Blue Jays, Mariners Discuss Overbay Trade

I am going to go out on a limb and say one way or another Lyle Overbay won't be a Blue Jay come opening day 2010. Why do they want to get rid of him so badly?

Dodgers maybe?

yeah - Loney + prospects for Felix

(where "prospects" = Chad Billingsley and half your farm system)

LDY4L - only if you want to throw in Kemp and a couple top prospects. Nice try.

Overbay in Seattle? Pass.

Nothing against him personally... I'd just rather have Branyan manning first and Matsui in the DH slot.

Overbay in Seattle would be fine depending on who you have to give up to get him. You have him for two years without the health risks involved in Branyan.

The problem with signing Branyan for 1B and someone like Matsui for DH is the cost. You can have Overbay and use the money saved on filling other holes.

I wouldn't consider Aumont untouchable. The new front office converted him to a relief pitcher and based on the stuff they've said about him, plan to keep him in that role. I don't know how much value he holds at this point.

Interesting, thanks for the info. Does an Overbay for Aumont trade sound realistic then?

If they wont sign Branyan then Overbay for Aumont and Hall is probably the best offer that could happen. Then the M's could have more flexibility and the Jays can do whatever they do.

As for Aumont for Overbay, I believe there is a 0% chance of that happening because Aumont is still their best pitching prospect and Overbay's salary is comparable to what he would fetch on the FA market. The only way the Mariners give up anything of value is if Toronto pays most of his salary.

Definitely agree with that Theodore. Overbay's been one of my favourite Jays in the years he's been here. I'll hate to see him go, but I'd be happy for him to get a good starting job with his hometown team if he heads to Seattle.

This is getting completely ridiculous!
I swear that this is the third offseason in a row that I've seen this same exact rumor... I get the feeling that it's always a matter of simple Overbay trade speculation that somehow results in him being linked to the M's because of his north west roots...

Scribble finally got a blog!Yay!!

Sure, it could be because of Gaston that Overbay will be traded... It could also be because they like Lind at 1B better than at LF or DH.

I believe the Jays aim to improve outfield defense, hence why I've also been hearing that they are looking for a CF so they can move Wells to RF, with Snider at LF.

If the Jays were to trade one of their pitchers (Litsch? Purcey? Rzepczynski?) along with Overbay and cash for Aumont, would that deal happen? Not considering this seriously, just the whole idea of adding a Canadian player to a Canadian team.

I still like the Snyder rumoured offer better. Although the Jays would be taking in salary in the long-term, and with Snyder's back problems, it's very risky, but Snyder would possibly help the Jay's infield defense and pitchers as well. Heck, I'd rather have him than Barajas back, and he'd probably come cheaper than signing Molina for another tour of duty.

@Adam the Lord:

You keep hearing about him going to the NW because everyone thinks he's the reincarnation of John Olerud.

theantirecruiter, Loney is not a superstar. He is an above average 1B, when factoring in defense and a solid average that hovers around 300, even if he doesnt have power.

However, what makes me laugh is that people think that out of Kershaw, Billingley, Kemp, 2 of them must be included. Kemp is a top 3 CF and just got his 1st GG. If/when Kershaw cuts down on his walks, he is arguably better than Felix. Oh, and he's 21, 4 years younger than Felix. Billingsley showed how good he is and can be in the 1st half of this year. Working on his walks and being able to stay healthy, and he is an ace. He is the same age as Felix.

You are saying that the Dodgers should trade two guys who could be aces next season and a top 3 CF IN THE GAME, not just the NL for one guy? Oh, but the Sox should just trade prospects. You see how angry Dodger fans get when people are shocked fans get angry at these proposals but the same people who are making these posts are saying that the Red Sox got lucky the Ms didnt take their offer

1) Kemp is a monster all the way around, we agree.
2) GG is a silly popularity contest(see: Jeter, Derek), but that said, Kemp is good, but not AS good defensively as Guti in CF, with that, do you trade for Kemp to play LF, or do you include Guti in the deal?
3)Felix is not four years older than Kershaw, and not the same age as Billingsley, perhaps some Fact checking should happen before this conversation goes any further, but for the record, when King was Kershaw's age he already had 30 career victories, If Kershaw cuts down his walks, cuts down his HRs allowed, increases his Ks, and Eliminates ER he's arguably the best pitcher in the history of the game.
4) I'm not saying Dodgers should do anything, I'm saying the Dodgers don't match up well, but if they did, conversations would have to include Kemp and/or Kershaw because they don't have 8 prospects to offer (which still wouldn't be enough.
4) I don't know an Ms fan, nor have I read a comment from an Ms fan who thinks that they should have taken the Red Sox deal for 5 overrated prospects.

I'll go by your numbers, just to make it easy.

Regarding #2 and #3, you are right that GG means nothing, I just wanted to point it out to people who think his defense isnt good. I was completley wrong about Felix's age. For some reason, I thought he was 25, not 23.

If the Ms somehow traded for Kemp and kept Gutierrez, Kemp would go into RF. He has ab arm that would be one of the best in the game at RF... but then you have Ichiro. I think another deal who have to happen...

Kershaw needs to cut down on walks. He is 21, and that should come with age. Towards the end of the year, he was learning to pitch to more contact, not try to strike everyone out to cut down on pitches and eventually walks...

Kershaw gave up .4 HRs/9. cant really cut down more on that. Kershaw struck out 9.7/9, again a great number. Um, Kershaw gave up 53 ERs in 171 innings, a 2.79 ERA. Again, for a 21 year old, thats great.

With your number 4, I dont really know the Ms system or what they need. I know they have Ichiro till 2012. Gut is in CF, but no one in LF, off the top of my head. The Dodgers have a fair number of postitional prospects and about 4 guys who could be aces(Withrow, E. Martin, Gould, A. Miller). I think we could match up, but it would be a huge package of prospects. The one bad thing is that many of our guys are a few years away, and I dont know if the Ms want those type of prospects, although many can become stars.

I wasnt talking about Ms fans as much as Sox fans and ESPN guys. But I have seen some Ms fans that were disapointed..

Fair enough..I think the bottom line is that the two teams don't match up well. Ms aren't going to want a bunch of low level prospects without getting a bonafide star in the package, and Kemp is the only one Dodgers have, and Kemp doesn't fit into Seattle's current Outfield.

Another issue overlooked by most (especially Sox fans) is that the Mariners are perennially amongst the top 5 most profitable teams in Baseball. They're not operating with a Royals budget, so contrary to popular belief, they CAN afford to resign Felix. They're not handcuffed by a Trade or get draft picks scenario at all.
Just so you know, I was born and raised in Seattle, but moved to LA 10 years ago, and Dodgers are my #2 team, so I'm not Dodger hating, just thinking logically.

Though that scenario may be unlikely, the point remains, Toronto wants Lind at first next year, not Overbay, so he's basically the buy low type guy that Jack Z looks for. And the prevailing view of OBay is that he walks to much and hits into a lot of double plays.

Posted by: BaseBallz | November 11, 2009 at 03:00 PM

Walks too much? What?

Posted by: Dont Do That! | November 11, 2009 at 03:09 PM

Yes, you read that right, walks to much. Since Frank Thomas that has been seen as a legitmate critique of guys who play at positions which are expected to be power positions. Weird yes I know, but because Overbay usually had the catcher hitting after him (Barajas) his perpensity to take the walk was seen as a weakness, which, was actually the weakness of Barajas to drive him in, but hey thats just good logic and who needs that stuff.