Let's continue our look at each club's top trade chips today with the AL Central…
- Indians: The Tribe have dealt their Opening Day starter in each of the last two seasons, and there's a good chance they'll do it again with Jake Westbrook in 2010. The 32-year-old righty will earn $11MM this season, the last one on his contract. After dumping Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez in cost-cutting moves last year, expect them to shop Westbrook around for prospects this summer.
- Royals: All four of Kansas City's outfielders come off the books after this season (assuming some options are bought out for six figures), so Rick Ankiel, David DeJesus, Scott Podsednik, and even Jose Guillen could be moved in a deal for a young player. The team would obviously have to eat a lot of money to move Guillen. The contracts of relievers Juan Cruz and Kyle Farnsworth also expire after the season, so there might be some interest in them.
- Tigers: Detroit isn't going to move any of their young power arms, but if they eat a large chunk of salary like they did with Nate Robertson, there might be interest in Jeremy Bonderman and/or Dontrelle Willis. Young backstop Alex Avila could make Gerald Laird expendable as well. The Tigers have four lefty relievers on their 40-man roster (Phil Coke, Fu-Te Ni, Daniel Schlereth, and Brad Thomas), and that demographic is always in demand.
- Twins: Minnesota has one of the best trade chips in the league, blocked catching prospect Wilson Ramos. Lefty Glen Perkins is pitching in Triple-A and seems to have fallen out of favor with the club after filing a grievance, so he could be made available as well. He has four years of team control left.
- White Sox: GM Kenny Williams isn't shy about emptying out the farm system in a trade for an established big leaguer, which has left him with little minor league ammo. Their best young prospects are catcher Tyler Flowers and starter Daniel Hudson, who would seem to have a future with the club, but I'm not going to put anything past Williams. Flowers could make A.J. Pierzynski or Ramon Castro expendable, ditto Hudson and Freddy Garcia. Gordon Beckham should be untouchable, obviously.
The Red Sox are always looking for catching. Any chance they line up with the Twins on Ramos?
I don’t think they will do anything until they finish up the deal with San Diego for Gonzalez.
I can’t see the Red Sox trading for Gonzalez. Maybe signing him if he hits free agency, but I can’t see them trading for him—not while Youkilis, VMart, and Beltre are all under contract.
If Ortiz struggles, do a DH split between Lowell and try signing one of Jermaine Dye/Carlos Delgado.
Well the issue would be what would the sox give up? The Twins are probably only interested in high upside starting pitching, which in my mind would be Bucholtz or Kelly. Kelly is probably too much but would a Bucholtz for Ramos swap work? Perhaps the Twins have to add one more arm. They are both really high upside players with lots of team control left, and out of the top catching prospects Ramos is probably the best defensive catcher
The Twins only need high upside pitching, or possibly a second base prospect. To me to only prospects on Ramos’ level would be Bucholtz and Kelly. Kelly is probably too much but what about a Ramos for Bucholtz swap? Perhaps the Twins would have to add a relief arm or something but that is the most realistic swap i see between the two teams.
If the Indians ever decided to trade Choo (not that they should), they could get a massive return.
If the Giants decided to trade Lincecum they could get a massive return. Hopefully now we can stop with the pointless comments.
No I don’t think we should stop. I heard the Brewers were looking to move Braun.
What’s pointless is to overlook that Choo has hired Boras and the Indians may decide that they can’t afford to keep him. But whatever.
The White Sox should consider trading Mark Buehrle at the deadline.
He has made it clear over the years that he would prefer to play elsewhere and if he has another 2nd half like last year, his value will be minimal.
This team is going nowhere and the team has very few trading chips, Buehrle is one of the few that will bring anything in return.
BTW, I saw Tyler Flowers play last year, and there is no way he will play at the MLB level as a catcher.
Mark Buehrle never ‘made it clear’ that he wanted to play elsewhere. He did say that he hoped to play for the Cardinals one day, since they are his hometown team, and probably his favorite team growing up. What he said and what you are trying to say are two different things.
I disagree. The guy has said repeatedly that he would like to play elsewhere and has also said he does not intend on resigning with the White Sox after his contract expires next year. I don’t think he could be much clearer in his statements.
I can’t think of another player in baseball who has been as open as he has regarding his desire to play for a different team than the one he is signed with.
he said he may not want to resign with the White Sox because he is seriously considering retiring early.
buehrle has said only two things…1 is he wants to pitch for his home town team the cards(who doesnt want to play for their home town team ie thome) and 2 that he might and is likely to retire after this contract to spend time with his family..he is a hall of famer for sure with the WS ring, no hitter, perfect game and very good record….And if im not mistaken he has a year or two left he wont get traded…unless it blows people away for peavy goes back to 07 form
“he is a hall of famer for sure with the WS ring, no hitter, perfect game and very good record”
Hes 137-98 and his ERA is 3.80.
Unless he goes 100-20 with a 2.00 ERA the rest of his career, hes not even close to the HOF
also the fact that almost every analyst for baseball has said that mark buehrle is on pase to be the next 300 game winner, he is actually ahead of tom Galvin at this point in his career.And i would be willing to put money on him making the HOF based of the ws ring, perfect game+ no hitter and him being 40 games over .500 so far in his career, with the potential for a long career
You can’t possibly be serious.
its not what i said its what i have heard who knows maybe maybe not
I meant about Buehrle and the HOF.
Maybe you are right, who knows? I just don’t see him as even close at this point in his career.
if his career ends this season or next season he might be border line due to the aforementioned perfect game, no hitter, and WS ring, there are guys in the hall who have done less…But if he keeps pitching for a few more years and has typical buehrle years he should be considered for sure…buehrle is one of the most consistent, quiet, under rated left handers in the game today.
as for the original post i could see konerko or AJ being traded wayyy before buehrle but only if it is to a contender and the chisox are wayy out of it…but i doubt either happens
Konerko has no value, AJ has minimal value, that’s why I said Buehrle is a smart choice. He’s not resigning and this team is a complete mess. There’s 20 teams that would pay a ton for him, and the Sox desperately need young talent.
how does konerko have no value, he plays average to above average defense at first. Is good for 25+ homers…with a much better power start this year, he is a career .277 hitter. yes is contract is pretty high but at the same time a contender looking for a solid clutch bat to help them in the push also help them give their 1st basemen a day off or two with out missing a step he would be a good dead line pick up for someone but only if the sox are for sure out of it…same with AJ yeah he is slumping right now but the guy knows how to call a game, is a solid hitter is good for 10-15 hrs and can still catch.again good dead line pick up to help contending teams…
I could also see someone like danks being sent somewhere in a block buster type deal at the dead line..your thought
I think Konerko has minimal value at this point due to his contract and that he hasn’t put together two solid half seasons together in a few years. He usually has about one 6 week tear per season and then falls apart, those guys are all over the place for far less than he would cost. I do still like his glove and attitude, but just don’t see the value.
AJ, I think he is one of the worst defensive catchers in baseball. Then throw in that he couldn’t throw out his grandmother trying to steal and his bat becomes irrelevant. I’m not saying a contending team wouldn’t take him, I just don’t think the Sox get much in return.
I think the Sox would be crazy to trade Danks at this point, he’s still cheap and he’s probably the best pitcher on that staff. But any of the other 4 would be fine with me. Again, Peavy won’t get you anything with that contract, Danks shouldn’t go, Floyd will get something decent but he’s still cheap and difficult to replace and Garcia is a joke. That leaves Buehrle as the best chip and he’s probably not coming back by the time this team is competitive. If he’s traded with a year and a half of contract, he’ll net you mare than if they wait a year.
Kenny destroyed the farm system, if they don’t do something bold, this team could be in serious trouble for years. Rios and Peavy are anchors that aren’t going away.
I may be completely wrong on everything I’ve said, it’s just my take.
I respectfully disagree. Buehrle is a good pitcher, certainly above average but not much more than that. I don’t think there’s more than a team or two in baseball where he would seriously be considered for the number 1 spot. He eats up innings, gives you 200 a year and keeps his team in a lot of games.
If there’s a ‘Hall of pretty good pitchers’, he’s in. Every team in baseball would like to have him pitch for them, but I don’t see him anywhere near an elite pitcher level and nowhere near a HOF pitcher.
Buehrle a Hall of Famer? Wow is that ridiculous. 300 wins? If he wins his 162 game average so far, which is 15 games a year(which he has only reached once in the last 4 years) he would still need 11 more years to reach 300. So he will be at the top of his game for the next 11 seasons? Then compare him to a guy like Bert Blyleven who is not in the Hall and tell me how he could be in? Because he pitched a no hitter and a perfect game? Two games make a guy a HoFer? Stop being such a homer
Buehrle a Hall of Famer? Wow is that ridiculous. 300 wins? If he wins his 162 game average so far, which is 15 games a year(which he has only reached once in the last 4 years) he would still need 11 more years to reach 300. So he will be at the top of his game for the next 11 seasons? Then compare him to a guy like Bert Blyleven who is not in the Hall and tell me how he could be in? Because he pitched a no hitter and a perfect game? Two games make a guy a HoFer? Stop being such a homer
also the fact that almost every analyst for baseball has said that mark buehrle is on pase to be the next 300 game winner, he is actually ahead of tom Galvin at this point in his career.And i would be willing to put money on him making the HOF based of the ws ring, perfect game+ no hitter and him being 40 games over .500 so far in his career, with the potential for a long career
“he is a hall of famer for sure with the WS ring, no hitter, perfect game and very good record”
Hes 137-98 and his ERA is 3.80.
Unless he goes 100-20 with a 2.00 ERA the rest of his career, hes not even close to the HOF
What about Johnny Peralta? He’s in the final year of his contract, and he tends to have a fairly strong second half.
I can’t see the White Sox falling out of contention.
Hence—I could very easily see Flowers getting called up and becoming the DH (or catcher with AJ the DH), and/or Hudson being traded to get a power bat—especially with Konerko and AJ hitting FA after the season.
My guess = Adrian Gonzalez, but that would most likely require the trade of both Flowers and Hudson.
“Gordon Beckham should be untouchable, obviously.”
I like Bacon as much as anyone. It would take a blockbuster, but not untouchable.
true but it would have to be a blockbuster of blockbusters due to his age, over all cheapness, team controll, and the fact that he is already a great player and only like 23
— Not sure the Indians will get anything for Westbrook unless the pay 80%+ of his tab. Guy didn’t pitch in 09, was hurt for most of 08, and is off to a less than stellar start ’10. That doesn’t seem like anything close to being an $11m pitcher.
— The White Sox are interesting. They could easily be an awful team. With Williams you just never know what he has up his sleeve. He seems to buy when most think he should sell and sell when most think he should buy. Easily one of the most difficult GM’s to predict. I don’t think ANYBODY is safe with Kenny as GM.
Westbrook looked pretty good against the W. Sox today. A few more of those and they’ll get great value for him and won’t have to eat salary.
“get great value for him and won’t have to eat salary.”
That’s a paradox when the “him” is Jake Westbrook.
“get great value for him and won’t have to eat salary.”
That’s a paradox when the “him” is Jake Westbrook.
Westbrook looked pretty good against the W. Sox today. A few more of those and they’ll get great value for him and won’t have to eat salary.
The Indians could move Peralta along with Westbrook. Don’t think they’d get much beyond salary relief.