Mailbag: Nomar To Third Base

Feel free to hit up the MLBTR mailbag at mlbtraderumors@gmail.com.

Today, Peter C. writes:

Grady Little has finally snapped and decided to put Nomar at third and James Loney at first base. What do you think the overall repercussions of this move will be?

• Nomar’s injury likelihood increases drastically.
• The switch does not spark Nomar’s bat.
• With the offensive decline, an $8.5MM salary for 2008, and a lengthy injury history, Nomar is untradeable except in a salary-for-salary type swap.  How about some kind of convoluted trade for Pat Burrell? 
• Should he stay, Nomar’s presence will be an inconvenience, but he won’t eat up too much playing time because of injuries.
• Loney fails to provide the power the Dodgers are looking for over the next several weeks. He may eventually become Mark Grace, but could disappoint in the short term. 
• Ned Colletti gives up on Loney and uses him in a deadline deal for Mark Teixeira.  I can’t decide who else would go to Texas in this imagined deal.  Jonathan Meloan?  He’s a reliever, though an impressive one.  I can’t see even Colletti trading big-time pitching prospects like Clayton Kershaw or Chad Billingsley.
• Kind of funny that as I was just finishing up this post, a reader passed along this rumor from Evan Grant.  Grant’s trade proposals don’t deviate too far from my Loney/Meloan package.  He actually suggests the Rangers package Eric Gagne with Teixeira in an attempt to pry away Kershaw.