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Odds And Ends: Huff, Ackley, Strasburg

By Ben Nicholson-Smith [June 8, 2009 at 2:21pm CST]

Some more links to pass along...

Steve Melewski of MASN.com reports that Orioles president Andy MacPhail is "open" to talking with Aubrey Huff about a possible extension. Huff, a free agent at the end of the year, has been the subject of many trade rumors.
ESPN.com's Rob Neyer agrees with a suggestion Howard made on this site yesterday: Jon Rauch would be a good fit for the Rays.
Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Cards GM John Mozeliak was among those watching as two college hitters worked out at Busch Stadium this morning. Josh Phegley and A.J. Pollock took some swings in front of the Cardinals' scouting staff.
As Ian Browne of MLB.com points out, the Red Sox have drafted well in recent years even when they haven't had early selections.
MLB.com's Jim Street writes that it would be shocking for the Mariners to pick someone other than Dustin Ackley.
As ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick reports, Angels scouting director Eddie Bane is amazed by Scott Boras because he intimidates, but "never says a price."
Tim Keown of ESPN the Magazine passes along one scout's thoughts on Stephen Strasburg: "He'd be a front-of-the-rotation guy for almost every team right now."

Comments

An Aubrey Huff extension seems sensible. 1 year/9 million with club options for 2nd and 3rd years at 10 and 11 million, respectively. You'd like to keep him, but with his track record I feel like he should only be a year to year guy.

Posted by: BomberMan26 | June 08, 2009 at 02:25 PM

"He'd be a front-of-the-rotation guy for almost every team right now"... hopefully he turns into the last #1 pick by a washington dc area sports team in Alexander "The Great 8" Ovechkin and not Kwame Brown

Posted by: DC Sports Fan | June 08, 2009 at 02:30 PM

Please stop with the Strasburg hype.The MLB Draft is a joke and It will always be one.Only ONE player in this upcoming draft will make It to the big leagues...I guarantee it.

Posted by: Junior | June 08, 2009 at 02:42 PM

I don't get why people listen to scouts in 2009. They're almost never right since they follow archaic guidelines.

I mean according to them, Mark Prior had "perfect mechanics."

Posted by: nut bunnies | June 08, 2009 at 02:52 PM

"Please stop with the Strasburg hype.The MLB Draft is a joke and It will always be one.Only ONE player in this upcoming draft will make It to the big leagues...I guarantee it."

I don't know whether this is a joke or not?

Posted by: epic | June 08, 2009 at 03:00 PM

Okay Mr. Mcphail, listen and listen closely. Signing Huff to an extension is not a good idea! We have a 1b prospect in Brandon Snyder. We have five very promising outfielders in Markakis, Jones, Reimold, Scott and Pie. These players are all better and younger than Huff. One of them will neeed to Dh, most likely scott. They are also all inexpensive. Huff is not part of a long-term rebuilding plan for the orioles. The O's need bullpen arms and ss/3b prospects. Huff should be moved for the best possible player that can fill one of these needs. You'v been doing so well up to this point. Wiggingtons, huffs and the like grow on trees.

Posted by: joemorgan=#1 | June 08, 2009 at 03:17 PM

the o's signing huff to an extension makes no sense. its just a way for them to try to raise huff's trade value. I think he'd be a perfect fit for the mets, although i dont know how much he would take to get. Would it take much more than niese?

Posted by: maristmetsfan | June 08, 2009 at 03:29 PM

I think it would take a bit more than Niese. Remember while Huff isn't hitting that well now he is a notorious 2nd half hitter. He really heats up in July and August. Also he will be a Type A/B FA so there is some additional value there.

Posted by: Steveo26 | June 08, 2009 at 04:36 PM

"Being open to the idea" of signing Huff is MacPhail maintaining his bargaining position for trade or extension. I wouldn't take it as a sign of what he's going to do either way. It doesn't help his leverage if he announces that Huff's on the move. If Huff is known publicly as an unwanted player, then he becomes much cheaper for teams to bid on. Another team has to put together an offer that convinces the Os to part with a valued player.

MacPhail also said he was open to the idea of extending Bedard during an excruciatingly long trade negotiation. Same for Tejada when MacPhail first came onboard with the Os. If Bedard started announcing ultimatums and MacPhail announced he was going to trade him publicly, I would wonder if MacPhail would have been able to get Tillman, or Butler/Mickolio in the same deal. This is all about positioning,

Posted by: basemonkey | June 08, 2009 at 05:31 PM

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Odds And Ends: Huff, Ackley, Strasburg

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