Here are a few odds and ends regarding three contenders out of MLB's West divisions …
- The Athletics, only a half-game behind the Rays and Orioles for one of two wild card berths, are one of baseball's most surprising teams, prompting Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle to examine how they've done it. "It isn't blind one luck," said one Major League executive. "There is thought behind it."
- Similarly, the Dodgers are a much deeper and balanced team after a string of unheralded but important moves, writes Christina Kahrl of ESPN's SweetSpot blog. The recent additions of Hanley Ramirez, Shane Victorino and Joe Blanton prove that GM Ned Colletti "never made the mistake of settling."
- The Rangers may soon promote prized shortstop prospect Jurickson Profar to the Major Leagues, according to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. Profar, 19, is currently hitting .285/.363/.470 in 111 games with Double-A Frisco and would become the youngest position player in the Majors. Texas is currently playing with a three-man bench on its current road swing but will revert back to a four-man bench when it opens a homestand Monday. Recall that the Rangers "balked" at including Profar in any pre-deadline trades.
The problem for Jurickson Profar, going forward, is that his path to being a full-time major-leaguer is blocked by Elvis Andrus at short, Adrian Beltre at third, and Michael Young at the DH slot (all signed through at least next season). Beltre could move to DH full-time if Young is allowed to walk, but unless Profar moves to the outfield, his future is probably with another team.
I would say Andrus will be the odd man out. If Profar shows he can hit in limited playing time this season, I think the Rangers will look to trade Andrus. Profar is special and looks to be better than Andrus.
@stl_cards16
Agree. Andrus is a fine player who has yet to reach his prime.
He should fetch a quality pitcher in a trade, which is what Rangers are in need of at the moment. That being said, I wouldn’t do it anytime soon, the kid is only 19, so the off-season might be the time to do it
While not ideal, Kinsler could be moved to left field next season and Profar to second is another option. Profar has played a TON of second base lately.
Or Elvis Andrus might be traded.
I cannot see a good reason for trading Elvis Andrus NOW when he will only be 24 in 2 weeks and 2 years to go at a modest $4.8M per, covering all of his arbitration years. Trading Michael Young is going to be difficult because he is a 10-and-5 player, and Kinsler has 5 more years on his current contract. This season, Andrus is .299/.369/.399…all career highs for him.
Sure Profar has a better slugging percentage, but other than that, it appears to be a wash. Let’s see how Profar does in a full season at Round Rock first…and then maybe trade Andrus in the 2013 offseason, when he’s just 1 year away from free agency.
Letting Josh Hamilton walk? I hadn’t thought about Kinsler moving to the outfield.
The whole point of trading Elvis now (winter meetings) is that his value is enormous. 2 years of arguably the best SS in the AL just about to enter his prime would fetch a huge haul while replacing him with, potentially, a better player. Hamilton will almost certainly walk after all the frustrated comments ownership and the coaches have made along with his “I don’t owe this team anything” comments.
Elvis came straight from AA and never played in RR.
Trading MY won’t hard from the MY side, he wanted to leave when they got beltre to play every day and I’m sure he still harbors that desire. The real difficulty will be moving a $16mil contract for a sub replacement level player.
Andrus value is at an all time high and trading him could get them a good pitcher and add a mike olt type prospect and maybe see a felix hernandez, david price or maybe even a cheaper cliff lee
Is this actually suggesting that they could get a Felix Hernandez type, plus Olt-like prospects for Andrus? Hernandez himself would cost them more than Andrus and Olt.
Beltre won the gold glove at third base last year. He’s not moving to DH.
Beltre (IMO) is the best defensive 3b in the game. His arm is what sets him apart from other excellent 3b and his miscues are from rushing plays. the man is just amazing at 3b and can gun down runners actually moving away from 1b, plus off balance. An absolute joy to watch.
Which is why I think that depending on how Profar (with Round Rock) and Andrus perform next year, that may determine who stays and who goes. I had put Beltre in my initial post because of his contract status and age.
3b is definitely a shortage around MLB and if the Rangers chose to move beltre? They could. Problem could be if they lose Hamilton, beltre is also one of their best power bat’s and really isn’t getting paid all that bad for what the man produces and his glove (like we said) just can’t be beat.
Texas might have a small dilemma on their hands and could be moving a big name shortly over the off season.
Beltre’s ISO has dipped to .184 compared to .233 and .265 the last couple years, so maybe the offseason would be the time to move him. I’m sure the Dodgers would have serious interest in bringing him back.
Talking about how good his bat is and then of course it was early in his career as well at LA, but we also have to remember how poor his bat was at Safeco also.
We should wonder if moving Beltre back to a large, pitcher friendly stadium at his advancing age (33) would be a bad idea at this stage to expect him to continue producing the mammoth offensive numbers he has been producing ever since he escaped Seattle and how poor he did there for 5 seasons.
The contract, on the face of it doesn’t look bad at all if he produces even close to what he has the last 3 season until 2015, but that 2016 vesting option is fairly easy to obtain for a ironmain of beltre’s ‘play at all times” mentality and is for 2016 at another 16m.. Once again.. if he could get close to what he has been producing, a bargain, but beltre would be 37 by then also.
If the LAD could get him and not give up “the farm” could see it as a very positive move, but would expect a partial drop in his numbers also.
Just off the top of my head, Longoria is the only one who can compete. Unless you count Brendan Ryan, because he pretty much covers Seattle’s left side of the infield.
Oh yeah.. Longo has the glove (and maybe even plus some) but i can’t think of anyone for years who has Beltre’s arm. it’s the difference maker.
Beltre won the GG last year because of longo missing 30ish games last year. To win an award of that caliber you have to play. Its the same reason longo doesnt win it this year. After longo and beltre 3rd base is barren, especially defensively.
Adrian Beltre is probably better than Profar. I have a hunch they will let Hamilton walk, move kinsler to outfield and try Profar at 2nd. Or just trade him
Elvis Andrus will more than likely be the replacement to Derek Jeter in new york, both contracts expire after 14.
@Dustin Bicknell
I could live with that, but it sounds too good to be true!
It probably is. Yankee fans also have Evan Longoria penciled in as Arod’s replacement, Bryce Harper as their right fielder in 2018, and Mike Trout as the next great Yankee center fielder.
don’t forget the Yankees will also have Clayton Kershaw in the rotation by 2015 and Giancarlo Stanton in LF/DH 2017
Don’t forget Olt is in the mix as well
I think Olt will get traded before profar. Profar looks like the real deal and isn’t going anywhere. Olt is more of a trade chip IMO and can land a solid pitcher as well.
The Rangers will probably just use him at first next year. I think if they trade Moorland they could get someone solid as well.
Profar will probably get a late August/ September taste of the bigs this year, then spend most of next year in AAA with an occasional call-up for injuries, etc. In 2014 he’ll be ready for full-time MLB, so the Rangers can probably wait a year and let it play-out before deciding how they want to handle the Profar/Olt/Andrus/Beltre situation.
I’d say 95% chance Elvis is gone by the end of 2014, if not sooner… his agent is Boras, and with so much young talent, it doesn’t make sense to keep him for the money he’ll get.
Kinsler will, in all likelyhood, be around for years to come, and Young will be allowed to walk..
I don’t see Beltre moving anywhere, I think it’s more likely Olt moves to the OF, or 1B than Beltre moving to DH. or they could trade Beltre if he’s still playing at a high level in 2013 or 2014
or andrus doesnt is gone this off season
Profar will be better than andrus it would be stupid to trade him.
I think either Kinsler or Andrus would have to go. I’d have to think it would be Andrus.
What i could see happening is as follows:
Hamilton (if he stays with the rangers) or Cruz moving to first base. (hopefully hamilton bc it will cut down the time he spends on the DL. I love how he plays the game, balls out every time – but man it gets him hurt a lot) Move kindler to LF. L. Martin takes over in center. Which ever player Hamilton/cruz isnt moved to 1b plays RF. Young and Olt DH and fill in when the other infielders need a day off.
OR
The rangers lock hamilton up and let cruz go via trade (he should get a decent return). Kinsler moves to LF. Hamilton moves to RF. L Mart in center. (not a shabby OF.) Beltre stays at third. Profar and Andrus play either SS or 2b. Olt is moved to first base. Napp/soto catch. Young plays super utility/DH.
Just for Giggles i would like to see Young play an inning at all 9 positions during one game.
Has that ever happened in a Major League game before? I know it happens in college games every once in a while like when Buster Posey did so for Florida State a while back.
Some guy on the irrelevant 2003 Tigers did. Ehhh…can’t remember his name though.
I don’t know… the Loney/Rivera platoon at 1B looks a lot like “settling” to me…
Did any team do more to improve their chances than the Dodgers?