Odds And Ends: Orioles, Bowden, Nathan

Listening to a couple of spring training games yesterday and in both games it was mentioned that the Manny situation was more of Manny not wanting to participate in spring training than not wanting to play for Dodgers. Supposedly he said he would only need 3 or 4 at bats to be ready for season. So it makes one wonder if this is not a lot of posturing to not have to play in ST.
Pokey Reese when he was at Cincinnati said you could tell Bowden was lying if his lips were moving. Seems his lips are moving an awful lot.

Imagine that, another espn reporter with negative comments about Manny and Boras. I guess the dodgers dropping their payroll and deferring money should just be acceptable and Manny shouldn't try to get the best deal like all other free agents, he should just shut up and take whatever the dodgers offer.

The Dodgers have already offered Manny the best deal he'll get.

The problem isn't that Manny is receiving subpar offers.

It's that he's expecting too much.

"MLB.com's Lyle Spencer dreams up a deal that sends Adrian Gonzalez and Jake Peavy to the Angels for 10 players."

Take a look at that! 10 minor leaguers(essentially) for two of the Padres best players.

Personally, I love it! If anything the Angels do need to get rid of some players and San Diego would definitely benefit from all of those players as, lets face it, their team blows.

As an Angel fan I would tell Arte and Reagins to get a deal like this done PRONTO!

If the Angels were to offer 10 players to the Pads, they would be crazy not to take it. But then again, Towers will surely ask alot for both Peavy AND Gonzalez. I'm a Braves fan and would have loved for him to come to ATL. I would rather see him go the Angels than the Cubs, and especially the Yanks.

"MLB.com's Lyle Spencer dreams up a deal that sends Adrian Gonzalez and Jake Peavy to the Angels for 10 players."

Honestly, the Padres should land more than he suggests. Adenhart, Morales, Jepsen and Aybar are the only major assets in there, the rest are just solid prospects, potential solid contributors, and guys like that.

Gonzalez and Peavy are studs and both are under control long term. That suggestion was essentially the ultimate quantity offer and it simply would be a crippling deal for the San Diego franchise in my opinion.

Towers can do far better.

"Since the dodgers are deferring less money it appears Manny is getting a better deal. 4 months ago it was 2 guaranteed years, then the opt out clause and now less(if any) deferred money. the dodgers made a better offer, Manny was right to hold out for the better deal."

Right, but is Manny actually worth more than twice as many runs as Adam Dunn over the next two seasons, at 2/42, versus Dunn at 2/20?

Manny simply isn't worth $20M+ when put purely in terms of baseball value, but when factoring in his name value and the fact that he'd essentially vault LA to contender status, his value does improve.

The reason they've continued to decrease the offer is because there's no reason to improve it, and the market has gotten worth for all hit/no defense players like Manny, so why would the Dodgers offer any more than the 2/45?

"Right, but is Manny actually worth more than twice as many runs as Adam Dunn over the next two seasons, at 2/42, versus Dunn at 2/20?

Manny simply isn't worth $20M+ when put purely in terms of baseball value, but when factoring in his name value and the fact that he'd essentially vault LA to contender status, his value does improve."

You seem to be comparing Manny's numbers to Dunn's but there's a lot more to it. Manny is a hitter that apposing pitchers and mgr's fear and want no part of, Manny can go first to third, and his defense(I know Manny having decent defense is hard to believe) is much better than Dunn's. And Manny makes everyone around him better, look at Ethier's numbers last year when he hit in front of Manny.

Then there's the big part,Manny sells tickets!!!! Dodger fans love him they'll watch more games, go to more games, buy more merchandise like those Manny wigs and generate a lot more money for McCourt.

That would be the best deal ever. If you think about it. The deal would get the Padres major depth and a lower payroll. It would give the Angels a mega lineup and a lightsout pitching staff.I'm talkin world series championship if this deal were to fall through and maybe a world series in a couple years for the Padres. I'm just saying here is the Halo's lineup if this trade were to happen.

Figgins
Abreu
Guerrero
Gonzalez
Hunter
Napoli
Rivera
Kendrick
Izturez

Pitching Staff

Lackey
Peavy
Santana
Saunders
Weaver