to stay longer toward the end of his horrific run in Minnesota.

And now he's opted to tell the media he's going with Cuddyer over Young.

Terrible idea, and an even worse one to publicly announce it.

Ron Gardenhire is a bumbling idiot, and if he were managing anywhere other than Minnesota, he'd have been fired ages ago. Instead, MN rewards him with a two-year extension, despite his pitiful record in Yankee Stadium, Fenway, and the postseason.

His stubborn refusal to take time from players he likes, even when they deserve it, costs the Twins constantly, and that was never more evident than this year.

Package Delmon with a good starter or 2, Colorado probably can't refuse.

They have plenty INF depth and they need another starter or two.

I think Young and Perkins might be able to do it ...

But not gonna happen IMO.

i'd rather they just keep delmon, to see how he progresses next season. they're not going to get fair value for him as his potential upside is way more than they can get for him in a trade right now. plus, gomez and span are relatively unproven and it doesn't hurt to have young outfield depth, not to mention michael cuddyer isn't all that great and can't stay healthy in the first place.

There is absolutely no reason for the dodgers to trade for bartlett. Chin ling Hu has more pop and and great glove, might as well keep him instead of trading for the bunchless bartlett. Also, I really dont know why Rays fans have any expectation of Kemp or Ethier to them, its ridiculous. If you send Longoria Ill think about sending either one plus another prospect, but Im betting you dont want to do that...wonder why...probly cause youd rather have THE BETTER PLAYER IN THE DEAL.

Oh wow hold on here.

MorneauVP- Gardenhire is a moron, yes, I agree.

"How many times did we see Matt Guerrier and his poor exhausted, dead, used-up arm get the ball in the 8th inning this year"

And that has a lot to do with his injury that's taking him out for the bulk of this season.

Huston Street for Delmon Young? Oh god NO. You don't trade young players with enormous upside for set-up men (since Nathan has the closer's spot locked down).

"Tulo has an amazing longterm deal. Signed through 2014. You have to take that into consideration. I guarentee Rockies would be asking for Young and two of Lirano, Baker, and Slowly."

Liriano is worth almost as much, if not as much as Tulo. And, the Rox wouldn't want a deal centered around Young for Tulo anyways, because they have outfielders (Atkins is moving to LF). You're right that the Twins have to give up one of Baker/Slowey to get Tulo(or Liriano straight up, but I don't do that deal), but NOT two of those guys, and NOT one of those two + Young.

"maybe gardy said what he said about delmon to light a fire under him. phil jackson does the same thing, directly criticizing players to the media to see how they react."

It's one thing to light a fire under a player. If the team is certain that they're keeping the player, that's one thing. And, Gardy could always..umm...tell Delmon without telling the media.

It's another thing to do it WHEN THERE'S A LIKELIHOOD THAT SAID PLAYER WILL BE TRADED. It hurts his value. Nobody gives up top prospects for a guy who's been reduced to a 4th OF on his own team, and behind Michael Cuddyer on the totem pole.

i don't agree, melonis. whether he's playing or on the bench, bill smith knows his value. i mean he's not going to listen to offers from GM's saying "well, gardenhire said he's not playing so obviously he's not very good, so we're only offering these nobodies". smith knows he doesn't have to get rid of young (unless there are clubhouse antics and anti-coach sentiments that could be true about delmon).

Smith knows his value, but that doesn't mean he's going to get it. Making players you are looking to trade look bad makes them that much harder to trade for equal value, I agree with him.

minnesotawins- Bill Smith knows his value, you are right. GMs of other teams can't be in the clubhouse every game to see what happens though. Having a manager come out to the media and quintessentially say "He's a 4th OF" drops his value, since image is part of the game. He looks like a surplus, and nobody wants to keep a 23yo (former) top prospect who was given a major league contract when drafted and has huge upside as a 4th OF. That projects "We want to get rid of Delmon". These are things that should stay between Gardy, Bill Smith, and Delmon.

Atkins isn't that bad at 3b, he just doesn't have any range. Which is why he will NEVER play OF for anyone. His speed rivals Bengie Molina's.