Stark On Rockies, Angels, Pierre

Can Kendrick play 3B? What shis contract status?

When is Figgins a FA? Reds could use his speed/bat/d at third.

"One scout thinks the Pirates may have acquired three future stars for Nate McLouth."

Probably the Pirate's scout.

Trading Napoli would be an awful, awful idea unless someone is handing over at least one TOP SP prospect. Napoli is a young stud and one of the most underrated players in the AL.

Young catchers who can hit are a major commodity.

Howie Kendrick needs to be moved...to AAA. He doesn't have trade value until he gets his OBP up. And he's not that young.

Angels wouldnt take anything less than Bucholz for bowden.

A. Bowden is a reliever
B. Napoli is a major league talent, Bowden has been around for a couple weeks
C. The Angels dont NEED to trade Nappoli, the Red Sox have a more desperate need at catcher and have verbalized their desire for Napoli speciically

PWHjort,

agreed! I think Tek has exceeded expectitions. He's had his pitching staff come pretty close to no hitters twice already and his bat is as alive as ever....he has more home runs than Papi AND in double digits.

At this point i think the Reds would take a 3B who could hit .280 with a little power and a solid glove.

What would it take to get Figgins then? I mean if the Angels are in the race, i wouldnt want to overpay for him.

With as many issues the Mets are having it would be foolish for the Rockies to start making trades. They should at least wait until after there 4 game series with NY. 5 games out of the wild card is not insurmountable. The NL Central teams should knock each other out of wild card contention.

Pierre is set to make $18.5 mil over the next two years, not counting what's left of this year's salary. $15 mil is way off.

"The Angels seem willing to listen on Mike Napoli, Jeff Mathis and their entire infield, which consists of Kendry Morales, Howie Kendrick, Erick Aybar and Chone Figgins."

Yeah alright they are poised to make a run and willing to trade their infield away.. OKAY

I can see Figgins going, which would suck but Wood needs to get AB's..

Napoli should be untouchable, Conger needs at least 750-1000 more minor league Abs..

I love how nobody wanted Pierre, even went on saying he should not be in the MLB..
Now teams want him? Ehh

Aaron,

I don't think the Phils are necessarily giving up on Marson, but that they've become very, very keen to having Ruiz behind the plate. Marson had his call-up, didn't get much time, and probably needed to absolutely wow everyone when he did. He didn't, and Chooch is getting more and more love around here as the days go by.

It doesn't hurt that Marson's still a good chip, either.

The Phillies have another catching prospect who some scouts think is better than Marson in Travis D’Arnaud though he is further away. I believe he is in A-ball

"Kendrick doesn't play 3B. His bat wouldn't work well there either. The guy needs to be hitting 320+ with 15HR's before he is a decent offensive player (since he won't take a walk). He is pre-arb right now."

Kendrick is a plus 2B with a strong arm, so I am sure he could play 3B if needed. That said, his bat plays better at 2B. Still, I really don't see why he has fallen off a cliff. He may not take walks, but his penchant for contact is insane. He needs to look at some tapes on Matt Kemp's development if he wants to figure it all out.

"As for Figgins - he is a FA after this season."

And almost certainly a Type A. Honestly, the best thing would be for the Angels to keep Figgins and trade Aybar to make room for Wood. Figgins is an extremely rare commodity in today's game, a true lead off man with an elite glove. BFD if he plays a traditional power position, if you have a guy like Wood playing short, you can have Figgins at 3B. He has great on base ability both by contact and by walk, elite speed, bat speed to catch up to hard stuff and line drive/gap power. All that, and I doubt he gets more than a $1 million per year raise in free agency, so it isn't like the Angels increase their payroll.

"Catchers entering their prime, with 3 years until FA, who also play good defense, have career OBPs of .360, and have career .850 OPSes don't grow on trees and will cost large, if not massive hauls."

Napoli is a solid defender, but not elite like a Martin, Mauer or Molina (all of them). Still, the fact that the guy has the potential to put up nearly Piazza-esque numbers at the plate negates any disadvantage he has to Mathis behind the dish.

Mathis is a great defensive player but he will never make the contact he needs to put his athletic skills to work on offense. He is the guy who should be made available. Ideally, I would dangle a package of Aybar, Mathis and one of Terry Evans or Matt Brown and see if it can attract a Jake Peavy or Roy Oswalt type.

Despite the pluses that Napoli brings to the plate (pun intended) I still think Boston should take a hard look at what the Rockies would want for Iannetta. CI has had injury issues and is having a down year offensively but would still be a solid long-term pickup... and might have better long-term cost/benefit than Napoli.

The Rockies should hold on to Marquis unless someone offers more value than a sandwhich pick, which marquis will get them if he leaves after this year (assuming he gets type B status, which I think he should with all the wins).

In fact, they should hold on to everyone and see how far this streak takes them. reevaluate after the All Star break)

"I stopped reading when you said SS. Just because someone is fast, doesnt mean they can play SS. He can play 3B or the corner OF spots."

Um, Figgins can play all 3 OF spots as well as the entire infield to the left of 1B.

"Just because someone doesn't play SS now doesn't mean he can't play it at all. Figgins has played 27 games at SS for the Angels since 2003. Certainly not alot and not much lately (they haven't needed him to) but he does have past experience and has demonstrated the ability to adjust to different positions quite well. Besides, have you seen Boston's SS defense lately? They've got noplace to go but up. "

Figgins was a shortstop during his entire development and certainly has the skills to play there with range, instincts and a strong arm. That said, he is an elite level defensive player at 3B, so why move him if you don't need to?

"I wouldnt agree that Jose Molina is an 'elite'."

Offensively, not in a million years. Defensively, absolutely.

To all the Angels fans, if Wood isn't going to be brought up to the bigs, do you think that the Cardinals could pry him from you guys? If so what would it cost? I am sure their are a few players in our farm system that would intrigue you.

A separate question: What would you guys want for Chone Figgins? A very versatile, speedster, with great contact, and great defense would be welcomed with open arms to the Cardinals. He could play 3rd for us for the rest of the season and would be a great asset to our team. So what would it take to get him?

StlCardsFan - I think the only way the Cards get Wood is if its a huge deal with Pujols involved. The angels seem that high on him...

As for Figgins, of our impending FA, I think he is the most likely to remain an angel...

"According to Cots, Pierre is owed more like $25M. That's a lot for any team to swallow. Still, if the Dodgers would take Lugo in return (about $15M owed), give Theo a call."

Have a feeling that as soon as Lowrie is activated in a couple of weeks Little Bear, that anybody can have the hapless Lugo for league min., with Boston paying the remaining portion.. Boston is going to finally cut ties for good with Lugo and his useless glove and bat for good, they almost have to. Why try and send Green past waivers, when he is out of options and take the chance of losing him and he can play 3B, SS and 2B as well as is 3x the fielder and hitter as Lugo? Common sense has to prevail Sox fans have to hope and all of us Sox fans can finally wave goodbye for good to Lugo.