Email a copy of 'AL West Notes: Cruz, Feliz, Blanton, Astros' to a friend
Loading ...
By Mark Polishuk | at
Email a copy of 'AL West Notes: Cruz, Feliz, Blanton, Astros' to a friend
MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com
hide arrows scroll to top
Tyler 15
Cruz mad he didn’t accept the Mariners 5/75. He’s not gonna get anything close to that now.
skrockij89
He’ll be lucky to get half of that.
Edgar4evar
That was a rumor, denied by the M’s. The Mariners front office is unlikely to leak something like that, but Cruz’ agent has every reason to do so. At this point Cruz is unlikely to outproduce any of the options the Mariners currently have, if you take defense into account. With the exception of hitting left-handers well, he doesn’t actually bring much to the table from the M’s perspective. He’s mostly a product of the Ballpark and Safeco will stifle his power. I really don’t want him.
Tyler 15
You’re joking if you think Cruz wouldn’t out produce any of the Mariners OFs. He would e better than them all. And his power might take a light hit but he will still hit 25+. Average might drop to around .260. If they can get him for 7-8 mil a year for about 3 years it would be worth it.
Stevil
A Cruz without PED’s in a pitcher-friendly stadium where he has a career line of .238/.299/.442 with 8 HR’s in 182 PA’s?
I’d feel better about the production from Guti, Ackley, and Saunders given their salaries. All three looked good in the second half last season, so at least there’s something positive rollin’.
If the M’s are going to acquire another outfielder, it should be a center fielder who offers solid defense. Cruz doesn’t fit the bill.
johnrhee
Jose Batista w/ Brett Cecil from the Jays or Dominic Brown w/ Cliff Lee & Jonathan Papelbon from the Phillies would be a logical move as Brown or Batista can provide solid offense/defense.
Edgar4evar
Since I don’t care that much about HR totals and batting average, I’m totally not joking. The projections for Ackley, Saunders and Almonte are all similar to those for Cruz when you include things like OBP and defense. There is no way I would spend all that money and the draft pick for the small marginal difference. If the M’s want to upgrade (and they should) they should be looking to deal for an excellent defensive center fielder who hits well against lefties.
KJ4realz
That was an offer? How could he want more than that? 17 mil a year is a ridiculous overpay for Cruz. Holy hell
KJ4realz
15 mil is still an overpay… Sorry I’m mathematically inept at the moment
txftw
As long as you know 5/75 is an overpay it’s ok 🙂
jp1198
At this point, he’s probably upset at not taking the QO. No smart team will sign him now, and he was lucky to even get that offer. Doubly upset for not taking it.
Rally Weimaraner
Blanton is utterly untradable. Even if some crazy GMm wanted him Why would they trade for him when they can just wait for the Angels to release him and sign him to minor league deal
RyÅnWKrol
The Yankees took Vernon Wells. The Mets took Gary Matthews. The Jays took Jeff Mathis. The Royals took Ervin Santana. I’m sure a team out there will take Blanton. They don’t have to give up anything significant and the Angels probably would still eat up a large portion of his salary. Either that or a release is probably 50/50.
Kingmojo101
Why can’t any team take Blanton and his contract straight up ala Alex rios and white sox trade
RyÅnWKrol
That’s always a possibility. I was just going by the more common pattern. But it could happen. That’s an additional $8.5 million the Angels can free up. With that, I think from all their non-tenders and trades, they would’ve freed up close to $40 million. That of course isn’t factoring in the additions of Freese, Smith, etc.
Rally Weimaraner
Dream on! No one is taking on Blanton’s salary. Alex Rios was actually productive before he was traded Blanton is worthless at this point.
Fred McCarthy
cause it guarantees they get him? comon man use your brain for a second
zurr en arrh
Somehow I can honestly believe we can sell Blanton to Ruben Amaro, problem is he’ll want to give us Jonathan Papelbon to us
MB923
Good luck on trading Blanton
kdub53
Thanks!!
–LAA
MadmanTX 2
Cruz will be this Year’s Kyle Lohse: no team wants him on his terms or to give up their draft pick for him.
txftw
So he must end up signing with the Brewers then
LoneTXRanger
If the market for Cruz remains not there, Rangers should offer a terrible contract. He’s worth it at a dirt cheap price.
phillies1102
Nothing says throwing away $15 million for a fine player such as Joe Blanton. Congratulations, Halos, you have officially made one of the worst all time free agent deals. It’s not often an expensive player plays below replacement level.
RyÅnWKrol
Looks like this is coming from a Phillies fan. Every team has their dead weight. It’s part of the game.
phillies1102
The difference is, our contractual obligations still provide value, even if its not up to their contract level. But in terms of hindering a team, I think he belongs in the same class as Chone Figgins and Jason Bay
nepp
Value?
Ryan Howard’s 5 year extension so far:
$40 million ($25 M AAV per year though) paid out for -0.7 fWAR.
nepp
Blanton is a HR machine…and it skews his FIP/xFIP as a result. The last time he actually outperformed those metrics was 2009. He’s simply not a good pitcher anymore.
bjsguess
They shouldn’t dump Blanton unless he proves absolutely awful. Even a return to 2012 production would more than justify a roster spot. I have high hopes for Skaggs and Santiago but recognize that either might not make it through the season. Having a 5th starter that resembled the 2012 Joe Blanton isn’t the worst thing in the world.
RyÅnWKrol
I doubt they get the same historically bad production from him, especially if they’re taking away his keys to the rotation. I can see him being a better long reliever/middle reliever. That’s probably the role he should’ve been used for this whole time (over his entire career).
burnboll
Blanton seems like a likely pick up for Ruben Amaro.
talcha32
Good to hear about Feliz. He could make a stud closer if he’s determined.
Also, the Cruz news is interesting. If it gets bad enough, I wonder if JD offers Cruz a 1 year deal to be our DH. Our lineup, plus Cruz, would be unbelievable.
elkaba
Holy cow twig. This is amazing!
rangernva
Odds of us bringing him back to DH and sending Moreland to Japan?