Odds & Ends: Blue Jays, Towers, Pirates, Mets

Alvarez at 3B and LaRoche at 2B could be a problem defensively.

Sure the sale of McClouth was a bad PR move, but considering it made room for McCutchen, a possible RoY, it could have been a whole lot worse.

Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post tweets, “Jerry Manuel was in meetings all morning and said he expects an announcement tomorrow on changes and the team’s offseason plans.” At Metsblog, Matt wrote, Jerry "will make an announcement"…

So does that mean Jerry, or someone else will make the announcement? Who gives the announcement is quite important…

If the former, Jerry is in trouble… Also If Omar and Jeff are there too, maybe Omar is in trouble. Maybe they will announce a change in responsibilities for Omar – Director of Minor League Operations at the same salary? Then maybe they could bring in Towers or even Bobby V, who is said to want some “front office” responsibilities in addition to leading the club…

Also, I dont think the Mets can get Holliday... DeRosa maybe... He can play LF, and backup the IF positions...

dont think Holliday would come- A) power numbers would drop, B) hed require a HUGE contract leaving us little money for a C, 1b, and 2 SPs

We dont need a 1B. Murphy is going to be a great hitter, albeit slightly underpowered for 1st base. Sign a good left fielder and DeRosa and your getting another 40 or so homeruns. Catcher I also think they're fine. Pitching is where they should really go crazy with the spending.

I'm a Die hard braves fan as well, and I'm not afraid to say that we lost in a trade, but I think we did good on this one. It wasn't a great trade, but Gorkys really lacks power. I can see him being an Omar Infante type player. Locke was the only one I was worried about losing, actually. We pretty much knew what we were getting with mcclouth, and he's came through pretty well. Low average, decent power, and great defense.

"Kovacevic says the deal hurt the players trust in Pittsburgh management and was a poor public relations decision."

As a person who makes his home in Western P.A, this is an understatment to say the least. After this trade, jerseys disappeared from the stores, fans and newscasters trashed the remainder of the season and failure was assured, not from the players, but the paying public. The fact is, if the Pirates want to contend and be relevent again, they must reach out to thier fanbase in a better way. I also blame the local media. They forget the buccos are from Pittsburgh all together sometimes. They have to do their part all year long, and remind viewers of the game that night. I noticed when the Dodgers came to town a few weeks ago, no one knew they were even in town. This happens quite a bit up here. After June 20th, people tune out because the bucs just aren't covered by anyone but FSN. The Pirates must do their part, and the fans/media must do theirs as well.

DeRosa would be awful. Hes an overrated Type-A that wont be nearly as productive next year (not that he was productive this year - 1.8 wins above replacement, which is nothing special at all).

Waste the 2nd round pick on a Matt Holliday if anything.

I agree with pretty much everything you said, except that Gorkys might not make a major league roster. He has a great skill set, but the power just isn't there. And it may not ever come. You may be underestimating the pitchers as well. I think the braves got a talented center-fielder for a price a little lower than people may have expected.

.286/.342/.386 for Hernandez in over 1,600 minor league at-bats doesn't inspire a whole lot of confidence. Neither does a 97 AB/HR rate, a rate that probably is actually inflated by a handful of inside-the-park HRs. Sure, a guy can suceed at the major league level without a lot of power, but he was also just 19-for-35 (54%) in SB opportunities this year with a .312 AA OBP. Sure, that was his age 21 year, so it's far too early to write him off, but thinking he's going to be an impact bat is probably wishful thinking.