Odds & Ends: Kikuchi, Astros, Smoltz, Hermida

I agree that Hudson will probably be worth the extension, in the past two seasons, when he's been healthy enough to pitch, he's pitched quite well. The only thing that could possibly make that deal bad for Atlanta would be recurring injuries.

"MLB.com's Joe Frisaro lists the Blue Jays, Mariners, Rays and Mets as possible destinations for Jeremy Hermida. The Marlins may trade the outfielder, who should hit free agency after 2011."

It wouldn't surprise me if they dealt Hermida, who probably could use a change of scenery.

He's got good plate discipline and he's flashed good power before at the ML level. But strikeouts have been a mild issue, his power has been waning, he's batting above .260 once in his four seasons with Florida, and he has a -8.6 UZR/150 in the outfield for his career.

He certainly still has a lot of the upside that made him one of the very, very best prospects in the game at one point, and given his disciplined approach at the plate, he has a shot at taking some strides, but he has a lot of holes in his game.

He still might have a little trade value, so now could be a good time for the Marlins to free themselves of his presumed $3M or so salary, while also freeing up playing time for John Raynor.

Then again, the Marlins let De Aza get claimed, and they're likely to look at dealing other, more expensive arbitration players, such as Uggla and Cantu.

I like him as a fit for the Mets a lot, and the Mariners and Cubs could potentially use his lefty bat as well. The Rays don't really need another outfielder, they already have Upton, Crawford, Joyce, Kapler, Perez and the potential call-up of elite prospect Jennings, the Blue Jays have to get playing time at the 1B/OF/DH spots for Lind, Overbay, Snider, Wells and Ruiz, among others.

"I'm not surprised Seibu went after Kikuchi. They lost their star pitcher Dice-K to Boston and they haven't had anyone of his caliber since that deal went down. Kikuchi will be the next Dice-K and will one day enter the MLB but for now he will remain in Seibu."

The Red Sox paid Seibu $51.1M in order to land Matsuzaka. That's an absolutely massive sum of money to acquire in a single roster move.

The Kikuchi pick is a great one, not only do they land the best prospect in Japan, but even if he leaves for the U.S., it will be an extremely profitable situation for Seibu.

How exactly does it work when two teams swap A level affiliates? Do they retain their own players and just trade the team name or what exactly happens?

Seibu will hold Kikuchi's rights for 9 years or whatever, but they can post him prior to that. Its the same thing they did with Dice-K. You make him available to MLB teams, but they have to pay for his rights (aka $51MM for Dice-K). That goes directly to the Japanese ballclub, then the MLB team has to negotiate a deal with the Japanese player.

If it's a choice between Ross and Hermida, Ross stays. He's a "safe" bet to put up a power-heavy 800 OPS on the year, and can play all 3 OF spots well. Hermida has fallen out of favor with the FO and is probably not seen as a long-term option anymore. They're just biding time until the Petersen/Cousins/Stanton/Raynor crop figures itself out in the next 1-2 seasons, with CF and 4th OF already set (Maybin and Carroll respectively). Cody works better to ease that transition.

Depending on where Loria sets payroll, they could bring back both, though. (If only to potentially increase Hermida's trade value for mid-season/next off-season.)

Plate discipline and strikeout rate have absolutely nothing to do with eachother. You can strikeout 200 times and have wonderful discipline.

It's like saying what? He has wonderful outfield range but a weak arm? A little contradictory? When in fact, it is not contradictory. Again, you can strikeout a ton and still have great plate discipline. There are enough examples of guys like this in the league that they shouldn't be too hard to find.